My Christmas memories center around two things: the Christmas tree and the Christmas Yule Log. That chocolate sponge cake filled with whipped cream and draped in frosting was the signature point of the Christmas table. By unwritten rule, this dessert would only appear at Christmas and the Fourth of July. Delicate and chilled it offered lovable flavors: bittersweet chocolate, cocoa with its lingering aftertaste and the bolt of sweetened whipped cream.
Sadly, few of us make Yule Logs and most of our experiences now are with store-bought versions that are often days old and just a tad stale. A Yule Log freshly made is not just a dessert. It is an experience. A glamorous end to an important day.
Making a Yule log should not be that hard, but it is something too many people shy away from. I know why. You have to make a sponge cake, and that involves steps and techniques that are not common in our kitchens any more. And, if you research sponge cake recipes, you are bound to be surprised if not overwhelmed. The basic ingredients are the same:
- Whisked egg white
- Whisked yolks
- Sugar
- Flour or, in this case, cocoa powder.
But how do you combine all these elements to get to the final cake batter? There is great variety in the techniques employed for sponge cake. For example, for the sugar,
- The sugar is beaten equally with the yolk and the whites,
- Or mostly with the yolk and a little with the whites
- Or, the sugar is beaten only with the yolks
And for the flour/cocoa:
- The flour/cocoa is sifted over the yolk mixture and folded
- Or, the flour is shifted over the white and folded in with the yolks
If you start to read and compare several recipes, it can be confusing. What goes where and when? Most importantly: why? Do the different steps matter, matter that much? The last thing you want for your holiday table is a Yule Dud. In deciding what to do, it becomes too confusing for me. I want a simple recipe from a source I can trust. Retro Cakes and Cookies by Wendy Sweetser is just the guide I need, and the guide for you if a Yule Log is on your menu.
This recipe is the simplest set of steps, the simplest combinations of ingredients as you assemble the batter that I have found. Suzen and I will be baking away on Christmas Day, not just the turkey but our own fresh and wonderful Yule Log. If you try this recipe, you may find it becoming a tradition for you, too.
Oh, the decorations? We have a holly bush right in our back yard. For color and beauty, we adorn our log with real leaves but not the berries. The berries are poisonous, so do NOT use them for decoration on food. In water, in a vase, on the table for decoration. But not on the food surface ever. It’s not a good Christmas tradition to visit the Emergency Room.
Christmas Yule Log
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- Oil for greasing
- 6 extra large eggs, separated
- ¼ cup superfine sugar
- I teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)
- ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder
For the filling:
-
1 ¼ cup heavy cream
-
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
For the chocolate frosting:
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
To Decorate:
- Marzipan or sugar paste holly leaves and berries
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch jelly roll pan and line with baking parchment.
To make the cake, put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl, and whisk until pale, thick, and creamy. Whisk in the vanilla, then sift in the cocoa powder, and fold in until evenly combined.
Whisk the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl, until standing in stiff peaks. Stir 1 tablespoon into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, before carefully folding in the remainder with a large metal spoon. It is important that there are no lumps of egg white left in the mixture, as these will prevent the sponge from baking evenly.
Pour the mixture into the pan, spreading it into the comers, and bake for 20 minutes, or until risen, and just firm to the touch. Turn out onto a sheet of clean baking parchment, remove the lining paper, and roll up from one short side with the parchment inside. Lift onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
To make the filling, whip the cream with the confectioners’ (icing) sugar until thick. Unroll the sponge and spread the cream over it to within ½ inch of the edges, reserving a little cream to neaten the ends. Roll up again from one short side, and pipe or spread a swirl of cream to fill any gaps at each end.
To make the frosting (icing), put the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream in a heavy-based pan and as soon as it comes to a boil, pour it over the chocolate in the bowl. Leave until the chocolate has melted, then whisk or stir until smooth. Allow the frosting to cool and thicken, stirring occasionally.
Cover the log with the frosting, roughing it up to resemble tree bark, then decorate with marzipan or sugar paste holly leaves and berries.
Source: Retro Cakes and Cookies by Wendy Sweetser