Fun Fearless Foodie

Happy Thanksgiving week foodies!  All I can think about this week is food, well, that’s really every week, but this week especially savory, sweet, and scrumptious thoughts are filling my head.  In honor of the best food holiday of the year, I’ll be posting some tasty fall recipes to compliment your Thanksgiving meal, or any meal, as we embark on the holiday season.  The first thing on the menu is actually a first for Fun Fearless Foodie, a guest writer has joined us!  Mark Justice, a fellow UCF Knight and foodie, has embraced the Fun Fearless Foodie spirit and tackled one of his culinary fears, making a roulade (rolled cake) in honor of the holiday.  Enjoy Mark’s journey to sweet success below as he attempts a delicious Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream!

The holidays are a time of year that inspire foodies everywhere to reach for new heights and nowhere is this more apparent than on the dessert plate. When I first saw a photo of Ina Garten’s Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream I knew it was destined to find a place at my Thanksgiving table. The problem? Glossy photos aside, the directions were beyond intimidating. At one point, the recipe calls for turning the just out of the oven cake onto a towel and rolling it into a log! Surely this was a feat for a master cook and the dozens of outtakes that are only possible on cable TV.

And so I did something that no true foodie should ever do, I allowed my fear to overcome my thirst for achievement. I settled for a less complicated dessert and each year when the holidays rolled around I let my fear overcome my dreams of the perfection featured in Ina’s glossy photos. This year was decidedly different for me and as I sat down to plan my holiday menu I was determined to include Ina’s pumpkin roulade. I gathered my ingredients, read carefully over the recipe, and mixed up the batter as I had for countless goodies in the past. Then, as it came time to pull the cake from the oven and turn it onto the prepared towel, I reminded myself to have no fear. To my surprise, the cake fell perfectly on my counter intact and ready for the next step. Hours later, as I unrolled the cake and filled it with ginger butter-cream, the recipe turned out exactly as planned. I learned several lessons making Ina’s pumpkin roulade, but the most important was that any recipe can be executed well with a little practice and culinary courage.

Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream

Recipe exactly as printed in Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Makes 1 cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
• ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting

For the filling:

• 12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese
• 1 ¼ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ¼ minced dry crystallized ginger (not in syrup)
• Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13 x 18 x 1-inch sheet pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the paper.
2. In a small bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Place the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light yellow and thickened. With the mixer on low, add the pumpkin, then slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Finish mixing the batter by hand with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake the cake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched.
5. While the cake is baking, lay out a clean, thin cotton dish towel on a flat surface and sift the entire ¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar evenly over it. (This will prevent the cake from sticking to the towel.) As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, loosen it around the edges and invert it squarely onto the prepared towel. Peel away the parchment paper. With a light touch, roll the warm cake and the towel (don’t press!), starting at the short end of the cake. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone, confectioners’ sugar, and cream together for about a minute, until light and fluffy. Stir in the crystallized ginger and salt.
7. To assemble, carefully unroll the cake onto a board with the towel underneath. Spread the cake evenly with the filling. Re-roll the cake in a spiral using the towel as a guide. Remove the towel and trim the ends to make a neat edge. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve sliced.

Notes and adaptations

Crystallized Ginger: Whenever crystallized ginger is called for in a dessert I prefer to use the largest pieces I can find commercially and chop them on my own. The smaller pre-chopped varieties that are available can sometimes contribute an unwanted crunchiness in desserts.

Forming the roulade: On my first attempt I was a little gentler forming the roulade than perhaps is called for. This resulted in more of an oval shape then the desired spiral. On subsequent attempts I pulled the towel a little tighter and achieved the desired spiral shape.

Extra-filling: I found that with this recipe extra filling came in handy. Once the roulade was finished, the very top corner was left without any filling. Using a thin metal spatula and the extra frosting I was able to create the picture-perfect look from Ina’s photo.