Pumpkin Roll Cake

This is MY season...I am so excited that the official start of Autumn is only one day away.  I just love fall, the weather gets cooler, the leaves start to turn, there is all kinds of fall themed festivals and fairs and most of all, there are pumpkins.  I think pumpkin should have it's own food group.  I could eat some sort of pumpkin flavored food every day.  My favorite would have to be pumpkin pie, a classic, but I also like pumpkin cakes and puddings.  I am not picky when it comes to pumpkin!!  One of my favorites growing up as a kid was the pumpkin roll my Grandma Higgins used to make.  I remember her making a bunch all at once and then wrapping them in foil and putting them in the freezer.  She would bring out those frozen silver rolls at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and we couldn't wait for dessert.  You could slice them right from the freezer and eat it half frozen.  Yumm.  I mean, whats not to love about a sweet, spicy, moist pumpkin cake wrapped around a rich, cream cheese filling.  Well, I guess if I could find one thing wrong with it, it would be the mess.  I am not a big fan of messes.  No, I can't say that...messes don't bother me, it's the cleaning them up that bothers me.  Really, who gets excited about doing dishes?  If you've ever made a pumpkin roll, then you know, there can be a mess.  You need to roll it up to cool in a towel covered with powdered sugar.  This gets sugar everywhere.  I am not fond of the whole towel rolling process.  So I thought...What if I could make a pumpkin roll without the roll?  I made the basic sheet pumpkin roll recipe and just left it in the sheet pan.   Then I topped it with the filling and place it in the fridge.  The first time it was just OK.  The cake was a little too thin.  Much better for rolling.  So I redid the cake part and upped the filling amount to make a nice thick frosting.  It came out great.  All the flavor of the original roll but with much less mess. Yummm.  Here's the recipe...ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Roll Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 - 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla

4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, beat sugar, pumpkin, oil and eggs.  In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder,cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Add all at once to the pumpkin mixture and mix well.  Pour into a greased 15 x 10 in. baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool. 

Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Gradually add the confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.  Spread over cooled cake.  Refrigerate.