Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of you celebrating today enjoy good company and good food and have a good nap with a full belly.  We're celebrating with family today and will be hosting our Thanksgiving dinner on Monday.  Drumstick up there has a few days reprieve, but he looked a little sweaty and nervous this morning.

I made a pumpkin and cream cheese jelly roll for today's meal and thought I'd share the recipe.  It has enough pumpkin flavor to be festive, but not so much that it's overwhelming.  I sprinkled on a little powdered sugar and made some marzipan acorns to top it off.

I hope you enjoy it.

Cake:

1 c. all purp. flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or allspice or nutmeg, etc.)

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs at room temp

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. canned pumpkin

powdered sugar for sprinkling

Cream cheese frosting:

12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese at room temp

2/3 c. sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. toasted pecans chopped

1.  Heat oven to 375.  Line a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 jelly-roll pan with waxed paper and coat with oil/shortening/spray.

2.  Combine flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in a small bowl.

3.  Beat eggs in a large bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes or until they thicken slightly.  Beat in sugar, a tablespoon at a time.  Continue beating until very thick and lemon-colored, about 5 to 7 minutes.  On lowest speed, beat in pumpkin until blended.  With a rubber spatula, foldin flour mixture in 2 batches and spread evenly in pan.

4.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched lightly in the center.  Generously sieve powdered sugar over a clean kitchen towel.  When cake is done, loosen edges and invert onto towel.  Remove the waxed paper and sprinkle the cake with additional powdered sugar.  From a short end, roll up the cake in jelly roll fashion and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.

5.  Prepare filling;  beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl for 5 to 8 minutes or until creamy.  Stir in toasted pecans.

6.  Unroll cake.  Spread with filling.  Reroll without the towel.  Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some cake.