It’s a miracle what you can do when you’re procrastinating. And as you can see, I really didn’t want to study.

So today I decided to give deco-roll a try, inspired by this video, but maybe it’s because of the quality of an almond-flour cake it’s very difficult for the cake to hold itself together. Especially the deco part of the cake. I mean, the cake certainly looks good, tastes delicious, but it’s not as pretty as I wanted it. Ah well.

I grew up with roll cakes – it’s the number-one selling cake in Chinese bakeries everywhere, I swear. I also had two whole cans of pumpkin that I didn’t even touch before halloween (I know, I know…) and I figured it was time to make something pumpkin, finally. And who doesn’t love pumpkin and cream cheese together? Come on.

The main recipe is courtesy of this lovely site, once again. I decided to keep to the original recipe but make the frosting sweeter instead, to compensate for the lack of sweetener in the cake itself. If you want to learn how to make a deco-roll, I also included the instructions for it at the end of my instructions – please read it first! Watch the video I linked if you’re still unsure.

**If you’re lazy and don’t want to roll cake: Split batter into 12 muffin liners and bake for 20-22 minutes instead. Frost top with cream cheese icing if you desire! The nutrition doesn’t change just because the shape’s different. :)

Ingredients

(Makes 2 mini rolls, or 1 giant roll! )

3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup pumpkin puree – make sure it’s “pure pumkin”, not “pumpkin pie filling”!

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

2.5 tbsp coconut flour

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp water

Cream cheese frosting + 1 extra packet of stevia

In a bowl, mix all ingredients except egg whites thoroughly until it becomes a smooth paste. In a separate bowl whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped egg whites into batter 1/2 at a time until incorporated.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius). Line bottom of pan with wax/parchment paper and grease lightly. Spread batter into pan and smooth the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes until edges are starting to brown. Touch the middle of the top of the cake – if the top is springy and bounces back when lightly tapped, it’s ready! (Alternatively, use the toothpick test)

Chill in fridge for at least an hour, covering the top with a moist paper towel. When chilled, remove from fridge and loosen edges with knife. Flip upside down onto another sheet of wax paper. I used a 11″ x 7″, so I cut the cake into 2 to make 2 mini deco-rolls, but if you use a 8″ or 9″ square pan you can make one giant roll! Score lightly Spread frosting in a thin layer on the cake (leaving about 1″ at the end), then with the wax paper, roll cake tightly into a log. It may get a little messy! Keep cake in the wax paper while storing in the fridge. Remove the wax paper to serve!

**Optional step, for a deco-roll: before incorporating the egg whites, spoon 1/4 cup batter into another container and incorporate your choice of colouring agent for your pattern. Mix well, then spoon mix into a ziploc or pastry bag. Cut a corner, and pipe design onto the greased parchment paper in the baking pan. Bake for 1 minute until the design sets, remove from oven, then follow the instructions for the rest of the cake. But please, use a stencil or just … make a better design than mine… ):

Nutrition

(If you made a mini roll like me, 1 serving = 1/6 of the roll. Cream cheese frosting is included!)