On A Roll - Grandma's Pumpkin Roll

Into everyone's life, a pumpkin roll must fall.  It's simply the way of the universe; some sort of cosmic certainty, directly related to the force of gravity I am sure. Grandma's Pumpkin roll has always been a holiday treat.  We waited with great anticipation all year for it's return during the holiday season.

I was recently in The Dalles visiting granma Reva when I inquired about her recipe.  She presented me with a very old, very yellowed newspaper clipping from the Dalles Chronicle.  So I copied it down and am sharing it with you.  I don't know exactly how old the recipe is, but I can tell you it's older than I am, cause I stopped aging once I hit "Jack Benny" (39).  LOL

Grandma's Pumpkin Roll

3 Large Eggs
3/4 cup (3.4 oz) (100 g) AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 cup (7.1 oz) (200g) Granulated Sugar
2/3 cup (5.5 oz) (160 g) Pumpkin Puree
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 cup (4 oz) (120 g) Pecans, chopped Plus a few extra halves for garnishing

Filling:
4 oz Unsalted Butter
6 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup (3.5 oz) (95 g) Confectioners' Sugar (sifted, before measuring)

Preheat your Oven to 350F degrees, then grease and flour a 10 1/4 x 15 1/4 jelly roll pan and set it aside.

Beat the Eggs on high speed for 5 minutes until pale and increased in volume.

Meanwhile, whisk the Flour, Baking Powder, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg and Salt together in a bowl, then set aside.

and chop the pecans.

Gradually add the sugar, 1 TB at a time, while continuing to beat the eggs.

Stir in the Pumpkin Puree and the Lemon Juice.

Fold in the Flour mixture.

Pour into a greased and floured jelly roll pan. (10 1/2 x 15 is the size Grandma uses)

Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cake springs back to the touch.

While it's baking, make the filling by beating Butter, Cream Cheese and Vanilla extract until fluffy.

Add sifted Confectioner's sugar a little at a time, until fully incorporated, set filling aside.

When the the cake is done, immediately lay a tea towel over the pan,

Place the cooling rack on top of the towel and flip the whole thing over.

Remove the pan, and lay another tea towel over the "bottom" of the cake,

Invert the jelly roll pan and lay it on top of the tea towel (so the bottom of the pan is laying against the towel)

Flip the whole thing over again (so the nut side is up), remove the cooling rack and commence with rolling the cake up, tea towels and all.

Pin the end closed to hold the shape, then let cool 5 minutes.

Unroll the cake and spread the filling over the cake. (leaving a 1 inch margin of uncovered cake at each end)

Immediately re-roll the cake and wrap in one of the tea towels,

Clamp the ends to help it hold it's shape and chill for 2 hours.

After the 2 hour chill time, you can either serve, or store for several days wrapped in plastic wrap.

Serve with a light dusting of confectioners' Sugar or Brandied Whipped Cream.

I usually go for the Brandy in the Whipped Cream....  :)

Mangia!!
~~

"Creamed" Spinach Pasta - Spaghettini with Mascarpone and Spinach

This is one of those recipes that created itself when I was emptying out the refrigerator.  LOL

It's a quick and simple way to use a whole lotta fresh spinach. In my case, it's before it has a chance to wilt.  I went a little crazy the last time I was at the grocery store and bought just a little bit too much.  One can only eat so much spinach salad.  oops!

The key to this dish is the ability to make a sauce very quickly by combining 3 ready made ingredients...  Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pasta Water, and either Mascarpone or Cream Cheese; depending on which one is in your refrigerator.

Yep, it really is that simple.  Of course your gonna need a couple of other things, like some long pasta (I like Spaghettini) and the a fore mentioned spinach.  I always have a shallots lying around, so I throw those in as well.  I like shallots, cause it kind of saves on chopping time... It's like Sweet Onion and Garlic all rolled into one papery bundle of goodness.  This particular time, I had some green onions lying around as well, but they are not really necessary to the deliciousness of this creamy spinach pasta dish.

"Creamed" Spinach Pasta

Printable Recipe
10 oz Baby Spinach
1 TB Olive oil
1 Shallot
1 bunch Green Onion (scallions), sliced (white and light green parts)
1 TB Fresh Tarragon, chopped (or 3/4 tsp dried)
1 lb Spaghettini
3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water
8 Oz Mascarpone
1/2 cup (2 oz) Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (plus extra for serving)
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Place a large stock pot full of water over high flame to bring it to a boil.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the spinach and toss it into a large pasta bowl.

In a small skillet, heat the olive oil over medium flame.

When the oil is hot, add the shallot and saute about 1 minute.

Add the green onion and tarragon, sauteing about 1 minute more.

Remove from heat and dump on top of the spinach in the pasta bowl.

When the water in the stock pot is boiling, salt it really quick, then drop the pasta.

Cook according to package directions.... Spaghettini usually takes about 6-7 minutes.
Using tongs, remove the pasta from the water and into the pasta bowl to help wilt the spinach.

Dip out 3/4 cup of the hot starchy pasta water with a Pyrex pitcher and pour over the spaghettini. (the starch in the water will help bind the sauce together)

Toss this all together a couple times.

Spoon the Mascarpone (or Cream Cheese) over the pasta and toss again.

Once the Mascarpone has melted and become distributed through the pasta, add the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and toss again until it melts as well.

Season with Salt and Pepper if necessary and serve with Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano on the side.

Delicioso!

Mangia!!
~~

Let Them Eat Dirt... Cake - Dirt Cake/Triffle

Every once in awhile, I become the victim of my own "cleverness".

Case in point.....

