The Lazyman's Pumpkin Log

When I was in college, my roommates and I one Christmas somehow came up with the idea to look for a Yule Log. Maybe it was because none of us had had one since we were kids or maybe it was just the thrill of the hunt. Who knows? Amazingly...or not, Berkeley turned out to be a difficult place to find one. We went from Safeway to Safeway, bakery to bakery, and yet nothing. We didn't find one that year, and we didn't try any other years. Being that the holidays are upon us made me reminisce to that moment and made me wonder why we didn't just bake our own Yule Log. Well this year seemed like as good a year as any to start! Of course, being the lazyman and a pumpkin lover, I decided to just make a simple Pumpkin Log.


This recipe itself is an adaptation of Libby's Pumpkin Roll. I like my spice breads with a generous amount of spices, but you can adjust that to according to your preference. Also, just to add a little more texture, I incorporated some chopped walnuts into the filling to add some depth :).

1/4 C. powdered sugar
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. allspice
1 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
3 eggs
1 C. sugar
1 C. canned pumpkin

filling:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 C. powdered sugar, sifted
4 T. butter, softened
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1 t. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 15×10 jelly roll pan (also known as half sheet pan); line with parchment or waxed paper. Grease and flour paper; set aside. Spread out a clean, thin dish towel on the counter (make sure the towel is larger than your jelly roll pan); sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar (this can be done using a mesh strainer).

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves.

3. In a large bowl combine eggs and sugar; beat until thickened. Add pumpkin; beat until well mixed.

4. Stir in flour mixture into egg mixture. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, easing it carefully to the corners with a spatula.

5. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 13 to 15 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched.

6. Immediately loosen cake from edges of pan; invert cake onto the prepared towel. Remove pan; carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake in towel while hot, starting with 10-inch side. Cool completely on wire rack (will take at least an hour).

7. When cake is almost completely cooled, make the filling: beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Fold in chopped walnuts.

8. When cake has cooled completely, unroll, spread with the cream cheese filling then re-roll cake. Wrap rolled cake in plastic wrap then refrigerate at least one hour (overnight is best).

9. When ready to serve, unwrap cake and place on a platter. Top with walnuts for decoration. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired (sift the sugar through a small mesh strainer for a nice presentation). Cut into slices.

buns are hard

While I was in Korea over winter break, I got this amazing baking book by Young Mo Kim, THE man of the Korean Bakers Association. This book is full colored and has a range of delicious, ornate pastries and cakes including the ones you find in asian bakeries with custard and red bean filling inside. 

I had the urge to try baking something different last week so I made my first brave attempt at baking asian buns. I made one batch of sweet bread dough to make three different types of buns -- custard filling, red bean filling, and some with sweet crumb topping.  

I mixed all the ingredients and kneaded, pounded the dough for about 15 minutes manually (per instructions in the book) and my arms almost fell off so I think next time, I'll just use the KitchenAid mixer. The result was just okay. The bread was not as soft and moist as I had hoped. The custard filled one was my favorite because the custard gave the bun that extra moisture it needed. 

Next time, I think I will try a couple of things differently:

   1. use KitchenAid mixer to knead the dough more thoroughly

   2. use a combination of cake flour and bread flour as the book suggests rather than just all-purpose flour 

   3. find a good place to proof the dough (needs a constant 28 deg C environment.. perhaps a space heater and a bowl of water in a box will do?) 

   4. put more filling in the buns! 

cranberries

Have you seen fresh cranberries before? On the outside they're smooth and round, but on the inside, they look like four-leaf clovers. I had a bunch of cranberries leftover from Thanksgiving, so I made a cranberry upside-down coffee cake from this recipe. I brought this to a house-warming party, and the combination of cranberries, pecans, brown sugar, and spices baked together was a perfect contrast to the cold weather outside. Next time you have fresh or dried cranberries, give this a try!