Pinwheels of Pumpkin

At first, it was an unusual request. After all, Americans typically don’t stray from their well established food standards. For birthdays that usually means a 9 inch round, two layer cake of some favorite flavor, covered from top to bottom with fluffy, sugary frosting with the words “Happy Birthday so and so…” piped across the peaks and valleys of hand smeared butter cream. This is usually accompanied by waxy pink and yellow candles, and a frosty scoop of ice cream. Cake and ice cream, that’s how we do birthdays. So when I asked my co-worker Andy what kind of cake he’d like me to make for his birthday, the response was surprising. He said, “Pumpkin roll.”

I’d never made a pumpkin roll before, in fact, I wasn’t even really sure how pumpkin rolls came about. I always imagined some sort of fairy-like magical wand being waved over a pumpkin sheet cake and some cream cheese and after a little poof of sparkling dust, it would transform into a delightful pinwheel of pumpkin sponge cake twirled with smooth, white filling. Pumpkin rolls were intimidating. Naturally, the original source of a pumpkin roll for me had always been a holiday craft show, a Christmas bazaar, or a church bake sale. I didn’t inquire about their ancestry, their humble beginnings, or their maturation process into Thanksgiving’s version of a Buche de Noel. Until now, that is.

I knew Andy was going to be a slight challenge. He told me early on, when I was talking endlessly about my love of all things pastry, that he didn’t really care for sweets. He passed on my boss’s chocolate sheet cake, and when pressed for his favorite baked treat in order to commemorate the day of his birth, he responded honestly, truthfully, and as I’d learn, from his heart. Andy’s favorite dessert has always been pumpkin roll. His mother used to make it for him. After she passed, his sisters would make it for him on occasion. It was nostalgic for him. What better way to celebrate a birthday, really, than to enjoy the delicately spiced crumb of earthy pumpkin cake that reminded him of so many birthdays before?

I’ve heard at least once a week for the past four weeks of how much Andy has been looking forward to the pumpkin roll I’d promised him. As I found myself bent in half at the waist, one eye closed, squinting tightly as I slid my frosting spatula gently over the pale orange batter, making sure it was perfectly level in the well buttered jelly roll pan, I was reminded once again of how much food is tied to memory, to our hearts, to joy, to comfort, and to feeling. Food is our great constant. We all need it, and in our common need, we’ve constructed an infinite number of cultures and traditions based around it. Someone, somewhere, took a little round gourd and some farm cheese and turned it into a curly pastry that delights our eyes, noses, fingers and tongues. It reminds Andy of his mother, and today it’ll be celebrating the fact that we’ve all had the great fortune of having our friend Andy with us another year.

Happy Birthday Andy. Enjoy.




Queen Honeybea’s
Perfect Pumpkin Roll

1 cup, plus 2 TBS. organic, unbleached all purpose flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. salt
5 organic, local, free range eggs
1 cup organic, unrefined sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup organic, pureed pumpkin (canned or made fresh from local pie pumpkins)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 12 x 18 inch jelly roll pan. Line with parchment paper and butter again. Set aside.
2. Sift together in a medium size bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs and sugar. Beat on high speed until the mixture is pale, pale yellow, thickened, and swirls like a velvety ribbon into the bowl when you remove the beaters. On low speed, beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.
4. By hand, fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until all ingredients are incorporated.
5. Pour into prepared jelly roll pan, using a straight edge spatula to spread the batter out evenly.
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the edges are slightly brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for five minutes. In the meantime, prepare a clean kitchen towel dusted generously with powdered sugar on a cooling rack large enough to hold the cake. After five minutes, with one rapid motion, invert the pumpkin sheet cake onto the sugared towel. Peel off the parchment paper and allow to cool 5 more minutes. Dust the top of the cake liberally with powdered sugar, then gently roll up along with the towel, from the 18 inch side. Let the rolled up cake and towel set on the wire rack until cool.


Cream Cheese Filling
12 ounces organic cream cheese, softened
4 TBS. salted, organic butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until well blended and soft. Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat until incorporated.
2. Gently beat in the powdered sugar and salt until smooth and creamy.

To assemble:

1. Carefully unroll the cooled cake, taking care not to rip or tear the sponge.
2. Gently spread the prepared filling onto the inside roll of the cake, distributing it evenly over the whole surface.
3. Carefully, using the towel as a guide, re-roll the cake around the cream cheese filling until tight and the end seam is along the bottom of the roll.
4. Cut the cake into two pieces and wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least two hours.
5. Just before serving, combine 1 TBS. powdered sugar, ¼ tsp. cinnamon and ¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg in a sifter. Sift over the top of the pumpkin roll for a snow like garnish. Enjoy.