Pumpkin Cake Roll

People love this. This is one of those recipes that you can make ahead of time and stash in the freezer for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or would be a nice Halloweeny/fall treat. Just be sure to wrap in double or triple in plastic wrap so that the cake part does not dry out.

Pumpkin Cake Roll
from A Taste of the Country cookbook, pg. 76
submitted by Sally Weaver, New Baden, Illinois

Cake:
3 eggs
1 C. sugar
2/3 C. cooked pumpkin
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:
1 C. powdered sugar
2 packages (3 oz. each, so 6 oz. total) cream cheese
4 Tbsp. butter (1/4 C.)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

To make cake, beat eggs in mixing bowl at high speed for 5 minutes; beat in sugar until blended. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. Combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt; fold into pumpkin mixture. Spread in greased and floured 15-inch x 10-inch x 1-inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Remove cake from oven; turn out on clean linen towel liberally dusted with confections' (powdered) sugar. Starting at narrow end, roll towel and cake together; cool. Make filling by combining ingredients and mixing until smooth. Unroll cooled cake; spread with filling to within 1 inch of edges. Roll back up; chill. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar before serving. Yield: 10-12 servings.

NOTE: I cut off the ragged ends after I've rolled it with the filling inside when I make this. They are for the cook or the helper to eat. I also mostly make these rolls to give away so I cut them into two and wrap and give a 1/2 of a cake away when I give as gifts at Christmas time. I also sometimes make more filling and fill the pumpkin roll fatter than it says to. Also be sure that you have your jelly roll pans greased and floured really well. When the cake is HOT, I also go around it gingerly with a spatula to be sure that it's loosened and will spill onto the towel well and not tear coming out of the pan. This is not a hard cake to make but is a little labor intensive, the last thing you want to happen is to have it tear on you coming out of the pan.