Apple Cider Cupcakes

Apples are cultivated throughout the world, from the United States to Italy to India. There are literally thousands of different cultivars of apples, ranging in color, flavor, texture, and usage. For the same kind of fruit, it’s pretty amazing to think about how different each apple can taste from the next, from a tart Granny Smith to a sweet Honey Crisp. I’m a fan of the Rome, Gala, and Golden Delicious varieties, but I always prefer to bake with a blend of sweet and tart apples in pies.

To me, apple cider is like apple juice’s tangy sibling, and I’ve seen it in a variety of recipes lately, mostly for doughnuts. I came across this cupcake recipe on Pinterest, though the original was paired with a caramel buttercream. I’ve frosted these cupcakes with my traditional caramel frosting, but I have to admit: I think a simple glaze icing, or even just a sprinkling of sifted powdered sugar, would have been a better choice. The cupcakes themselves are light and spongy, and while the caramel flavor in the frosting pairs well with the spicy apple flavor in the cupcakes, it’s a bit denser than necessary. Next time, I’ll likely opt for a different frosting, if I frost them at all.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup apple cider

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line one 12-count cupcake tin with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl frequently.

Add flour mixture and cider alternatively, in thirds, beating until just combined after each addition and ending with the flour.

Scoop batter into prepared tin, filling cups about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting or serve plain. These cupcakes are tasty enough on their own!

Honey Cake

Sometimes, you encounter a treat that becomes your nemesis. Until last year, honey cake was mine.

I first read about honey cake in Miriam’s Kitchen, an excellent book by Elizabeth Ehrlich that explores the connection between food and family, history, and tradition. The author described her Great-Aunt Dora’s honey cake as a rich, aromatic confection that was baked to celebrate Rosh Hoshannah in the hope of a sweet new year, and it sounded exactly like something I’d love to add to our holiday table.

Great-Aunt Dora’s recipe was included in the book, but when I baked it the outside burned, while the inside remained gooey and inedible. Years of honey cake experiments ensued, during which I tried different recipes each time, all with similar results. Last year, I scoured the internet for a new recipe, and I found this one, which yields a very successful, spicy orange honey cake.

Honey cake is still a bit tricky because of the amount of liquid and sugar (from both the honey and the white sugar in the recipe), so I recommend the following tips for baking:

Bake your cake at 340 degrees; the slightly lower temperature allows the cake to bake through without burning.
Check your cake for the first time at 33 minutes; the center will likely still look very wobbly, so continue baking for 3 minutes at a time, checking frequently, until a cake tester comes out clean. My cake bakes for about 43-45 minutes.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
zest of 1 medium orange
1 cup orange juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 340 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 sheet cake pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, honey, vegetable oil, eggs, and orange zest. Beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and orange juice alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour and beating until just combined. Batter will be very runny.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 33-43 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely before serving. This cake can be served as-is or dressed up with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or my favorite, a drizzly icing made of powdered sugar and orange juice.

Pound Cake

The Christmas before Mike and I got married, to help me prepare for married lady-ness, my mom gave me the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook. Its red and white plaid cover shelters a binder of classic BH&G recipes—70 years worth, in fact. It is the most useful book that I possess, or have ever read.

A treasure chest of middle-class American cuisine, this cookbook features information about weight and measure conversions, emergency substitutions, the different types of pasta, the merits of butter over margarine in baked goods, a glossary of common cooking terms, and diagrams of the different cuts of meat. Unlike some of the other cookbooks I’ve used, the BH&G has never failed me. Every single recipe I’ve made from it—and believe me, I’ve nearly exhausted the cookie and cake chapters—turns out exactly as expected. This speaks volumes for BH&G’s test kitchens, and makes things so much easier for self-taught cooks and bakers.

This pound cake recipe is a slight adaptation from the one in the BH&G (I tripled the quantity of vanilla) and yields a sturdy but tender texture that would be an ideal base for a trifle. It could be accessorized by any number of glazes, though I highly recommend pairing this cake with whipped cream (or whipped topping, as is pictured above) and the summer fruit of your choice or a handful of chocolate chips.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Let butter, eggs, and sour cream stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour an 8x4x2 loaf pan.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar and continue beating on medium or medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, about 7 minutes.

