prize winning pumpkin roll (with a bonus recipe for pumpkin spice syrup) (2024)

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 C pumpkin puree*
• 1 tsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 3/4 C flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 4 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375°

Sift together flour,baking powder,cinnamon,ginger & nutmeg; set aside.

Beat eggs for at least 5 minutes (they should be light yellow and frothy).

Add pumpkin puree, lemon juice and sugar to the eggs & beat until combined.

Add dry ingredients & beat until combined(scrape down the sides of your bowl well).

Spread the batter evenly in a jelly roll pan lined with silpat or parchment paper.

Bake at 375° for 12-14 minutes. (Cake will spring back to the touch when it’s done.)

When the cake is done, flip it upside down & turn it out onto another piece of parchment paper. Remove the parchment from the exposed ‘bottom’ of the cake. Roll the cake up starting on the short side (I use a clean dish towel to wrap it in after it’s rolled into a log to help it keep that shape as it’s cooling).

While the cake is cooling, make the frosting by whipping together the cream cheese & butter, then adding the vanilla & powdered sugar.

When the cake is cool, carefully unroll it and spread the cream cheese filling evenly.

Roll the frostinged cake back up, and wrap it in plastic wrap.

Freeze overnight (the recipes differ here. many said it was sufficient to refrigerate for an hour. we much preferred it after being frozen).

To serve, unwrap & slice off the ends. Dust with powdered sugar.

Et voila!

* And now, a note about our feature ingredient, PUMPKIN!

All of the recipes I saw called for canned pumpkin. I’m sure canned pumpkin would make a fine version of this roll. I’d be remiss, however, if I didn’t put in a plug for roasting your own pumpkin (especially since one of the things that was praised over the weekend was the unmistakeable pumpkin taste). It’s incredibly easy, if a bit time consuming. It makes the house smell like the essence of autumn warmth, and yields MUCH better pumpkin flavor. (this can perhaps be tied to a trend of canned pumpkin being all kinds of squash other than actual pumpkin.) We covered roasting pumpkin last year, but it bears repeating.

It’s as easy as picking up a pie pumpkin or three (don’t use a carving pumpkin), scooping out the seeds, cutting it up and roasting it (preferably in a dutch oven so it steams instead of caramelizes) for 90 minutes at 350°. Easy peasy. For this go-round, we roasted three smallish pie pumpkins in the 6.75 quart dutch oven. It yielded nearly 4 cups of pumpkin & 2 cups of pumpkin juice. The one thingwe did differently this year was to let it strain through cheesecloth for an hour after we pureed it with the stick blender. This drains off a fair amount of liquid, and gives you a pumpkin puree closer in water content/consistency to store bought. As a bonus, you can use the liquid:

pumpkin spice syrup

• 2 C roasted pumpkin juice
• 2 C sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp whole cloves

Combine pumpkin juice, sugar and spices in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling. boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and cool. Use to sweeten your hot caffeinated drink of choice. (I’m sure it would work for coffee, but so far we’ve only used it in tea).

What to do with the leftover pumpkin, you ask? Freeze in ziplocks in increments of your favorite pumpkin recipes for use throughout the winter!