Ina Garten’s Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream Should Be the Official Dessert of Thanksgiving
If there’s one thing that overwhelms me when considering what to make for Thanksgiving dinner, it’s preparation. From measurements and temperature presets to questioning whether or not I set the timer correctly, all of the moving pieces can feel like a lot at one time. Thankfully, we have Ina Garten — who, once again, is serving up another make-ahead recipe that will leave you plenty of time to prepare other dishes or, more importantly, spend time with your family this Thanksgiving.
Taking to her Instagram, the famed chef posted a photo of a beautiful-looking pumpkin roulade with ginger buttercream for fans (and me) to marvel at all day long. “It’s the classic flavors of the holiday but done in a delicious new way. The good news is, you can make it up to 3 days in advance and just leave it in the fridge,” Ina captioned the perfectly rolled, powdered, and partially sliced dessert.
If you’re excited to get dessert out of the way early this year, you can find the full recipe (pulled from the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook) on Ina’s website. It’s important to note that this is presented as an advanced level recipe, and while the directions are straightforward, you will have a little bit of work cut out for you. But Ina says it is “the perfect ending to your Thanksgiving dinner,” so it seems to be well-worth the try.
To make the actual cake, you’ll want to ensure that you have ingredients like flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and kosher salt available. You’ll also need eggs, granulated sugar, canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling!), and confectioners’ sugar on hand.
The buttercream filling, on the other hand, takes a little less to create with Italian mascarpone cheese, confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, minced dried crystallized ginger, and kosher salt. The whole process seems to take about 20 minutes to complete — including preparation time and a 10- to 12-minute bake time for the cake.
To show their appreciation for this make-ahead treat, fans took to the comments to let others know just how good of a recipe this is. “Ever since the first Thanksgiving I made this, my son has requested it for his birthday cake every year. Love this cake!” one follower said. Another fan commented “Omg queen Ina does it every time. In our dreams we bake and cook with you @inagarten.” Agreed, y’all. Agreed.
If you’re itching for more of Ina’s make-ahead recipe ideas for any last-minute Thanksgiving dishes, both her make-ahead turkey and gravy and her make-ahead mushroom and leek bread pudding are worth putting on the table this year.