Beat in vanilla.

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each; scrape the bowl well before adding your next egg.

Add flour mixture and sour cream alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, beating after each until ingredients are just combined.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely before serving.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Today, Soergel Orchards is having their annual Strawberry Festival. Beyond picking your own berries in their fields, you can get your face painted, go on a hay ride, jump in a bouncy castle, or in my case, enter a strawberry recipe contest.

How does the self-taught baker set out to win her first competition? She thinks about what she’d want to eat, and goes from there. This recipe is a confectionery interpretation of an iconic summer drink, and I’m proud to say that it won first place.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup strawberry puree
1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 medium lemon
8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
About 1/2 to 3/4 cup lemon curd, at room temperature

Preparation

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake tins with 16 paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together strawberry puree, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest; set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until light in color. Gradually add sugar and beat until fully incorporated; scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently. Add egg and egg whites, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated.

Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the strawberry mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently and beat for 1-2 minutes after the last addition of flour to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.

Scoop batter into prepared cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean; cool on a wire rack.

Using the small end of a melon baller, scoop out a small amount of cake from the center of each cupcake; fill with lemon curd (a half-teaspoon measuring spoon works well for filling if you don’t want to use a piping bag). Frost with fresh strawberry buttercream; store cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Bring cupcakes to room temperature before serving.

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Scant ¼ cup strawberry puree

Preparation

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and lemon juice on low speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Gradually add powdered sugar, in half-cup increments, beating until fully incorporated.

Add strawberry puree, mixing until completely incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop frosting onto tops of cupcakes and spread with an offset spatula. Frosting can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days; refrigerate cupcakes after they are filled and frosted for up to 3 days.

Note: you can adjust the sweetness or tartness of this frosting very easily by adding more lemon juice or puree; you’ll just need to add more sifted powdered sugar so the frosting isn’t too runny.

Victory! Yep, that’s me with the star of today’s festival, The Strawberry.

Planet Cupcakes

Not everyone can eat chocolate, and my mom is one of those folks. And because our nephew Roman requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his birthday party this past weekend, I needed an alternative for Grandma Genny, who was also in attendance. The result: planet-themed vanilla cupcakes.

The most time-consuming aspect of these cupcakes was, quite obviously, the decoration.You need a decent quantity of vanilla buttercream, lots of food coloring, and plenty of time. It was a lot of fun to interpret the planets in frosting, though; I used a few colors mixed together for Venus, Earth, and Jupiter and got out the pastry bag for the rings on Saturn and Uranus, and of course the Sun, which was my favorite (and, incidentally, was the cupcake that I ate).

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time; scrape down bowl, and beat in vanilla.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among liners, about three-quarters full each.

Bake until golden and tops spring back to touch, 20-22 minutes.

Transfer pans to wire rack; cool completely before frosting.

For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
3 to 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
Both liquid and gel food coloring; I used yellow and blue liquid coloring and golden yellow, orange, red, royal blue, and violet gel coloring

Preparation

Place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment.

Add 3 cups powdered sugar. With your mixer on low, incorporate the powdered sugar into the butter. (Hint: I find that placing a kitchen towel over the mixer during this stage prevents a powdered sugar blizzard.)

Increase speed and add 1 tablespoon vanilla, salt, and milk.

Beat for 3 minutes, then taste. If you’d like a stronger vanilla flavor, add the second tablespoon of vanilla, along with the additional ¼ cup of powdered sugar. Beat until combined and very smooth; you want an easily-spreadable consistency.

To Decorate

You’ll need just a few tablespoons of frosting for each cupcake, but I started out by tinting larger quantities in the colors I knew I’d need more of, like yellow and blue, then darkened them as I went along. Reserve as much un-tinted buttercream as you can so that you can lighten colors if you need to; I also used un-tinted frosting to pipe “Happy Birthday Roman” and some stars on Roman’s chocolate cake.

