the new pumpkin roll.

after yesterday's purchase of pumpkins galore, i was inspired to make my favorite pumpkin dessert. the pumpkin roll!

my mom and i used to make the pumpkin roll around this time of year, and it would disappear rather quickly. you can't really blame us. a pumpkin-flavored cake with a cream cheese filling? yes, please.

i had been thinking about it all year. wondering if i would ever make it again. wondering if i could stand the taste of vegan cream cheese. but, you know, you won't know until you try it.

original libby's pumpkin roll recipe.

it's very easy to veganize this recipe. all you have to do is replace the animal products with vegan versions and voila! i'm sure there are other ways to do this that what i did, like making the filling with cashew cheese instead, or even tofu. this is what i used:

it really doesn't taste much like cream cheese. but add a cup of powdered sugar to it and you're golden!

wanna make it?

the vegan pumpkin roll

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp ground flax + 9 tbsp warm water
1 cup pure cane sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 8oz container vegan cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tbsp vegan butter, like earth balance <3
1 tsp vanilla extract

for the cake:
preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. line a 10x15 inch cookie sheet with parchment paper. grease it then sprinkle with flour. make sure to grease and flour well so the cake comes off easily.

in a small bowl, mix the ground flax with the warm water and set aside to thicken.

in a medium bowl, mix these dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt.

once the flax "eggs" have thickened, beat them in a large bowl with the 1 cup of pure cane sugar. then beat in the pumpkin. stir in the flour mixture. spread evenly into the prepared cookie sheet. if you like walnuts, you can sprinkle some on top before baking. i like walnuts, but not on my pumpkin roll.

bake cake for 13-15 minutes. mine took about 18 minutes before it was completely set. while it's baking, sprinkle a kitchen towel (preferably one with not many fuzzies) with powdered sugar. kind of rub it in then sprinkle on some more, enough so the cake won't stick to it. once the cake is out of the oven, immediately turn it out onto the towel and hopefully the parchment paper will come off easily. i have had a time with this in the past, but this time the paper literally fell off as i was flipping the cake and i was ecstatic!

roll up the cake with the towel and cool on a wire rack.

yum.

the good part.

the filling:
beat vegan cream cheese with the 1 cup of powdered sugar, earth balance, and vanilla until smooth.

important: refrigerate the filling until it has stiffened up a bit. trust me, you don't want your cream cheese filling spilling out everywhere while you're rolling up the cake.

oh man haha. i had about a cup of it spill out because it was too....soupy. yeah. but that's ok, i have plans for it.

once the cake has cooled completely, unroll and spread the filling mixture over it. roll it back up (this time without the towel) and refrigerate for at least an hour, or until you can't stand waiting any longer.



it's amazing. and i'm very happy that i can keep up with this holiday tradition :)