Pumpkin Molasses Mousse Roll

I know there were a gazillion pumpkin recipes floating around in October. Hmm...I don't remember seeing a Pumpkin Pie. Not that there weren't any out there....I just didn't see 'em. Or maybe I did and I just don't remember. That doesn't mean that if it was your pumpkin pie that I saw that it was immemorable....it's just means that my memory really sucks.

And this recipe will prove it.

Big time. sometimes I am such a dork

ok...I found a recipe for Pumpkin Mousse Roll last year around this time. It had seen something briefly while watching Paula Deen. But it wasn't of her cooking...she was showing off some restaurant or bakery and they didn't give the recipe.

Don't you just hate that? All those awesome places these food stars go to and tell us about all the great food...and they don't share the recipe. Whats that all about?! (btw...my Auntie E., well...she sent me a cookbook that has a bunch of restaurant recipes in it....hee hee.)

Anyways...where was I? oooh....Pumpkin Mousse Roll. Ok, so I saw this incredible looking way yummy dessert on tv. No recipe, right? So I searched the internet. And I found a recipe. I have no idea where. I swear if I did, I'd give them kudos big time.

Soo....the recipe was a big hit with friends and family alike.

But me being me...well, I just have to tweak and play and see what will happen if I add and subtract and re-do...will it be better? will it be a complete flop? (will anyone be brave enough to be honest?)


I omitted nutmeg and added cloves to the original recipe. Then I added molasses to the mousse. What I really wanted to add was maple syrup. But I had a brain fart (have you seen that commercial about brain farts? It's hysterical!!!) and molasses got stuck in my brain and thats what went in.

So you have proof....my memory sucks.

Good lord, what am I doing? This is going to be a long post as it is and here I am just chatting away.

Pumpkin roll part of the recipe ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup a.p. flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Molasses mousse filling ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese - softened
4 tablespoons butter - softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 TB molasses (or maple syrup)

See that pan that the pumpkin roll ingredients are in? In case you didn't know (cuz I didn't until about a year ago) that is called a jelly-roll pan. And it's 10 x 15 inches. You need to prep the pan. Spray the pan with non-cook cooking spray or use some shortening. Then get a sheet of parchment paper and line the pan with it.

This will prevent the parchment paper from sliding around and will make it easy to remove the pumpkin roll "sheet" from the pan.

In a large bowl, combine your eggs and sugar. Beat well. Then add the pumpkin and lemon juice (make sure the seeds don't make it in) and mix together until blended. Combine your dry ingredients (oh man do they smell good) and add them to your pumpkin mixture. Spread the batter into your parchment paper lined jelly-roll pan

Make sure you spread the mixture evenly in your pan, spreading it all the way to the edges. It will be thin...but you don't want to see the bottom of the pan through the batter.

Bake in a 350' oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool for another 15 minutes

While it's cooling, you need to prepare a cotton kitchen towel. Not terry clothe. Cotton. Liberally sprinkle powdered sugar on your towel in an area that is about the size of the pumpkin roll sheet. I didn't have a cotton towel...like those tea towels? This was the best I could do. It wasn't as thick as the terry clothe towels...but it had me concerned so I really laid on the powdered sugar. I did not want my pumpkin roll sheet to stick to it. Cuz.....after it's done cooling, you're going to gently flip the pumpkin roll sheet over (just take it by the parchment paper turn it over)...and peel off the paper.

Don't worry too much about the edges. We'll take care of them later. Let the "sheet" cool another 10 minutes and then from the short side (the 10 inch side) of the sheet, you're going to roll the cake up in the towel

While that is doing whatever it does while it's all rolled up, we're going to make that molasses mousse.

Beat together the cream cheese and butter (with cream cheese in it, you know it's gonna be good). Stir in the powdered sugar and the vanilla and blend until smooth.

Ok...this is the fork in the road....are you gonna leave it as is? Cuz you can. It's wonderful just like this. This is how I made it before.

Or......are you gonna take the molasses plunge? Oh come on....lets experiment. See what happens.

Pour in the molasses and beat until smooth

See? It wasn't that hard. And check out this rich caramelly color.

I don't know about you but this stuff is speaking to me.

Now it's time to see what the pumpkin roll sheet is up to. Unroll it....

Oh crud...it cracked. hmmm....well....that's ok. Well just hide it inside. Shhh...don't tell anyone. That end will be the first to roll.....(que evil, sinister laugh) muuuaaaaaahahahahaaa

Evenly spread your mousse...whether you chickened out and used just the cream cheese filling or went all out and used molasses (or did you show me up and use what I really wanted to use....maple syrup?). Spread that filling all over the sheet.....all the way to the edges. And carefully roll it up...(cracked side first of course)

Wrap it in plastic and let it chill in the fridge for an hour or more.

When you're ready to serve it....slice off the ugly ends (pop 'em in your mouth to make sure it's as good as I've promised)

Doesn't that edge look so much prettier? Use a clean serrated knife (clean in between cuts) to get a nice even cut. Btw....while in the fridge, the roll soaked up most of the powdered sugar that was left on there from the towel. To make it all pretty, sprinkle some more powdered sugar over the top before serving.

And you guessed it...this is going to be one of the desserts that is served for Thanksgiving this year. But first, this roll is going to be covered with wax paper, plastic wrap, then stuck into a ziplock bag and plopped in the freezer until the big day.

But you don't honestly think I didn't taste it before I hid it away, do you? (rolls her eyes)...what kind of a sugar hound foodie would I be if I did that? You wanna know what I think? Hmm....ok, I love...absolutely love the addition of cloves in the pumpkin roll sheet. It gave it a kind of gingerbread-ish flavor to it. And the molasses? It's not as "pretty" as the plain cream cheese mousse but it has a nice, mild flavor. It begins to pop at the end and then quickly fades before you realize what you tasted. No one else has tasted it yet....so I don't know what the true verdict is.

I had considered adding another tablespoon of the molasses for more flavor, but I think it would've made the mousse too thin and then I'd have to add more powdered sugar...and then I'd probably add too much of that and I'd go back and forth and then crud...the cream cheese flavor would be gone and I'd have to mix in another block of that and next thing you know...I'd have enough to frost a cake.

Hmmm....might not be a bad idea after all.