Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting

3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (245 g) pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
1 tsp lemon juice

Combine flour, baking soda, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl. Then add the eggs, pumpkin puree, and lemon juice.

Spray a 10-1/2” x 15-1/2” jelly roll pan with nonstick spray (or grease with butter). Line it with parchment paper cut to fit and then spray or grease the parchment paper too. You want an extremely nonstick surface for this cake roll. You can also use a 11 x 17 sheet pan, but don’t go much bigger than that.

Pour the batter into the baking sheet and spread the mixture evenly all the way to the edges. Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes.

While waiting it to bake, have another piece of parchment paper ready. You’ll need this for the rolling part, to prevent the cake from sticking to itself.

Be quick about this next part! When the pumpkin cake comes out of the oven, run a knife around the pan’s edges to loosen the cake, then lay a piece of parchment over the top. Using oven mitts, turn the pan over onto the parchment. Peel away and discard the parchment that had been on the bottom.

Starting on the shortest side of the rectangle, evenly roll the cake (parchment and all) into a tight roll. Once rolled, lay onto a wire rack, seam side down and let it cool to room temperature, about one hour. (You can roll from the longest side as well, if you want less of a dramatic spiral).

Once the cake has cooled (an hour usually), unroll it again and remove the parchment paper. Spread an even layer of cream cheese frosting over the cake. Then roll it back up again, seam side down. Cover with cling film and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, remove cling film and dust liberally with confectioner’s sugar. Using a serrated edge, slice into 1/2″ or 3/4″ slices depending upon your preference. To keep the edges clean, wipe your knife after each slice.

Magic Sally Cream Cheese Frosting
Joanne Chang

3/4 cup + 2 T (200 g) cream cheese, cut into small pieces, softened
1/2 cup (50 g) superfine sugar
1 large egg white (30 g), room temperature
14 T (1-3/4 sticks) (200 g) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt

In a small metal bowl, whisk egg white and superfine sugar into a slurry. Set on a bain marie on medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

Transfer slurry to a stand mixer and whip on medium high for 4-6 minutes until mixture cools. It will look a little like taffy at this point. Add butter a little at a time, continuously whipping on medium speed, until the butter is thoroughly incorporated. Don’t be alarmed if it “breaks” at one point. Keep whipping and it will come together again. Once the butter is in, add the cream cheese, also a little at a time, scraping bowl and paddle from time to time until thoroughly combined.

Turn off mixer, stir in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and salt and once incorporated, whip on medium speed until the frosting is smooth and satiny.

Can be stored in airtight container in fridge for up to two weeks. Before using, mix with paddle attachment in stand mixture until frosting smooths again.

Cake recipe adapted from insanelygoodrecipes.com. Frosting from Joanne Chang.