A Yule log or bûche de Noël is a classic Christmas, they can be found in all stores in the confectionary aisle at the supermarket, especially now were around the holidays.
You could just be a standard person and buy one but why do that when you could make one at home and show off your baking skills and abilities, plus its the perfect treat to make with friends/family/kids, as the decorating process can be done anyway that suits you.
This would be the perfect centre piece on the table Christmas Day or even Christmas Eve. It’s simple but the wow factor is in the flavour, which is way better than anything you can buy off the shelf. This would be the perfect activity to do on a lazy Christmas Eve or whenever you’re feeling it.
Seeing as this cake is made of a Swiss roll, which is a fatless sponge cake – the shelf life is short, a maximum of 2/3 days before it becomes too dried out to enjoy.
Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?
Ingredients:
Swiss roll:
155g caster sugar.
250g whole egg.
105g plain flour.
30g cocoa powder.
1 tsp baking powder.
Chocolate buttercream:
300g butter, at room temperature.
500-600g icing sugar.
30g cocoa powder.
2 tsp vanilla extract.
Method:
Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, line a large Swiss roll pan with parchment paper, get any equipment I may need, such as a stand mixer and metal spoon and lastly, don’t forget to preheat your oven to 220˚c.
Sift together your dry ingredients, passing through a sieve to remove any lumps. Repeat this process at least 2-3 times, set aside until needed, later on.
Start by placing the sugar and eggs into the bowl and whisk on a high speed until the mixture is much lighter and fluffier – you should be able to make an ‘s’ with the mixture.
Add in the dry ingredients, folding them using a metal spoon. Be careful not to knock too much air out as you incorporate the dry ingredients – losing some is normal but if you lose too much, you’d be better off starting over again. to help at this stage, use a metal spoon, the thinner the better, it will cut though the mixture without much damage.
Carefully transfer the cake mixture onto your Swiss roll pan, spreading out, ensuring you have a level and consistent layer of batter. Then place into the oven and bake in your preheated oven for 6-8 minutes – the bake time is much quicker on this cake, if you bake for too long, it will take on a biscuit like texture.
Immediately from the oven, flip the cake on to a layer of parchment bigger than the cake, removing the layer that in on top, then roll the cake while still warm and allow to cool while still rolled up – trust the process. If you unravel it, it will more than likely crack as you work with it.
While you wait for the cake to cool down, make the buttercream. Simply place butter into a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, then gradually add in the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Once they have been incorporated, you can add in the vanilla and give the bowl a good scraping down.
Once you’re ready, unroll your Swiss roll and spread a generous layer of buttercream all over the cake, then roll the cake back up,.Trim a little piece away for the extra part that makes this look lie a branch. As my cake was quite large, I was able to get two but one is more than enough.
Decorate the outside however you’d like, I piped chocolate buttercream to make it look like log or trunk but you can spread it over to give it texture. The choice is really up to you!
Finish with some greenery and berries, if you’re using.
That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.
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