Great Pan for Holiday Recipes! Try this one!
Written: Oct 23 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
 |
|
| Style: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Versatile, good size, sturdy
Cons: dents , occasionally sticks
The Bottom Line: Need a pan you can use for anything? Try some holiday recipes in this one! Better than some old cookie sheet any day!
|
|
|
| Granniemose's Full Review: Chicago Metallic Commercial Jelly Roll Baking Pans... |
Yes, as you might guess, I needed a jelly roll pan. I had a couple of cookie sheets, but not enough. You see, Judith was teaching a four hour pre-natal class a couple of years ago. The class was given a half hour break after two hours, and Judith wanted to serve them refreshments. So I started baking cookies, using her recipe. The staff of the hospital liked them so well that I started baking more. Whenever she taught the class, the news spread around the hospital - and personnel were coming from all floors to have a cookie. I wound up baking about 12 dozen cookies every Wednesday. This meant I needed to have enough cookie sheets so that when I took one sheet out, another would have to be ready to be popped in. So this time, I am afraid I was to blame. Judy took me to the kitchen specialty store, and I bought two Chicago Met All-ic jelly roll pans.
The "official" jelly roll pans are what the recipe books call a half cookie sheet. They are 18x13 inch pans with sides. Expensive? Yes, I thought so at the time. Because I exclaimed about the price, the sales lady kindly let me have them for $14.50 each instead of the $15.50 they were asking. The pans I used before I came to live with Judy were purchased a long, long time ago, and they were not expensive.
All and all, I think they are worth the price. They are made of aluminized steel, which means they are much sturdier than the cookie sheets I have been using. They are non coated, which is OK because only sheet cakes or brownies need to have the pan oiled anyway. Cookies have enough shortening in them to keep them from sticking unless you burn them. The pans are also dishwasher safe, if your dishwasher is big enough to accept them. Many coated pans are not.
Now that the classes are over and the cookies are no longer needed except for the holidays, the old cookie sheets are used under certain fruit pies to accept the juices in case they run over, or for putting under frozen pies to keep the bottom crust from overcooking. I also use them once in a while for baking frozen French fries. The jelly roll pans are kept for special things like sheet cakes, or brownies.
The pumpkin log recipe I am going to share with you is my version of one my grandmother and mother used to make. They were both cooks by “feel” (“stir until it feels right –“add until it tastes right” “if you think it will work and make it better, try it”) type of cooks, and I never managed to get a recipe from them. I have learned to experiment and I cook a lot the way they do now, but it came from long experience. I learned long ago that baking is a chemical process, and unless you know how much baking powder goes with so much flour, for instance, you will be in big trouble - as I learned the hard way, the same way I have learned a lot of what little I know.
I really like this Pumpkin dessert, and I have experimented until I think I have it right. It is still a bit tricky. I don’t think mine is as good as Mom’s was, but on the other hand maybe I liked hers better because I didn’t have to bake it. My daughter, Judy, likes the batter better than she likes the finished product – but – well, that’s the way the ball bounces.
PUMPKIN LOG
Pre heat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare Chicago MetAll-ic jellyroll pan.
Spray only the sides of the pan. Cut parchment paper (I use wax paper because it is sort of hard to find parchment, plus it is more expensive) Cut paper to fit the jellyroll pan exactly. Jude usually does it for me because she is better at it than I am. She sometimes uses a retractable box opener to cut the wax paper so it fits exactly after she has it in the pan. It works.
6 large eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp salt
1 to 1 and ¼ C sugar
1/2-cup water or milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1 12 oz can of Libby’s seasoned pumpkin – minus three full tbsps.
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Separate the eggs into two mixing bowls. Beat the egg whites with the salt until they have peaked. Gradually beat in half the sugar, and then set this mixture aside.
In the other bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture is thick and yellow. Blend in the water(or milk) and vanilla. Add the seasoned pumpkin. Blend very gently. Taste the mixture – if you think it needs more seasoning to your taste, add it now.
Mix the baking powder into the flour. With a large wire whisk, blend the dry ingredients into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin. Then gently fold in the egg whites using a large whisk.
Spoon into the prepared pan. Be careful to keep the batter even – You want no spots where the cake rises higher than the rest of it. Bake 20 or 25 minutes, or until the cake does not leave a dent when you press the center. You can also tell when it is done if the sides shrink a little away from the pan.
Let it cool completely in the pan. When it is completely cool, loosen the sides and the corners of the pan with a butter knife. Then carefully invert the pan on to a damp clean dish towel (not wet – damp). Now (be careful) remove the waxed paper. I repeat, be sure the cake is completely cool.
With a sharp paring knife cut away about 1/8th of an inch all around the sides, to remove the crispy edges. Hand them out to the starving children that are watching your every move – or your hungry husband – or any other starving Armenian. :)
Now the fun starts. Using the dishtowel as a guide, gently roll the cake – let set a couple of seconds, and unroll. If you are lucky it will roll beautifully. If it cracks, don’t worry about it. Probably no one will notice.
Now spread the filling evenly over the cake, and roll again. Chill. It can be frozen if you have left overs.
FILLING
The filling is a matter choice. You can go whole- hog and make a serious French custard (Email me if you want the recipe) or it can be a simple as combining a large package of vanilla instant pudding with an envelope of dream whip, and beating it together with a cup and ½ of milk until it starts to thicken. Spread evenly over the cake, and roll.
One of my favorites is to sweeten a carton of sour cream with either sugar or honey, add vanilla. Taking a cue from one of Miss Tara’s wonderful recipes, I now add a tablespoon of Knox gelatin (following directions on the package.) Once the gelatin is dissolved stir it into the sour cream and spread on the cake for a filling. When it chills the cream becomes a delicious filling for the pumpkin roll. However, never tell your family what you used, or you will hear, “Sour cream – ugh. I don’t want to eat that”. I don’t mean you should lie, but you don’t have to tell all you know, either. I hope it turns out for you, and that your family enjoys it. I like to freeze it, and keep it on hand for between holiday snacking.
Thanks for reading this.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 14.00
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Granniemose
|
|
Member: Virginia
Location: Greenest spot in the land of the free
Reviews written: 207
Trusted by: 313 members
About Me:
I'm back. Waiting for Lorace to give me another piece of poetry
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.