I literally came up with this recipe for my coworker, Holly. It was her last day at work, and she has a gluten allergy, so I wanted to make something that embraced the seasonality of it being fall, but also made 100% without gluten. I have never quite made a gluten-free chiffon cake before, so I figured, why not try it here? Pumpkin has starch in it, so that could be used to substitute out some of the missing flour, and the rest could be subbed out with almond flour and potato starch for that structure, and xanthan gum to bind everything properly! The end result was a super light pumpkin cake stuffed with a cream that is scented with fresh sage and cinnamon, just to make you think of the fall! I topped my roll off with some confectioner’s sugar and pepitas, just to give it that fall going into winter aesthetic.

For the cake:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
4oz pumpkin puree
2oz almond flour
2oz potato starch
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn xanthan gum
a pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp canola oil

Whip egg whites with sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. Mix everything else together. Fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture. Spread on a lined quarter sheet tray into a thin layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes. While still warm, roll up the cake along the length(you want a fatter, shorter log) into a scroll. Allow the cake to full cool down before unrolling.

For the cream:
1 cup heavy cream
3 sage leaves, minced finely
2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tspn cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1/4 tspn vanilla extract

Whip to stiff peaks. Spread on the un-rolled cake in an even layer before re-rolling.

For garnish:
Confectioner’s sugar
Toasted pepitas