For Thanksgiving dinner, I keep the menu in the tradition of our family — turkey, stuffing, sauerkraut, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. Butter and sugar are used much more conservatively than generations past in all my recipes. In keeping with my low-fat, low-sugar Thanksgiving dinner menu, for appetizers and desserts I like to serve healthier than usual traditional holiday fare.
Typically, Thanksgiving dinner is savored midafternoon, putting our normal eating schedule out of kilter. Often when people know they will be eating a large, heavy meal, they tend to skip meals. Start the day by eating a healthy breakfast so you don’t overindulge later. Throughout the day, snack on something healthy or eat small portions so you’re not ravenous at dinner. For dessert this Thanksgiving, I’ll be serving a recipe I created: Cream-filled pumpkin cake. A beautiful amber-colored cake that is as impressive in flavor as it is in presentation. During the holidays, The Spice Hunter offers a Winter Sippers Hot Buttered Rum blend that is a complementing combination of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, cloves and lemon oil that perfectly enhances the flavor of pumpkin.
CREAM-FILLED PUMPKIN CAKE
This cake takes a little time to assemble, but the results are gratifying. Don’t be daunted by having to roll the cake, it’s not difficult. Plan accordingly; the finished cake should be refrigerated for several hours before serving; it can even be made a day in advance.
Cake
3/4 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Winter Sippers Hot Buttered Rum blend
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup pure pumpkin
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting kitchen towel
Filling
One 8-ounce package light cream cheese
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line bottom and sides of baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly coat parchment paper with cooking spray and lightly dust with flour. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, hot buttered rum mixture and sugar. In a large bowl, beat eggs with electric beater, add pumpkin and beat until well combined. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Lightly dust a kitchen cloth (the cloth should be a little larger than the size of the cake) with confectioner’s sugar. Immediately remove cake/parchment paper from baking pan and carefully flip cake to prepared kitchen towel. Gently pull off parchment paper. Starting at the narrow end, roll the cake (don’t worry if the cake cracks) with the towel. Cool rolled cake on a wire rack. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with butter; add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and beat for about two minutes on medium speed. Carefully unroll cake and spread filling evenly over entire cake. Gently roll cake and wrap in plastic wrap. To serve, slice cake into about 1-inch slices. Serves 10.
Nutritional analysis: 324 calories, 12 grams total fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 94 mgs cholesterol, 235 mgs sodium, 48 grams total carbohydrate, 1 grams dietary fiber, 6 grams protein, 33 grams sugar
Light, healthy appetizer suggestions:
» Steam shrimp and serve with cocktail sauce
» Make shredded wheat ‘croutons’ (saute mini shredded wheat in olive oil over moderate heat until they brown slightly, remove from heat, and season with salt and herbs)
» Serve bunched grapes with cheese crisps
» Accompany hummus with fresh vegetables
» Skewer marinated mushrooms. Marinate the mushrooms for several hours (4 to 6) or for the most flavorful results, marinate overnight. (For marinade: in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3/4 cup olive oil)
» Serve slices of radishes or, for a unusual presentation, serve radishes whole with stem and leaves intact (fill a small ramekin with salt to use for dipping)
– Kerry Dunnington
Kerry Dunnington, food columnist and author of “This Book Cooks,” is passionate about food that reflects nutrition, color, balance, texture and variety of the season. Catch her column biweekly in Healthy Life. She can be reached at [email protected].
