Attempted Yule Log - Bûche de Noël

Finally, Christmas is here! I wish you all Happy Holidays and lots of delicious meals during the Holidays!

What a great opportunity to bake a traditional French dessert, the Yule log or en bon français, Bûche de Noël. After succesfully baked a three-layered cake, I attempt at making a Yule log. The recipe is inspired from Good Housekeeping Step by Step Cookbook. This is actually the first time I'm using ingredients such as icing sugar for frosting and 35% whipping cream for the filling. As you probably can see on the main image, it looks more or less like a Yule log. I basically made two mistakes, overbeating the chocolate frosting and rolling the cooled genoise so it was partially broken. Well, there is always next Christmas. Despite these mistakes, it tasted really good, especially the cocoa cream filling.

Makes 1 cake
Preparation Time : 1 hour 30 mins + cooling + chilling
Baking Time : 10-15 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 jelly rolls (13'' x 9'')

Chocolate Butter Cream
170g Baker's bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cocoa Cream Filling
1 pint (2 cups) 35% whipping cream
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure

1. After baking and loosen the genoise, immediately roll the cake with a towel or parchment paper starting from the long side. Let it cool.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the Chocolate Butter Cream. Melt chocolate and butter over simmering water. Whisk and gradually add icing sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until frosting consistency, don't overbeat it. Set aside.

3. Prepare cocoa cream filling. In large bowl, with an electrical mixer, beat whipping cream, cocoa, cinnamon, icing sugar and vanilla extract to stiff peaks.

4. Unroll genoise, spread with cocoa cream. Roll genoise without towel and place on a platter.

5. With a metal spatula, spread Chocolate Butter Cream over cake roll. With a fork, score frosting to resemble bark of tree. Refrigerate cake for at least 2 hours before serving.