Happy Holidays--and welcome to Wednesday!
Yep, we're five days into the holiday season. I've just about finished my shopping, the tree is trimmed, the fridge is well-stocked...
Oh, so about that well-stocked fridge.
Last year I gave away something called a Yule Log. It's mentioned in
Christmas Coda 37 (and I shared a version of the recipe for those of you with culinary ambition in the print coda collection
All I Want for Christmas).
I finally got to sample my first Yule Log last Christmas and YUM. If you love chocolate cake, you will adore this traditional French yuletide dessert.
Anyway, we're giving away
another Yule Log this year. Once again you must be in the US to be eligible--sorry about that! We'll have other gifts for those of you overseas!
Share the recipe for your favorite holiday dessert in the comment section below and I will randomly select our winner. PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK BACK ON FRIDAY MORNING BECAUSE SUPPLIES ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED.
And if you'd like to try baking your own Yule Log this holiday, here's the recipe!
Bûche de Noël (Yule
Log Cake with Coffee Buttercream and Ganache)
(This is another
really complicated recipe--you have to start a day in advance--but it's
gorgeous. This version is from Saveur.com)
Ingredients
For the Sponge Cake
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
and cooled, plus more for pan
3⁄4 cup cake flour, plus more
for pan
2⁄3 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar,
divided
4 eggs
Confectioners' sugar, for
dusting
1 tbsp. dark rum
For the Ganache Icing, Coffee
Buttercream Filling, and Finishing
14 oz. 70-percent dark
chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. honey
1 1⁄3 cups sugar, divided
6 egg whites, divided
2 tsp. green food coloring
24 tbsp. (3 sticks) unsalted
butter, softened
1 tbsp. stongly brewed espresso
Cocoa powder, for dusting
Edible gold dust, to garnish
(available from nycake.com)
Directions
Make the meringue decorations: Heat oven to 200°. Place 1⁄3
cup sugar and 2 egg whites in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water;
stir mixture until egg whites register 140° on an instant-read thermometer.
Remove bowl from saucepan and beat with a hand mixer on high speed until
cooled. Place 1 cup meringue in a bowl, and stir in food coloring; transfer
green meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 3⁄8-inch star tip. Working on a
parchment paper-lined baking sheet, pipe two 1 1⁄2-inch-wide stars; pipe a
1-inch-wide star on top of each larger star, and then pipe a 1⁄2-inch-wide star
on top of each middle star to form a three-tiered Christmas tree. Transfer
uncolored meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 3⁄8-inch-round tip; pipe four
1 1⁄2-inch-wide mounds to resemble mushroom caps, and then pipe four
1⁄2-inch-wide x 1 1⁄2-inch-tall sticks to resemble mushroom stems. Bake
meringue shapes until dry and crisp, about 2 hours. Turn off oven and let
shapes cool completely in oven.
Make the ganache icing: Place chocolate in a bowl; set aside. Bring cream and honey to a boil
in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate and let sit for
1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir cream and chocolate until smooth
and shiny; let cool at room temperature until set and thick, at least 6 hours
or overnight.
Make the coffee buttercream filling: Place 1 cup sugar and 4 egg whites in the
bowl of a stand mixer and set it over a saucepan of simmering water; stir
mixture until egg whites register 140° on an instant-read thermometer. Remove
bowl from saucepan and place on stand mixer fitted with a whisk; beat on high
speed until meringue is cooled and forms stiff peaks. Replace whisk with paddle
and add butter to meringue; beat until smooth, stir in espresso, and set aside.
Make the sponge cake: Heat oven to 400°. Grease and flour a 13-inch x 18-inch rimmed baking
sheet, lined with parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer
fitted with a whisk, beat 2⁄3 cup sugar and eggs on high speed until mixture
falls back in thick ribbons when lifted from the whisk, about 6 minutes; fold
in butter and flour. Spread batter into an even layer on bottom of prepared
baking sheet and bake until golden brown on the bottom, about 12 minutes. Place
a clean kitchen towel that is larger than the baking sheet on a work surface,
and dust it liberally with confectioners' sugar. Invert cake onto towel; dust
with more sugar. Starting with a narrow end of the rectangle, immediately roll
cake up into a jelly roll, letting the towel roll inside the cake. Let cool to
room temperature.
Make the rum syrup: Bring 2 tbsp. sugar, rum, and 1 tbsp. water to a boil in a 1-quart
saucepan over high heat; cook until sugar dissolves and set aside to cool.
Assemble the cake: Once cooled, gently unroll and remove towel from cake. Brush the
inside with the rum syrup; allow to soak in for about 2 minutes. Spread
buttercream evenly over cake; re-roll cake and set the roll seam side down on a
serving platter. Slice about 3 inches off one end of the cake roll at a 30°
angle; cut the other end to make it flat. Spread the flat end of the angled
slice with a little buttercream and set the slice on top of the cake roll to
create a "stump." Stir ganache until smooth and, using a small offset
spatula, spread ganache over cake, leaving the ends of cake and cut top of the
"stump" exposed. Drag the tines of a fork along the ganache, making
markings to resemble bark; refrigerate until chilled.
Decorate the Bûche de Noël: Using ganache as glue, place meringue
"caps" on top of "stems" to form mushrooms. Dust cocoa
powder lightly over the mushrooms, and sprinkle gold dust lightly over the
entire Bûche de Noël. Place meringue mushrooms and Christmas trees decoratively
on and around the Bûche de Noël before serving. (There are videos on how to do
this properly--I'd watch them if I were you.)
*********
Our Yule Log winners are Ariel and Sam Spayed PI!! Yes two winners--assuming I get your addresses before WS runs out of cakes. Congratulations! Sam and Ariel send me your shipping details ASAP either through email, Goodreads or Facebook.
