The choice this week was no contest. I am intently fixed on trying to incorporate the use of some ancient grains, which I have affectionately started calling "good grains," into our everyday diet. For this moment in time, I am trying to eat less wheat & am frustrated by the poor variety of choices, in our market places, of high quality wheat-free items. Choices filled with tapioca starch, corn flour & high fructose corn syrup…all choices off the glycemic index charts, cheap & cardboardy. What will continue to follow will be some of the recipes I am so excited about out of my new book, Grain Power.
Incidentally, I am watching an old episode of Parenthood, as I blog. For any of you that watch the show with the commitment that I do, it is the episode, "Let's Be Mad Together." As always, the family touches on much that is seemingly relevant to my life & close to my heart. This episode, stopped my typing in its tracks, as they dealt with the forthcoming marriage of Ryan & Amber. Ryan has had a less than fortunate past & has been grossly misunderstood my Amber's Mom. I am, since Christmas, a new Mother-in-law-to-be. And our daughter has fallen in love with a young man from a similar back story. Why do we always create, in our minds, a version of how our children's lives will play out? Versions where knights ride in on white steeds in shining armour & sweep our daughters off their feet. More often than not, they pull up in an old TransAm in a faded T-shirt & jeans "& sweep our daughters off their feet." And as long as they have love in their hearts, for our princesses, I guess the shattered version of our pseudo reality matters not. We are, indeed, super excited & somewhat scared to death at the fact that our wedding is going to take place in July…..this July!! Now that should have taken some of the guess-work out of what forthcoming blogs may banter on about…buckle up!
But, back to the business at hand.
Good Grain Pumpkin Roll
1/3 C Sorghum flour
1/3 C Millet flour
1/3 C Oat flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp Xanthan gum (a natural carb stabilizer for recipes without gluten)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 C brown sugar, light packed
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 C pumpkin puree
1/3 C walnuts, chopped (mine were, of course, freshly shelled, & picked this fall at the beautiful Gellatly Nut Farm)
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a deep rimmed baking sheet (a big one, appx 17" X 11") with Pam. Line the pan with parchment & spray the parchment as well.
In a large bowl (I used my mixmaster for this recipe) whisk the flours, cinnamon, xanthan gum, baking powder, ginger, & salt until well blended. Pour out of bowl onto a piece of wax paper. In the same bowl, whisk the brown sugar, eggs, egg whites, & pumpkin until blended & no lumps remain. Add the dry ingredients back in. This will be completely successful from your wax paper to bowl, but if you try to do from bowl to bowl, it can be a floury disaster. The wax paper method works every time! Mix until combined. Spread the dough in 2/3 of the pan only. Just eye-ball it. It will be about 1/2" thick. Sprinkle evenly with the walnuts. Bake for 12 mins or until edges are turning golden. Mine was perfect in 12 mins. You definitely don't want to overcook it, or it will crack when you try to roll it! Remove from oven & place on a wire rack to cool until WARM. It will roll best when warm, but don't try it when it is still hot - it will crack!
When cake is just warm, remove from cooling rack & place a "clean" dish towel over the entire cake with about 2" hanging over one end. (This all sounds a bit antiquated & crazy, but works perfectly!) Place the cooling rack over top of the towel. Flip the pan over onto the cooling rack & towel. Take the edge of the towel hanging over the end & fold it over that end of the cake and continue gently rolling the cake loosely into a log & cool completely. Cool at least 1 hour, could even leave overnight!
Cream Cheese Filling: (Perfect sweetness & unique texture)
1 1/2 C 1% milk
1 tsp vanilla (white vanilla, if you have it so your filling stays beautifully white - I had to use regular - when my Mom was alive, she always made sure I had Watkins white vanilla for times such as this…I must see if Watkins still exists & get my hands on some again…)
1/2 C brown sugar, light packed
3 tbsp corn starch
1 8 oz. pkg light cream cheese, cut into smaller cubes
Whisk the milk, brown sugar, & cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly! It will start to thicken about 1 minute after starting to bubble, so have your cheese ready! Incorporate in the cheese, little by little & stir until melted. You will need to reduce heat. Remove from heat & stir in your vanilla. Fit a piece of parchment so it rests directly on top of the surface of this filling & allow it to cool completely.
Gently unroll the cake. Spread evenly with the filling & roll back up into a log, without the tea towel now, of course. (The filling will have gotten quite firm or even gelatinous so give it a good stir until it is creamy again) Cover with Saran & refrigerate for at least 3 hours (if you can) before serving.
Trim both ends off (they are for the cook if she isn't on the 100-day no-dessert challenge!) & cut into 8 or more servings. I cut mine into 10 & the pieces were still very generous! I served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled every so slightly with cinnamon agave nectar & garnished with a plump Gellatly walnut…and the crowd went wild…well, at least, they really liked it!!
Introducing: The wax-paper method…works every time!!
This is how my cake looked spread out in the pan.
The crazy "tea-towel" rolling method. It worked perfectly!
I shoulda' sliced off a piece. Then could have captioned it, "as pictured." It really did turn out cookbook/textbook! Make. Eat. Enjoy!!
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