NO HALLOWEEN TRICK WITH THIS TREAT

by Iris Woodbury

I made this bad boy for Halloween but you can enjoy it any time. What, you thought I just did writey things??? Check out the somewhat whimsical directions - but believe me, the result is AWESOME!

Toffee Rum Pumpkin Roll

Cake
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1¼ tsp. ground ginger
¾ tsp. ground allspice
6 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup golden brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup canned pumpkin (1/2 15 oz tin)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar

Filling
2 tbsp. spiced rum
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
6 tbsp. plus ½ cup soft toffee pieces for garnish
Additional powdered sugar, for garnish
Caramel sauce, warmed, and drizzled for garnish

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Line a 15 by 10 by 1-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Not the kind you write with, the kind you buy in the supermarket. Spray the parchment with nonstick cooking spray. Lots of it.

Sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice into a bowl. I used one of those old fashioned spirally sifters and it worked well for me.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for about a minute. Add the Pumpkin (just less than half a 15 oz tin) to the egg mixture and continue beating till incorporated. Still using your whisk, add the dry ingredients slowly (so the dry stuff doesn’t go airborne) and beat for another minute.

Get a fresh bowl and beat your egg whites and salt until you have fluffy marshmallow clouds (do not lick the spoon if you value your sanity.) Fold egg whites into the batter. This part is very therapeutic but resist the urge to do it all afternoon. Less is more with folding. Do it till the whites almost disappear, but no more.

Spread batter onto a baking sheet and level the goop out.

Time at last to put your nummy goop into the oven and bake. My oven gets excited and will do naughty things to the batter in 15 minutes but your magic might need 18. Do the toothpick thingy. Come on, if you can do all of the above you can do the toothpick thingy.

Before it cools, apply a thick dose of powdered sugar. Use a lot, imagine your asphalt disappearing under the snow. Put a clean kitchen towel on top, then flip this bad boy upside down. At the narrow end, fold about three inches of kitchen towel over the end and ever so carefully roll the cake. It can break here, so be super careful. YouTube is a wonderful place to look for videos if you want a pumpkin roll rolling demo. Chill for around an hour (the cake, not you) with the seam at the bottom.

AND THEN:
Wash your whisk and start beating the whipping cream and powdered sugar until you get soft peaks. It’s quite a shock for the cream so to calm it down, add a couple of tablespoons of rum. A little flavoring goes a long way with cream so resist the urge to throw in the entire bottle. Fold in 6 tablespoons soft toffee pieces.

AND THEN:
Take your super chilled cake from the fridge. Smear your creamy goop all over and re-roll carefully, seam-side down. Trim the ugly bits off the end with a bread knife as you don’t want to squish your masterpiece at this stage. Get overly excited with the powdered sugar again.

Grab some lovely caramel sauce (the kind you drizzle over ice-cream.) Zap it in the microwave, just long enough to soften it, but not so long it turned to liquid, then do the nice artistic drizzly pattern shown above.

Last, but not least, we sprinkled with the extra toffee. Soooo Goood.

Use a cream cheese frosting if you prefer, but I find it’s best to omit the toffee and caramel with cheese or it all gets super icky. Your stomach. Your call.

Here's a little from my latest release to tease your reading appetite.

"When sacrifice of blood is made,only then allegiance it will trade"

Flora, a dryad accused of murder and exiled from Mount Olympus…

Kytos, a battle-weary warrior who follows orders and believes the gods can’t be wrong…

Redwood, a fun-loving and perpetually aroused satyr…

What could these three possibly have in common? The Beryllium Chalice, the source of all life and power on Mount Olympus. With the chalice stolen from Mount Olympus by Hades, the other gods will weaken and Hades will be free to overthrow them and take control of the world. The only thing standing between the God of Death and his treacherous scheme are Flora, Kytos, and Redwood. They must band together to steal back The Beryllium Chalice and return it. In spite of their differences, can the three companions get the chalice and return it to Mount Olympus in time to save the gods and the world?

To read an excerpt from The Beryllium Chalice click here or here.

Iris Woodbury was born in London, England and currently lives in Maryland. She writes fantasy, fairy-tales, and romance. She loves nothing so much as a dusty old book except maybe an electronic new one. Iris is an avid cocoa worshipper and tea sipper - and a friend to all things of beauty. Her books include The Beryllium Chalice and Murder to a Tea. Iris is also a contributor the children's anthology, Read It Again, published by Alfie Dog Fiction.

Learn more about Iris Woodbury on her website.