Pumpkin Swiss roll/roulade with ginger buttercream

Refrigerator contents: Leftover pumpkin. Fresh ginger. My brain says: Need cake. What to make…Pumpkin spice Swiss roll with ginger buttercream, of course! Bring the aromatic spicy smell of autumn cooking to your kitchen, trust me there will be no regret! I had so much fun making this; I’d always dreamed of making a roulade but always thought they looked so technical, like, how do you roll sponge without it cracking and how does it all stay together?! but, muahahahaha, may I present…a roulade!! (It’s not even that technical and mine turned out far better than I had hoped). Give it a try! It’s a perfect Autumnal dessert with a spicy kick to get rid of any cold shivers of freezing-ness you may have, (as I write this, I am an actual prehistoric sabre-tooth tiger, drenched in snow-cold…snow. Not only that but the aforementioned sabre-tooth tiger is in a frozen ice-block, in a freezer, in a larger freezer, in the depths of Antarctica; the bottom line is, the boiler has broken and there’s no central heating and so I am freezing, time for a Swiss roll!) Anyway, back to the recipe, here it is!:

(Note: no sabre-tooth tigers were hurt during the making of this Swiss roll)

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Preparation time:

(Pumpkin purée) 15 mins

(Pumpkin sponge) 15 mins

(Ginger buttercream) 10 mins

 

Cooking time:

(Pumpkin purée) 7-10 mins

(Pumpkin sponge) 10-12 mins

—All-in-all, around 2 1/2 – 3 hours, including cooking and cooling time,etc.

 

Makes:

1 small Swiss roll

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You will need…

(For the purée):

🍁 1 small pumpkin, enough to yield 170g, alternatively use tinned pumpkin purée

 

(For the sponge):

🍂 100g coconut flour/plain white flour (unbleached)

🍁 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

🍂 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

🍁 1/2 tsp baking powder

🍂 1/8 tsp salt

🍁 3 tbsp coconut oil

🍂 4 tbsp local honey/maple syrup

 

(For the buttercream):

🍁 170g olive butter

🍂 3 tbsp coconut flour/plain flour

🍁 4 tbsp maple syrup/honey

🍂 20g fresh ginger

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How to make:

(The pumpkin purée…)

1) Cut the pumpkin in half, then quarters, remove the insides (save the seeds for roast pumpkin seed snacks!) cut into cubes and chop off the skin. In a large pan, half fill with water, add the pumpkin and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for around 7 minutes until the pieces are tender.

2) Drain the water (I saved mine just in case pumpkin water comes in handy any time soon…?) and put the pumpkin in a large jug/blender. Blend with a hand blender or food processor until smooth; measure out 170g and set aside.

 

(The pumpkin sponge…)

1) Preheat your oven to 175°C(fan). Line a sheet pan of around 13×10″ with baking paper.

2) In a small bowl, add the flour, salt, leavening agents and cinnamon, set aside.

3) In another bowl, add the coconut oil (melt for around 1 minute in the microwave), pumpkin purée and maple syrup/honey, mix well. Pour half the flour mixture into the wet ingredients bowl, stir, then add the rest. Mix until you get a smooth consistency.

4) Pour the mixture into the tin and smooth flat, making sure it reaches all corners (note the mixture will be quite thin but this is ok). Bake for around 10-12 minutes until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

5) As soon as you get the cake out of the oven, put a clean tea-towel over it, and a board on top of that e.g a chopping board. Make sure it’s longer and wider than the cake itself; the aim is to flip the cake so it sits comfortably on the board and out of its tin, (be careful, this is HOT!)

6) Slowly peel off the baking paper. Use the tea towel to carefully roll the cake quite tightly (the tea-towel should be rolled up in the cake), let cool for at least an hour. (When you unroll afterwards to spread the buttercream, the sponge will ‘remember’ it’s shape, making it easier to construct later).

(For the buttercream…)

1) Whilst waiting for the sponge to cool, in a small bowl, cream the butter until soft. Add the honey/maple syrup and mix well. For the ginger, use a garlic crusher if you have one, or just a knife to chop the ginger very finely. Begin by washing and peeling the ginger; either use the garlic crusher or a fork (to mash), to extract 2 1/2 tbsp of ginger juice, add to the buttercream and mix. The rest of the flesh can be chopped finely and added to the buttercream for added kick; I added 5-6 pinches of it however you should add to taste, taste as you go along for more/less ginger.

 

Time to roulade!

1) Slowly unravel the sponge, use a pallet knife or the back of a spoon to spread an even layer of buttercream, be sure to leave around a 1 1/2cm boarder around the sponge so it doesn’t all ooze out when rolled up. Also be sure to spread the buttercream right under the part of the sponge that’s curled the most to achieve a perfect swirl at the end.

2) Slowly roll the 10″ side until you can roll no more, use a serrated bread knife to saw off around 1cm at each end for your swirl of dreams to be on full show, and, voila! Pumpkin and ginger spice Swiss roll, it’s all under control!

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