Luscious Maple Amaretto Pumpkin Roll

The memory of the Amaretto Pumpkin Bread Pudding I made a while ago is still haunting me, so I just couldn’t help but carry those luscious flavors over into my pumpkin roll.

I have been wanting to make a pumpkin roll forever, it seems. I’ve been reading about how to do it, and enviously watching other food bloggers write about their lovely pumpkin rolls …

What was holding me back? I didn’t have the right pan. So last weekend I went and bought one. $8.99 at Target. Really? All this time I was just $9 from making pumpkin rolls and chocolate rolls and and and … well you can just imagine all the fun I will have with this thing now! I feel so liberated, like a whole new world has opened up before me …

It’s the little things in life, I tell you.

Light and Fluffy Maple Amaretto Pumpkin Roll

The cake part of this recipe is roughly adapted from Libby’s Pumpkin Roll. The filling is my own creation.

For the cake:

•  powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup + 2 T. brown sugar
• 2 T. Amaretto
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (recipe here)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 (8 ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup maple amaretto whipped cream (recipe below … or if you prefer, use purchased whipped cream and add a little more pumpkin pie spice to the filling)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spray a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray; line with wax paper, then spray the waxed paper liberally with cooking spray.
3. Sprinkle a large clean towel with powdered sugar. It’s apparently important what kind of towel you use–find one that does not have many “fuzzies” on it. I used a flour sack-type kitchen towel.
4.  Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin.
5. Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spice, amaretto and salt and stir till the batter is smooth.
6. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
7. BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched.
8. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto the prepared towel. Carefully peel off waxed paper.
9. While the cake is still hot, roll up the cake and towel together. I rolled it lengthwise, but I think the recipe said to roll it up the other way. Ooops! You would certainly get more of a swirl if you roll it the other way, but then the portions would be a lot larger. I think it’s kind of nice to have a smaller portion size. 
10. Let the cake cool completely, all wrapped up in its own little blanket.
11. While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling. Beat all the filling ingredients except the maple amaretto whipped cream with a mixer in a medium bowl until smooth and fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream.
12. Set out a piece of plastic wrap cut big enough to wrap the roll in.
13. Carefully unroll cake, remove the towel and set the cake on the plastic wrap.
14. Spread the cream cheese filling over cake.
15. Reroll the cake the same way it was rolled up in the towel. The cake will “remember” the way it was rolled while it was cooling. 
16. Wrap your beautiful roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour–or freeze. 

I’m freezing my pumpkin roll so I can take it to Thanksgiving Dinner. I’ve heard then you just take it out of the freezer about an hour before you want to serve it. From what I have read, it is also easier to slice while it’s still frozen–I found it a little hard to saw through when it was frozen solid, so I think you should let it thaw part-way, then cut it.

I’m trying a piece today for breakfast … you know, just to make sure it’s not poison.  😉 You might notice I couldn’t quite wait till it thawed out.

Maple Amaretto Whipped Cream