Pumpkin Cake Roll Filled With Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teas baking powder
1 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas salt

3 large eggs beaten
2/3 cup of pure pumpkin (not the pie mix)

2 tbls of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1 8oz package of cream cheese room temperature
1 cup powder sugar
2 tbls of butter or margarine melted or very soft. Must be stick butter
1/2 teas of pure vanilla or 1 teas of imitation
1/4 teas of pure almond extract
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

13 x 9 jelly roll pan or cookie sheet
Parchment Paper
Original flavored PAM

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Combine the eggs and the pumpkin together in another bowl.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray the surface of the parchment with a light coating of PAM.

Gradually mix the flour mixture into the eggs/pumpkin mixture. Pour it onto the cookie sheet, trying to spread it evenly over the parchment paper. Drop it on a flat surface a couple of times and put it in the oven to bake fora flat surface a couple of times and put it in the oven to bake for around 15 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness at about 13 minutes.

Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to take the cake when it comes out of the oven. Spray the parchment with a light coating of PAM and sprinkle with powdered sugar and chopped walnuts.

Flip the cake over onto the prepared parchment. Remove the parchment that the cake was backed with and save it for another baking. Parchment is too expensive and as long as you are doing a couple of these, you might as well get good use out of it. Roll up the cake and the parchment paper together. Most people roll the pumpkin roll short and fat; jelly roll style. I like to roll mine lengthwise and thin. It just makes more sense to me. Easier to handle the cut pieces and easier to serve. You have to allow the cake to cool otherwise the cream cheese filling will get real soft and ooze out from the sides.

Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and flavorings until smooth and creamy. Stir in the walnuts.

Unroll the cake and spread on the filling end to end, side to side. Use the parchment to help you roll the cake back up, but this time don't roll the parchment up into the cake. Just use it to help guide the cake as you roll itcake. Just use it to help guide the cake as you roll it up. Now use the parchment as a wrapper and wrap the pumpkin roll up with the parchment. Refrigerate and serve within a couple of days or wrap with a layer of aluminum foil and freeze until you need it.

--- Don Zarle Akron OH November 1999