By Request

BETTY SHIMABUKURO

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Concoct a festive, elegant
and very easy pumpkin roll

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The best desserts are those that have great wow factor, but are really easy to prepare. They make you look so very clever, when all you actually did was crack eggs and set the right oven temperature.

Used to be a bundt cake could impress like that, but people are catching on that a bundt is just a matter of a fancy pan. Time for something else -- the cake roll.

Peggy Teruya wrote for a recipe for Pumpkin Roll and her timing is impeccable, with Thanksgiving approaching. Plus, if your Halloween pumpkin is still around you can use it to make a fresh purée, rather than opening a can.

This is an old favorite -- a lightly flavored pumpkin cake rolled around a cream-cheese filling. Sliced so that it displays a creamy white swirl, it's very elegant.

You could experiment with the filling, perhaps mixing some pumpkin into the cream cheese or replacing the cream cheese altogether with a fruit curd such as lilikoi or lemon (best place to find these is a bazaar or community fair, such as the one at St. Andrew's Priory on Saturday; see Page D5).

Lots of versions of this recipe are floating around; this is the one I use.

You will need a jelly-roll pan -- that's the type with a 1/2-inch rim. Baking parchment also makes it easy to remove cake from pan. Both items are easy to find at supermarkets. You'll also need a clean dishtowel to roll up the cake.

Pumpkin Roll

>> Cake:
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Powdered sugar for dusting
>> Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10-by-15-inch jelly-roll pan with baking parchment. Spray parchment lightly with cooking-oil spray.

Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until well-combined. Gradually beat in pumpkin and lemon juice.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger; stir into pumpkin mixture. Spread batter evenly over the parchment in the prepared pan. Sprinkle nuts over the batter, if using. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the center is just cooked through. Do not let the edges brown or it will be difficult to roll.

Let sit in pan until cool enough to handle. Sprinkle a clean dishcloth or cheesecloth with powdered sugar. Loosen edges of pan with a knife, then turn the cake out onto the cloth. Peel off parchment. Roll up loosely, rolling the cloth right in with the cake. Let cool about 20 minutes.

To make the filling, combine ingredients and stir until smooth. Unroll the cake and spread evenly with filling. Gently roll up the cake, patting out any bulges as you go. Don't worry if the cake cracks a little while you're rolling; that won't be noticeable once the cake is sliced.

Dust with more powdered sugar and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

To serve, place roll seam-side down on a cutting surface and slice with a serrated knife. Dust pieces with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Food Stuffs: Morsels

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.