Our Family reunion was this weekend and I was asked to make dessert. Pies are a given, but I wanted something special for the little ones. When I was younger, we use to love Dirt Cake (though it's not so much a cake, as it is a trifle). For anyone who has never had Dirt "Cake", it is simply ground up Oreo or Hydrox which is layered, with a instant vanilla pudding that has been fortified with butter and cream cheese which then has Cool-Whip folded into it. It's actually pretty darned tasty. BUT

There is that big "but" again.. ;)

If you read the instant pudding ingredients you will find a lot of junk that really is unnecessary. I mean, Vanilla pudding is white, so why does it contain artificial coloring. Evidently it's the wrong shade of white.... Which is insane, considering that vanilla pods and the caviar contained therein are brown. Apparently, "egg shell white" is not as appetizing as "ecru". LOL
Be that as it may, I come from a chocolate loving family. So the issue of the vanilla pudding color was kind of a mute point, since we always used chocolate pudding anyway. However, it is also artificially colored and flavored these days.

That being said, I decided that I was simply going to make the "chocolate pudding" from scratch. Then, somewhere in the twisted depths of my mind I suddenly decided that a simple chocolate pudding wasn't good enough for my nieces & nephews. That was how the mousse came about. And while I now have a Dirt Cake that is blessedly free of foreign contaminates and fairly low in sugar, it is extremely high in fat... I used a quart of whipping cream. This was an issue that I did not foresee.

Pudding is made with milk, mousse is made with whipping cream (and raw beaten egg whites, but I left those out) The original Dirt Cake then has whipping cream (Cool Whip) folded into the pudding, thus I had to fold MORE whipping cream into my already whipped cream laced mousse. Not my most brilliant of endeavors, but it was REALLY good. :)

Oh, and I hunted down Newman's Own, Chocolate sandwich cookies. Not so much because they are Organic, but because they lack High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated oils. That was another one of those "things" that I climb on my soapbox about. Cool Whip is nothing more than sweetened whipped hydrogenated shortening (Crisco) so I avoid it like the plague. But the filling in Oreo & Hydrox cookies is also sweetened shortening. This along with the artificial colors, flavors, & preservative chemicals.... It was clear that I needed a less "deadly" cookie.

Don't get me wrong... I love Oreo & Hydrox, but I'm an adult and I am fully aware of the consequences when I introduce "counter-productive" foods into my system. Children are not, thus it is our responsibility to protect and educate them, so when they grow up they can make informed bad food choices too. LOL

OK, That is enough of my insane babble. Let's get this Mousse on the road!

Dirt Cake

Chocolate Mousse
16 oz Bittersweet Chocolate (at least 62%)
3 oz Espresso
1 TB Cointreau
1 1/4 tsp Gelatin
2 1/4 cup Light Whipping Cream; Divided

Cream Cheese mixture
4 oz Butter
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 cup Confectioners' Sugar

To Complete the cake
1 3/4 cups Light Whipping Cream
a small bag of Gummy worms
24 oz Newman's Own Sandwich Cookies
1 Clean plastic flower pot (run it through the dishwasher on the top rack)
1-2 bunches of silk flowers (wash the stems with soap and water; you can insert a straw and slide flowers down the tube, but I had a "bunch" and it was too big in fit in the straw)

Makin' Mousse...
Begin melting Bittersweet chocolate in the top of a double boiler.

Add Espresso and Cointreau.

Stirring until smooth. (you can add a pinch of cayenne as well, if you like)

Remove from heat and let cool a little.

Place 1/4 cup of the Whipping Cream in a small heatproof cup and sprinkle with gelatin, allowing it to bloom.

Melt Gelatin over low heat (I use a small Corningware dish filled with water over low heat)

Pour the melted Gelatin into the cooled melted chocolate and stir to combine.

Move the mixture to a large shallow bowl and let it continue cooling (this will make folding easier)


NOTE: Normally, if I were only making this as a mousse, I would have whipped the 2 cups of light cream, folded it in and spooned it into old fashioned champagne glasses and chilled it for at least 1 hour and up to 4 without covering. But since I was making the dirt cake I had to switch it up a little bit.

Place Butter, Cream Cheese and Confectioners' Sugar in a medium bowl.

Beat them until they are light and fluffy.

Fold in the cream cheese mixture into the gelatin laced chocolate in 2 additions.

Now, whip 2 cups of Light Cream until light and fluffy (do not add sugar to the whipping cream)

Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate in 3 additions.

Cover with plastic wrap on the surface, and chill.

Final Assembly:
Remove the chocolate/cream cheese mixture from the refrigerator and let it warm up a little bit.
Take your Newman's O's and toss them in a food processor (24 oz is 1 1/2 packages, which leaves 1/2 a package for you to enjoy with a big glass of milk)

Pulse them until you have fairly fine crumbs.

Place 1 3/4 cups light whipping cream in a bowl and whip until firm. (Again, don't add any sugar)

Fold the whipping cream into the Chocolate mousse in 3 additions, to further lighten it.

Grab the flower pot (make sure you ran it through the dishwasher)

Sprinkle the bottom with 1/3 of the cookie crumbs.

Spoon 1/2 of the Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse into the pot.

Sprinkle with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs.

Add some gummy worms.

Spoon the remaining Chocolate Mousse into the pot and cover the worms.

Add a few more worms.

Sprinkle the remaining cookie crumbs over those worms, making sure that a couple of them are peaking out of the top.

Cover with plastic and chill for 8 hours.

Before serving, grab a bunch of silk flowers and wash the stems and insert into the "dirt" and set it on the table as a center piece.

Serve with a washable plastic trowel for the ultimate effect. The kids were a little suspicious at first, but once they realized there were gummy worms in it, they were ALL over it. LOL

Mangia!!
~~