The Sun

Tint about four tablespoons of frosting using golden yellow gel food coloring. Fit an 8-inch pastry bag with a star tip and pipe lines radiating out from the center of the cupcake to cover the top, then pipe additional “rays” so that they stand up vertically from the surface of the cupcake.

Mercury

Tint about a half-cup of frosting using yellow liquid food coloring; you’ll just need a few drops to create the very pale yellow of Mercury. Frost the cupcake and create a smooth surface.

Venus

Tint a few tablespoons of frosting using orange gel food coloring; apply a thin layer of frosting, then add both yellow and un-tinted buttercream to create swirls.

Earth

Tint about a half-cup of frosting using blue liquid food coloring; you’ll just need a few drops to create a pale blue that you can use for Neptune. Remove a small portion of the light blue and tint it darker, using royal blue gel food coloring. Frost the cupcake using swirls of both blues and some white; add piped white “clouds” if you like.

Mars

Tint a few tablespoons of frosting using red gel food coloring. Frost the cupcake and create a smooth surface.

Jupiter

Using un-tinted, yellow, and orange frosting, frost the cupcake and create band-like effects with your spatula (or knife, whatever you’re using). Using a toothpick, dab some red frosting on to create the dust storm and drag the toothpick through the other color bands to create hints of red.

Saturn

Darken the orange frosting you used for Venus and frost the cupcake to create a smooth surface. Tint a very small amount of frosting violet using violet gel food coloring; fit an 8-inch pastry bag with a leaf tip and pipe very loose rings.

Uranus

Reserve some of the pale blue frosting for Neptune; darken the blue that you used for Earth and frost the cupcake to create a smooth surface. Pipe un-tinted rings using a star tip or plain tip.

Neptune

Using the pale blue frosting you created before you frosted Earth and Uranus, frost the cupcake and create a smooth surface.

What about Pluto?

Yes, I also frosted Pluto using the violet frosting I had for Saturn’s rings, but there was no room for Pluto on my cake plate. And since Pluto was downgraded from planet status a few years ago anyway, I thought that was okay 🙂

Roman’s Birthday Cake

Our nephew Roman turned six yesterday. Mike and I moved back to Pittsburgh right after he was born, so we’ve had front-row seats to watch him grow up. It seems like just last week he was swaddled and drinking from a bottle. Now, he plays Angry Birds on my brother’s iPad and runs around the house with a light sabre telling me that “Jedi knights only need to sleep once a year, Auntie,” when I attempt to put him to bed.

Roman is a funny, intelligent lad who requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his birthday. It’s an easy recipe, yielding a single layer cake that is good for smaller parties (we hosted Roman’s family party, with seven people in attendance, at it worked out very well). To complement our outer space theme, I also baked Planet Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and used some of the vanilla buttercream to decorate this cake.

For the Chocolate Cake (originally posted on 12/29/12)

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the pan one of two ways: grease the bottom, line it with a circle of waxed paper, then grease the paper and the sides of the pan and flour well, or use Wilton Bake Easy! Nonstick spray. This time, I used the Wilton spray and it worked very well.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add milk, shortening, and vanilla, beating on medium speed for two minutes.

Add egg and beat on medium speed for another two minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan; it will be a light brown color and very fluffy in texture.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool cake on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan (if you desire) to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Almond Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, softened to a texture like ice cream (not too soft)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 tablespoon milk

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 30 seconds.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Cover your mixer with a kitchen towel to prevent a powdered sugar/cocoa storm and set your mixer on low, beating until all the sugar and powder is incorporated into the butter; this takes a few minutes.

Add vanilla and beat for one to two minutes, then add the almond and beat for a few minutes, and finally the milk, beating for a few minutes. You want a very smooth, easily-spreadable texture.

Frost the cake according to your preferred frosting thickness; decorate as you like.

