If you have been thinking of what dessert to serve on Christmas, a delicious Bûche de Noël will be a perfect surprise for your guests. This Chocolate Yule Log Cake is soft and moist, filled with incredibly silky chocolate filling. Add some fondant mushrooms and greenery for decoration, and the cake will look magical!
We all face the fact that this year our Christmas will be different. We won't gather with all our friends and family, and we might have to stay in for the whole holiday season. This is just a reason more to bring the magic of Christmas inside and enjoy the holidays as much as we can.
I love family Christmas traditions, which in my family include a lot of cooking and baking. Even though every year I prepare something new on the Christmas menu, old family recipes are my favorite as they bring some special memories along.
The recipe for this cake is one of those recipes, but this year, instead of making a rectangular sponge cake and then rolling it into a log, I decided to bake a chocolate layer cake. Layers of soft and moist sponge cake are covered with the silkiest chocolate filling you will ever try. I mean, when you combine chocolate, eggs, and butter, miracles can happen, am I right? 🙂
Besides being incredibly good, I found this "woodland" look very charming and magical. For a log look, use the fork and make straight-up lines. For decoration purposes, I added a smaller piece of cake next to the primary cake so that the log looks more natural. Mushrooms are edible and made with sugar paste (fondant) and are easy to make and give a more natural look to the log.
For the sugary mushrooms, all you need to do is soften the fondant with your hands, so it gets easier to work with. Make stems and caps and then assemble them. Brush them with some dark cocoa powder for a more realistic look, or add a dash of edible brown color to the fondant to get light brown mushrooms as well.
The recipe for the sponge is one of my go-to recipes as it always gives excellent results and very soft, moist cake layers. The chocolate filling is super easy, incredibly silky, and dense, and it can be used for all sorts of recipes. Its density is super handy when decorating this cake as it will be easy to work with and decorate.
I really hope you will give this Chocolate Yule Log Cake a try this holiday season and if you do, please, tag me on Instagram @thehungryapron so I can see and share all your magical holiday decorations.
Enjoy this season with all your heart, and take time for yourself and your loved ones!
Bûche de Noël - Chocolate Yule Log Cake
Marija Gvozdenovic
INGREDIENTS
Serves 8-10
For the cake
5 eggs, separated
1g salt
150g granulated sugar
150g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
50ml melted butter (or margarine), room temperature
50ml milk, room temperature
FOR THE chocolate filling
6 eggs
250g icing sugar
60g dark chocolate
250g softened butter (not melted)
METHOD
Prepare the cake:
Separate the eggs carefully. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer until foamy. Start adding sugar 1 tbsp at a time and beat on high speed continuously until the soft peaks form. Once the peaks are formed, add in salt and egg yolks, one at a time, without stopping to whisk.
Sift in flour and baking powder and mix gently, from bottom to top, until all the flour is incorporated. It is essential to mix very slowly in order not to dissolve the egg whites. In a small bowl, mix melted butter and milk. Add in a small portion of cake batter and whisk. Once all the ingredients are mixed, place them back to the rest of the batter.
Preheat your oven at 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour your pan (round pan, diameter 18-20cm) and transfer the batter. Depending on your pan's depth, you can decide to either bake the layers together or separate them. In case you are baking all at once, make sure to leave the cake to cool completely before cutting the layers horizontally. You should have 4 layers (or 5 thinner layers) and a little bit on the side for a smaller portion of the log (optional).
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is set and golden, and the toothpick inserted comes out clean. It may take a bit longer if you are baking all the layers at once. Cool completely before assembling.
Prepare the chocolate filling:
Prepare the filling by adding eggs and sugar to a medium pan. Cook them over hot water (bain-marie), constantly whisking for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture comes together, is thicker, and has a pale yellow color. Add in chopped chocolate and whisk until melted. Once the consistency has thickened, remove from heat and add softened butter. Whisk until butter is melted. Leave to cool completely before covering the cake, as with cooling, and the butter will make your cream much richer, firmer, and easier to work with.
Fill every cake layer with chocolate cream and cover the outer sides as well. Use the fork to create bark lines, and decorate with mushrooms made out of fondant. Place in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours or overnight. For a snowy effect, sprinkle the cake with some icing sugar before serving.