Bûche de Noël
France's Yule Log: a rolled chocolate sponge frosted to look like bark, with meringue mushrooms and a dusting of powdered sugar snow.
- prep
- 45 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total
- 1 h
- serves
- 10
- level
- medium
Bûche de Noël recalls the old tradition of burning a Yule log through the twelve nights of Christmas. The cake version is a thin sponge, rolled while still warm so it holds its shape, then unrolled, filled, and rolled again around a layer of chocolate cream.
The real trick is rolling the sponge in a towel right out of the oven, before it has a chance to cool and crack. After that, it is as much decoration as dessert: a chocolate buttercream dragged with a fork to look like bark, dusted with powdered sugar snow, and finished with whatever meringue mushrooms or sugared berries you like.
method
Whip the eggs with half the sugar until pale, thick, and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Gently fold in the remaining sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, and vanilla.
Spread the batter into a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10-12 minutes, until just set.
While still warm, turn the cake out onto a clean towel dusted with cocoa powder. Peel off the parchment and roll the cake up in the towel from the short end. Let it cool completely rolled.
Beat the butter until fluffy, then add the powdered sugar, cocoa, and cream, beating until smooth and spreadable.
Unroll the cooled cake, spread with about a third of the buttercream, and roll it back up without the towel this time.
Trim a thin diagonal slice off one end and attach it to the side of the log as a stump. Cover the whole thing in the remaining buttercream, then drag a fork lengthwise through it to look like bark.
Dust with powdered sugar just before serving to look like fresh snow, and add meringue mushrooms or sugared cranberries if you like.