AVC (Almond Vanilla Caramel) Cupcakes

Tonight, my mom is having “the kids” over for dinner. The kids” used to mean my brother Andy and me, then morphed into either one of us and our spouses, or all four of us. Add my nephew Roman in and “the kids” range in age from five to 39.

Because there will be a small group of us at dinner and I’m not eating sweets for the next four months (let’s just say my scale and I aren’t friends at the moment and leave it at that for now), I wanted a recipe that would make just one dozen, so I adapted a basic one-dozen recipe to include both almond and vanilla flavors, then added caramel icing because my mom is a caramel fan. Midway through the caramel, I decided to whip up some chocolate drizzle icing to embellish half of the cupcakes for those who are chocolate fans. The end result is a cupcake from my wildest dreams. Too bad I won’t be eating them!

Almond Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time; scrape down bowl, and beat in vanilla.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among liners, about three-quarters full each.

Bake until golden and tops spring back to touch, 20-22 minutes.

Transfer pans to wire rack; cool completely before frosting.

Caramel Frosting

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
About 1.5 ounces milk (you need half of 1/3 of a cup of milk)
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
About 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and slowly bring to a boil.

Boil for one minute, remove from heat, and stir in milk.

Return to heat and bring to a boil once again.

Pour mixture into mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

Beat caramel mixture on medium speed for a few minutes to disperse heat; the mixing bowl should not be too hot for you to touch, but if it remains warm that is fine.

Add one cup powdered sugar and one teaspoon vanilla, beating until smooth.

Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth.

Transfer frosting to a 12-inch piping bag fitted with a large plain tip. Working quickly, pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

In a small saucepan, melt butter.

Add cocoa powder and stir to combine, then remove from heat.

Add milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. It may be necessary to add additional powdered sugar to ensure that your drizzle isn’t too thin.

Transfer drizzle to an 8-inch piping bag fitted with a medium plain tip. Pipe drizzle over caramel frosting. Alternatively, you could just use a spoon and literally drizzle the drizzle.

Chocolate Cake

My five-year-old nephew Roman took a bite of a homemade sugar cookie on Christmas Day and made a face I wasn’t expecting: he wrinkled his nose and shook his head, the universal sign for “I don’t like this.” How could this be, I wondered? He’s a kid, right? Don’t children love sugar?

My brother Andy, Roman’s dad, remarked that kids eat a lot of processed foods, that they’re not necessarily used to homemade tastes. This make me think about the difference between the baked goods you buy at the store–packaged cookies, boxed cake mixes–and how different they really are from homemade. If you bake a cake from a mix, you’ll get fluffy, moist layers that will stay fresh for several days. Bake a cake from eggs, flour, butter, and sugar, and you’ll get a denser, more crumbly treat that lasts three, maybe four days tops (depending on your ability to resist slicing up a huge piece every time you pass your cake stand).

This recipe is a simple, one-bowl affair that requires no melted chocolate, just cocoa powder, and yields a single layer. Caramel frosting pairs well with this cake, but I chose to dust it with powdered sugar, make some whipped cream, and serve it “plain.”

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish, if desired

Preparation

Grease and flour a nine-inch round cake pan; set aside. Note: if you plan to leave the cake in the pan, you can simply grease and flour it, but if you wish to remove the cake from the pan to set it on a cake stand, I recommend greasing the bottom of the pan, lining it with a circle of waxed paper, then greasing and flouring the paper.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add milk, shortening, and vanilla, beating on medium speed for two minutes.

Add egg and beat on medium speed for another two minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan; it will be a light brown color and very fluffy in texture.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool cake on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan (if you desire) to cool completely.

Dust with powdered sugar and top with sweetened whipped cream if desired.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Ingredients

3/4 cup whipping cream
3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preparation

Chill your bowl and beaters (or whisk attachment) for 10-15 minutes.

Add whipped cream and powdered sugar to the chilled bowl and beat on medium, then medium-high speed until soft peaks form.

