November, December,
January; three months full of holidays that bulge the waistline and begin a new
year of promises to get back into shape.
Thanksgiving is the first holiday; we give thanks for our lives full of
family, friends, good times and what else…food!
Of course, since October we have seen in the stores displays for, not
just Halloween, but Thanksgiving and Christmas as well. Sorry retailers, I am still one of those
consumers who deals with one event at a time.
So, back to the Thanksgiving feast featuring, what was almost America’s
national bird, the turkey.
Prices on turkeys seem to
have sky rocketed in the 20-teens; with all the turkeys in the frozen section
of supermarkets, this doesn’t seem to make sense with supply and demand. According to the USDA National Retail Report
on turkeys, whereas the retailer buys the turkeys at 47 cents per pound,
consumers pay an average of $1.62 per pound.
Hold on, while I get the calculator and figure out this markup…Wow,
almost a 250% markup! Now add in the
cost for stuffing, vegetable side dishes, biscuits and desserts; you would
almost need a part-time job to pay for all of it.
Honestly though, do we
care about the cost? When it comes to
the holiday season, whether it is out of one pocket, or the cost shared by
many, it doesn’t matter. What matters is
the coming together to celebrate, not just a Hallmark card moment, but the joy
and love of being together. Not everyone
is so lucky to be able to do this; it is not unusual to hear about people
inviting strangers into their home to share the feast. Food banks and shelters hopefully get the
donations and volunteers they so desperately need to help the unfortunate. Yes, this is certainly a time to give thanks,
“There, but for the grace of God, go I” might come to mind. Then again, this isn’t mid-16th
century England, you’re not sitting in the Tower of London and watching prisoners
being sent to the chopping block.
Now that I’ve given your
conscience a little nudge in the generosity department, let me liven up this
article with a bit of sweetness. Most
typical Thanksgiving desserts revolve around the pumpkin, its delectable flesh
obtained the canned goods in a store, or Halloween jack o’ lanterns cooked
down. Pumpkin puree is pure pumpkin,
while pumpkin pie filling is presweetened pumpkin plus measured out spices. The former is denser, while the latter is
smoother and contains a higher liquid content.
If a recipe calls for puree, best to use it, or you’ll have to adjust
for the extra liquid in pumpkin filling.
By the way, if a recipe simply states “canned pumpkin”, it requires
puree.
No, not giving a pumpkin
pie recipe, I’m rolling out Pumpkin Roll.
Making a rolled cake takes patience, and a batter that produces a cake
which is not too firm, but not crumbly either; you need it to be pliable
without falling apart. You also need a
jellyroll pan (a 15"x10"x1"); it sort of looks like a
rectangular baking sheet, but with an edge around it. The name comes from the
original cake that was made in it; a thin yellow cake with a fruit jelly spread
onto it, then rolled...the jellyroll cake.
Another popular jellyroll style cake is made with a dark chocolate cake
and a white cream filling, or what is typically called the Swiss Roll
cake. With this cake, there is the
option of giving it a coating of chocolate or not. For Christmas, a Yule Log cake is a Swiss Roll
cake, covered in a dark chocolate ganache and decorated with a wintery theme.
Definitely use wax paper
with this cake, not parchment paper, as it will peel off much more easily. Also, use a lint free linen towel to help
with the rolling; nothing is more unappetizing than to find cloth fibers in
your cake or filling. Thirdly, make sure
you give yourself room to work like a large area of counter space, or even a
table. So let’s get to it....
Pumpkin Roll
Ingredients:
1 tsp. each ground nutmeg
and cinnamon
½ tsp. each ground cloves
and ginger
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp.
confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
1 package (8 oz.) cream
cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. pure vanilla
extract
Confectioners' sugar to
sprinkle over finished cake
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan (jellyroll pan) with nonstick baking spray; line
pan with wax paper and spray paper. In a small bowl, mix together spices. Mix
sugar, flour, baking powder, 2 and ½ teaspoons of spice mixture and salt in
large bowl. Beat in eggs and pumpkin until well blended and smooth; spread
evenly into pan.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or
until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Place clean linen towel on
kitchen counter or table; dust with 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar. Loosen
cake around sides of pan with sharp knife. Turn out onto towel, wax paper-side
up (do not remove wax paper); fold side of towel over one short side of cake,
and then roll up cake jelly-roll style. Cool cake completely.
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup
confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and remaining half teaspoon of spice
mixture in medium bowl until well blended and smooth. Unroll cake onto towel;
peel off wax paper and spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cake. Using
towel, roll up cake and place seam-side down on serving platter. Trim ends of
cake. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Sprinkle cake with additional
confectioners' sugar just before serving.
Makes 12 servings.
Mary Cokenour
