Aunt Romaine's Pumpkin Rolls

Many, many years ago, I decided that I'd be ambitious and make a pumpkin roll.  This was before the days of smart phones...and the internet wasn't all it is now.  I needed a recipe.  What to do?  I called Mom.

Mom remembered that Aunt Romaine and Dorty make pumpkin rolls so good that people buy them!  So I called.  Dorty and Romaine rattled off their recipe without hesitation.  They had made so many, they knew it by heart. 

Aunt Romaine said to use fresh pumpkin.  How do I do that?  Next stop, a call to Gramma.  Cut a long neck pumpkin into 4 pieces, she said.  Remove the seeds.  Place in a baking dish with a little water.  Bake until soft at 250 or 300.  I remember like it was yesterday, she said "bake it til it's soft, but not too long, just till it’s soft when you stick it!"  Scoop the pumpkin out of the shell.

I've made so many pumpkin rolls since that day, I can't count!  It is a Thanksgiving tradition, and my Aunt Rosie buys one every year.  No matter how much I protest, she crams that money into my pocket or purse.  I owe Aunt Romaine and Dorty royalties!


Thanksgiving Eve is often a late night, so I've added some shortcuts throughout the years.  If you plan to make several, measure once!  I measure one set of dry ingredients into a bowl, the rest into individual baggies.  As the rolls are finished baking, I can move on to the next more quickly!  Confession:  this year I used canned pumpkin.  They were good, and I don't think anyone knew the difference.  I knew!





3 Eggs                                                     1 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup Pumpkin                                       ¾ Cup Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda                                     1 Tsp Cinnamon
½ Tsp Ginger (Optional)
     or Pinch All Spice (this is my change)
 
Preheat oven to 350*.  Mix all ingredients just until combined.  Spray an edged cookie sheet with cooking spray (I use a Pampered Chef bar pan).  Lay wax paper over cookie sheet, molding to fit.  Spread the batter evenly onto the wax paper.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until just golden brown.  If you make several, the times will shorten as the pan is hotter.  I use two pans, one is going into the oven as another is coming out.

Lift the cake filled waxed paper from the cookie sheet to a flat surface.  Cover with another sheet of waxed paper.  Then cover with a tea towel.  Flip it all over so that the tea towel is on the bottom and the cake is protected on the top and bottom by waxed paper.  Roll it up.  Once cooled, unroll and remove the top waxed paper.  Evenly spread the filling (recipe below).  Re-roll in the same direction.  Wrap in waxed paper.  Keep refrigerated.







Pumpkin Roll Filling 
8 Oz Cream Cheese
1 Cup Confectioners Sugar (10x)
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Container Cool Whip (Thawed)
½ Tsp Vanilla Extract

Place the cream cheese, butter and confectioners sugar into a bowl.  Microwave for 45 seconds.  Stir until all three ingredients are combined.  Add the vanilla and stir.  When ready to frost the Pumpkin Roll, add the cold Cool Whip to the mixture and stir.  Spread the filling evenly over the cake and re-roll.

         

White Chocolate Fruit Dip

Happy Mother's Day to the old moms, new moms, soon-to-be moms, to those that love like a mom, and to those who wish they could be!

I have nothing profound to say about this recipe. It was passed on from a friend many years ago as a semi-sweet chocolate fruit dip and I altered it (go figure). I'm not sure what it is about recipes, it's a compulsion of mine to change at least one thing!

Don't get me wrong, the original version is off the chain! It is amazing with strawberries or bananas or graham crackers. I'm not sure that there's anything you couldn't dip in there! But, I'm not so much of a traditional chocolate girl. Gasp! I know! I don't hyperventilate when there are brownies in the building. I like chocolate, but it's not my fave. Give me savory any day!

I've found lately that white chocolate is a little more my speed. It's funny, Aunt Romaine cannot eat dark or milk chocolate but white chocolate does not make her sick. I was curious, so I did some research! White chocolate consists of cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids and salt. It does not contain cocoa solids. During the manufacturing process, the dark-colored solids of the cacao bean are separated from its fatty content. In traditional chocolates, the cocoa solids are added back in. Some people have a sensitivity or allergy to the cocoa solids and liqueur!

I changed this recipe from semi-sweet chocolate to white chocolate. Also instead of dipping it as usual, today I treated it as a sauce and served it drizzled over strawberry shortcake! I planned to try amaretto flavoring in place of the vanilla but I couldn't find it at our small local store. You could substitute strawberry fluff and make a pink fruity version. Wait, I just had a great idea...add some cinnamon chips with the white chocolate for a yummy twist! It would be so good drizzled over zucchini bread or pears!

1 Bag White Chocolate Chips
1 Small Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 Cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Jar Marshmallow Fluff (7 oz)

Mix all but the fluff until combined using a Double Boiler (I improvise and place a glass bowl over a large saucepan with boiling water. Do not allow bowl to touch boiling water.) Continue whisking until the chips are dissolved. Add in the fluff and continue whisking until smooth. Store at room temperature for best consistency. This makes it a perfect picnic or camping snack because it doesn't hurt to let it sit out! Serve with strawberries, bananas, graham crackers, etc. Bananas are my favorite!

Individual Apple Crisp

First, let me say that I can take no credit for this dessert. Except for the part where I don't measure anything and use way too much sugar and butter! I owe it all to Iowa Girl Eats. I may have a food crush on her. Her version is only 250 calories. If you'd prefer that better-for-you version or if you would like some actual measurements, I won't be offended if you want to leave and make IGE's Individual Toffee Apple Crisp recipe instead. It can be found here... http://iowagirleats.com/tag/apple-crisp/

For all of you who stuck around, there's butter. And brown sugar. And very little measuring and a whole lot of dumping! We snack on these a lot at our house. I guess the diet-friendly part is that when it's all, it's all. That's very York County of me, I know.

Here goes!

1 Apple
Half a spoonful of Flour, Sugar & Cinnamon (equal parts)
Brown Sugar
Quick Oats
Cold Butter
Toffee Bits

Preheat oven to 375*. Spray a small individual-sized baking dish with cooking spray. Peel and dice the apple into the baking dish. Toss with flour, sugar and cinnamon.

Next I get all lazy on this recipe. You "should" mix and combine and do the right thing by the remaining ingredients (including flour). I don't.

Here's what I do! Sprinkle some toffee bits over the apple pieces. I make sure there will be at least a few bits in each bite. Very scientific, I know! Next, sprinkle with the quick oats until the top is just covered and there's oats in the little nooks. Brown sugar, sigh. I crumble brown sugar over the top of the oats. It must cover the oats! Okay, next is the butter. It must be cold. I use a sharp knife and make extremely thin shavings until I've covered all of the brown sugar. My goal is to keep it to 1 tablespoon but it never happens. If you want diet food you're in the wrong neighborhood!

Bake for 20 minutes. Then I broil on low (about 6" from the broiler) to get a little crunch on the brown sugar. Do this for about 5 minutes. Do. Not. Walk. Away. You do not want to burn this wonderful caramelly crunchy sweet goodness! You'll know it's ready when the edges are bubbly and it makes a tapping sound when you tap it with a spoon.

We eat this from oven mitts. It's too good to wait, and that's just how we roll ~ renegades!