Buche de Noel

At last…buche de noel. This cake took me literally all day to make, between other baking, errands, and visits. A quick internet search revealed the the yule log was a literal log, tossed on the fire around winter solstice. The literal log somehow evolved into a French treat of chocolate cake, whipped cream-like filling, and chocolate ganache frosting. I love traditional buche de noel, but since my mom is coming over for Christmas dinner tomorrow and she doesn’t eat chocolate, voila…almond buche de noel!

Part One: Almond Sponge Cake

Ingredients

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Grease a 10 x 15 x 1 baking pan; line with parchment and grease the parchment; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl using the whisk attachment, beat eggs on medium speed for three minutes.

Gradually add sugar and beat until mixture is thick and lemon-colored.

Stir in almond extract.

Gently fold in flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 15 minutes, until center of cake springs back when touched.

Remove from oven; flip onto a cooling rack, remove parchment paper, then quickly flip onto a towel coated with powdered sugar.

Roll up tightly from the short end, place on a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely before filling.

Part Two: Almond Whipped Cream Filling

Ingredients

3/4 cup whipping cream
½ teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preparation

In a chilled bowl, combine whipping cream, almond extract, and powdered sugar.

Using a chilled whisk beater, beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.

Carefully un-roll cake and spread filling inside.

Re-roll cake tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for a few hours before frosting.

Part Three: Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Place butter in a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment and beat for a few minutes.

Add powdered sugar, and with the mixer on low, beat until all sugar is incorporated into the butter. (Hint: I place a kitchen towel over my mixer during this stage to prevent a powdered sugar blizzard.)

Increase speed to medium; add vanilla and beat for three minutes, then taste. If you’d like a stronger vanilla flavor or to increase the sweetness, add additional extract and a few tablespoons of powdered sugar.

Remove cake from plastic wrap; cut off each end to create a flat surface, or leave intact for a more rustic appearance. Brush off excess powdered sugar, otherwise your frosting will not stick.

Frost cake to look like a log, using broad strokes with a butter knife.

Pumpkin Roll

I love that scene in “Julie & Julia” when Julie Powell kneels before her coffee table, preparing to follow along with the episode of “The French Chef” in which Julia Child de-bones a duck. With that scary chef’s knife in her hand, Julie nods to the television and says, as if hoping to convince herself, “No fear, Julia.”

I thought about this scene while contemplating pumpkin roll over the past few weeks. The concept of the pumpkin roll has long intimidated me. Roll the piping hot cake in a tea towel? What if it cracks? What if it sticks to the towel? What if it’s a total disaster?

Well, if Julie Powell could de-bone a duck, then surely I could make a pumpkin roll.

I summoned as much bravery as possible, mixed my ingredients, and baked my cake. There was a precarious, breath-holding moment when I flipped the cake out of the pan onto a cooling rack, peeled back the waxed paper, then immediately slid it onto the sugar-coated towel. With hope, I rolled the cake in the towel and set it on a cooling rack.

A few hours later, with the filling prepared, I stood before my towel-wrapped cake. Carefully peeling back the towel, I discovered that it was not only intact, but crack-free. After slathering on the filling I re-rolled the cake, secured it in plastic wrap, and with a profound sense of satisfaction, placed it in the fridge to chill.

No fear, bakers.

Ingredients

For the cake:

3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin

For the filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan, then line with waxed paper and grease and flour the paper.

Place a clean tea towel (linen or flour sack, nothing too textured) on the counter top and sprinkle it generously with powdered sugar.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Beat until thickened, about three to five minutes.

Add pumpkin and beat well.

Stir in flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top.

Bake for 13 minutes; the top should be just golden-brown and spring back slightly when pressed.

Working quickly and carefully, invert the pan onto a cooling rack, peel off the waxed paper, and slide or flip the cake onto the tea towel.

Roll up the cake and allow to cool on a wire rack completely before filling.

For the filling:

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; beat until smooth.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until very well combined.

Carefully un-roll the cake from the tea towel.

Spread filling in an even layer, leaving about a half-inch border at the long edges.

Re-roll the cake and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

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