The Yule Log or Bûche de Noël
I got really tired of peppermint ice cream, and despite having possibly the most British DNA ever, I cannot find it in me to care for figgy pudding. (I consider it a personal failing.) So I've been making some form of Yule Log for I think seven years now, and I've had lots of successes and a plethora of failures. I've tweaked it, and played around with it a lot and have at last come to a place where I can make it with a great deal less stress or pressure about how it's going to turn out. So you can all thank me if you ever want to try this, for being your test kitchen and failing miserably many times so that we can all now succeed. You'll need a jelly roll pan, some parchment paper, a hand mixer, mixing bowls, a double boiler (two if you're lucky!), a cake froster, and a deep breath! I would like to be able to take more credit for this chocolate fudgy decadence but sadly all I've really done is sought out the best recipes and put them all together. So for you, I give the recipes that comprise my log. With full credit to the original sources. The first step in making your log is the cake part. I really love Nigella Lawson's chocolate jelly roll recipe for this. It's SO moist, and that is the #1 hardest element to get right in a jelly roll cake. It's also gluten free just by virtue that there is no flour in the recipe. (see the original here)
Ingredients:
6 large eggs (separated)
¾ cup superfine sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large, clean bowl (copper if you've got it) use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until thick and peaking, then, still mixing, sprinkle in ¼ cup of the superfine sugar and continue until the whites are holding their peaks but not dry.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining superfine sugar until the mixture is moussy (this takes some elbow grease and a little tricep chutzpah), pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract, sieve the unsweetened cocoa over, then fold both in.
4. Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of the egg whites, folding them in robustly. Then add the remaining whites in thirds, folding them in carefully to avoid losing the air.
5. Line a Swiss roll pan with parchment, leaving a generous overhang at the ends and sides, and folding the parchment into the corners to help the paper stay anchored.
6. Pour in the cake mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking parchment. *If you dust this piece of parchment with a little confectioners' sugar it may help with preventing stickage, but don’t worry too much as any tears or dents will be covered by icing later. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel.
Once that has begun to cool it's time to start making your icings. I don't use Nigella's. I'm sure it's great, but I use two recipes from one of the GREATEST cook books of all times. The Book of Afternoon Tea by Leslie Mackley. It may be one of my life's secret ambitions to make everything in this book. It's amazing. It's lived in my parent's house since I can remember and it's as much fun to flip through and drool at, as it is to cook from. *Side note: this book was part of a series that included a book of TEX-MEX that is also to die for. A really great series. Still available on Amazon. For the inside I use a half recipe of the filling for the Choc-Almond Meringue. (Pre halved for you. Double for full)
Ingredients:
3oz 65 - 73% dark chocolate
1.5 tbsp unsalted butter
1.5 tbsp strong coffee (tastes fine with decaf)
1.5 tbsp Kahlúa (original calls for Brandy but I really like coffee liquor)
generous 1/3 cup whipping cream
Directions:
1. Get your double boiler! Break chocolate into pan and add butter, coffee, and Kahlúa.
2. When all are melted, stir well and put aside to cool. I like best a chilly room or window sill.
3. *Once the chocolate mixture is fully cooled whip your cream with a hand mixer.
4. Slowly fold whipped cream into fully cooled chocolate. Try not to eat all of....
*I find efficiency-wise, it makes WAY more sense to make the chocolate part of this, and while it's cooling make up the next chocolate icing, then go back to the first and see if it's ready for the whipped cream. Beats waiting around. If for some reason you can't remember which bowl is which--they will look similar--sniff them. Only one has alcohol & coffee.
Second chocolate icing. Yes if you are faint of heart, then you may well be out chocolated by this recipe. I can't help you there. You just need to build up your chocolate endurance. I do find it's really sweetness that can become cloying rather than chocolate per-say so feel free to work with a 70% or 75% and you'll have a much lower sugar content than if you work with a traditional 60%. Standing over all this melted chocolate may well make you want to watch Chocolate, I figure it can only help you maximize your chocolate intake so go for it. For the final icing that covers the log, I use a half of the ganache frosting from the "Double Chocolate Gateau" recipe in the same book. (Pre halved for you. Double for full.)
Ingredients:
6oz 65-75% dark chocolate
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tbsp whipping cream
Directions:
1. Got that double boiler ready again?!?!? Break and melt your chocolate in double boiler.
2. Stir in butter and cream. Cool, stirring occasionally until a thick spreading consistency.
Whew! Ok! Once all three elements are assembled it's time to bring that log to life! Remove one piece of parchment exposing one side of cake. With your plate or platter at the ready, using an icing knife or spatula to spread the fluffy whipped cream chocolate filling all over the top of the jelly roll cake.
Then slowly and firmly start to roll your cake keeping it tight enough to keep shape but loose enough so not all your frosting spills out! This is where you want to have that platter ready. Transfer your roll to it's serving plate. With a serrated knife-- I like a sharp bread knife-- cut whichever end you want to be the front on a diagonal so that you end up with a 4-5" piece.
Wiggle your roll to one side of the platter and place end piece into the cake like a branch :)
When you are happy with the branch placement, cover the entire cake with the ganache. You can either pour it on if it's still a bit in a liquid form, or use a cake froster if it's cooled completely. Spread to cover entire cake including ends.
Now get creative! This next bit is all your call. You've done the hard part, now enjoy decorating it. you can use a fork or the back of a spoon for different tree bark effects. You can make/buy merengue mushrooms or mushroom shaped truffles. I love to use almond paste or marzipan to make different types of fungi or berries. I also like to use crushed almonds with just a drop of green food coloring to create moss. Super fun and always popular- chocolate mice! Use fresh strawberries and dip them into your molten chocolate. Use almond slices for ears and raisons for a nose. Anything you want!!!
The very last step, is to take about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and sieve it finely over your log to create the look of a light dusting of snow. Do this only right before serving. Powdered sugar absorbs quickly into baked goods and you'll loose the effect if you do it too far in advance. I like to serve with a hot cup of tea, but generally everyone else wants whipped cream ;)
ENJOY!!!!
BKBTY
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