Twelve Days of Desserts: Day Two

This month I can't get enough Buche de Noels. The traditional French Yule Log Cake made for Christmas (originally, it was made to celebrate the yule logs being lit for ancient winter solstice ceremonies) is becoming a staple in my personal and professional life. I got a request from one of my private cooking clients to make some for a cooking-class/party I held a few weekends ago. Then, I taught the same cake at a Holiday Baking class at CulinAerie in DC (see photo above). Last night, I watched Bobby Flay and Francois Payard battle it out for the Best Buche de Noel title on Food Network's "Throwdown". Francois Payard, of course one.








Even if you're not a professional pastry chef, a good Buche is within your reach. Follow my easy recipe below and let me know what you think.









Chocolate Buche de Noel

Makes: 1 log
Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

For Genoise Cake:


Butter, for greasing


4 eggs


1/2 cup sugar


1 teaspoon baking powder


2/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour


2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa


1 recipe Mocha Buttercream Frosting


Powdered sugar, for garnish


Mocha Buttercream Frosting

Makes approximately 4 cups frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup organic unsalted butter

4 cups confectioners? sugar

1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa

2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup cold espresso

4-6 tablespoons milk

Black cherries for garnish

To prepare the Cake:

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease and line a 12x9-inch jelly roll pan.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is very light and foamy (up to 10 minutes).

Fold in the flour and cocoa. Pour into the pan and bake for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Turn out onto parchment paper sprinkled with sugar.

Peel off the lining parchment paper. Roll up the cake in the parchment and allow to cool.

In the meantime, make the frosting:

Preparation of Frosting:


In a large bowl, mix butter, confectioner?s sugar, cocoa, vanilla, espresso, and 2 tablespoons of milk together until incorporated on low speed using electric beaters.


Increase speed to high and whip icing until it is smooth and glossy. If it seems too thick, add more milk a tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.


When sponge is cool, unroll it, spread it with 1/3 of the frosting (being careful to leave a 1-inch border around the edges), and roll back up. The buche may be wrapped in plastic and then aluminum foil and frozen for up to a month.


Frost the cake with the remaining frosting and use a fork to make log marks. Sift powdered sugar over the top to resemble snow. Decorate with cherries, if using.