The end-of-the-year holidays are the perfect time to pull out all the stops and make that really special recipe, and we’ve got one for you: the Yule log — also known as a bûche de Noël.
This Christmastime treat has its roots in an ancient tradition of burning a large log or tree trunk for several days around the winter solstice to ensure a bountiful harvest in the coming year. A pastry version of the Yule log was introduced in the 19th century, though its exact origin is unknown. The cake gained popularity in the mid-1940s and early ’50s and has remained a holiday tradition ever since, particularly in France and Québec.
At its core, the bûche de Noël is a sponge cake, rolled up around a mousse or whipped cream filling, coated in frosting or ganache, and decorated to look like a log. Be forewarned: This is a time-consuming project with many steps, though most of the time required is in waiting for things to cool completely.
One step that can’t wait: It is absolutely critical to roll the cake in a tea towel to form the spiral as soon as you take it out of the oven. Cooling in this spiral shape allows the cake to reroll into the same shape with fewer cracks after filling. Though cracks in the cake are not ideal, don’t despair if you get any — the frosting hides any small faults.
I made a chocolate cake filled with a cherry-almond whipped cream and coated with whipped chocolate ganache. You can play with flavors and make it your own. After spreading the ganache over the cake, you can make it look more like a log by running a fork over the surface to make bark-like markings. It can be garnished in many ways to represent a real log — I used meringue mushrooms, sugared cranberries and sprigs of sugared rosemary, as well as marzipan acorns (made with marzipan, with the tops colored with brown food coloring, then dusted in sugar).
The decorations can be made ahead of time, which helps a lot with the timing of the cake assembly. Decorating the bûche de Noël is a fun activity for the whole family — though not as much fun as eating it!
Cake
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- Cocoa powder for dusting
- 6 large eggs at room temperature (separated)
- 3/4 cup (170 g) sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (100 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (56 g) cocoa powder
- 3 1/2 tablespoons (26 g) cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a half-sheet pan (18 by 13 inches) with parchment paper, lightly sprayed with cooking spray and dusted with a little cocoa powder.
- Beat the egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed until light and about doubled in volume.
- Add 1/2 cup of sugar and the vanilla and beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt into a separate bowl.
- Sprinkle the flour mixture into the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Add the oil and mix until just combined. Transfer this mixture to a separate bowl.
- Clean the mixing bowl completely. (I like to wipe down the surface with a tiny bit of lemon juice or vinegar, as any residual oil will cause the egg whites to not whip up properly.)
- Add the egg whites to the clean bowl and whip with a whisk attachment until soft and fluffy peaks form.
- With the mixer running, slowly sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the stiff egg whites gently into the cocoa-flour mixture until they are completely incorporated, being careful not to deflate the egg whites too much.
- Spread the batter evenly onto the prepared sheet pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, sprinkle a clean tea towel with cocoa powder.
- Remove the cake from the oven and immediately invert it onto the tea towel.
- Leaving the parchment paper on the cake and starting from the short side, immediately roll the cake tightly but gently using the tea towel.
- Allow the cake to cool completely, seam side down and wrapped in the tea towel for at least 1 hour.
Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Ingredients
- 500 grams (18 ounces) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 8 ounces heavy cream
- About 1/4 cup powdered, freeze-dried cherries (from a 1.2-ounce package, pulverized in a food processor or blender)
Directions
- Put the roughly chopped chocolate in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Heat the cream in a small pan on the stovetop until very hot but not boiling.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, making sure all the chocolate is covered.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Remove the plastic wrap and beat until the chocolate is smooth and entirely melted. If any chunks remain, heat it slightly over a double boiler, stirring with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate is melted.
- Cool the mixture to room temperature.
- Switch the electric mixer to the whisk attachment and whip the chocolate mixture until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Keep at room temperature until ready to use.
Cherry-Almond Whipped Cream Filling
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
- About 1/4 cup powdered, freeze-dried cherries (from a 1.2-ounce package, pulverized in a food processor or a blender)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
- Whip together the heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, powdered freeze-dried cherries and almond extract in the bowl of an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Store the filling in the refrigerator until it is time to assemble the cake.
Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup more for dusting
- Sprigs of rosemary
- Fresh cranberries
Directions
- Make a simple syrup by heating the water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a small pan on the stove until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Dip the rosemary sprigs in the simple syrup and use tongs to place them on a cooling rack.
- Put the cranberries in the remaining simple syrup and soak for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the cranberries from the syrup with a slotted spoon and place on a cooling rack.
- Let the cranberries and rosemary sit on the cooling rack for at least 30 minutes, then dip in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar to coat entirely, so they look frosty.
Meringue Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 large egg white
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips
- Cocoa powder for dusting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- In a very clean bowl — wiped with a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice if needed to degrease completely — whisk together the egg white, cream of tartar, vanilla, sugar and salt until stiff peaks form.
- Put the meringue mixture in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, or snip off the very end of the bag.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pipe small round discs of the meringue mixture (for mushroom caps). Separately, make stems for each cap by piping small cylindrical “gnome hat” shapes. They don’t need to be perfect. You don’t want them too long and skinny, but they can be varied.
- Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, then turn the oven off. Leave the meringues in the oven for about 20 minutes to dry out completely.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a small bowl by microwaving for 20 seconds, stirring, and repeating until the chocolate is smooth and entirely melted.
- Assemble the mushrooms by gently dipping the tops of the stems in the melted chocolate and pressing very gently into the bottom of the caps. You can use a piping tip to make small holes in the bottom of the caps to help them stick.
- Dust the finished mushrooms with a small amount of cocoa powder to make them look more natural.
To Assemble the Bûche de Noël
- Gently unroll the completely cooled cake and remove the parchment paper. Place the cake on a clean counter or large cutting board with the tea towel still under it.
- Spread the cake evenly with the cherry-almond whipped cream, making a layer that is slightly less thick than the cake. Leave a 1/2-inch margin around the perimeter of the cake.
- Reroll the cake gently and evenly, using the tea towel to help get it nice and tight.
- Wrap the rolled cake tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate, seam side down, for at least 30 minutes to allow the filling to set.
- Put the cake on a serving plate, placing strips of parchment paper under each side of the cake to protect the serving plate from any mess while decorating.
- Spread the cake evenly with the whipped ganache. Don’t worry about getting it smooth; you want it to look like tree bark. You can either cover the ends of the cake with ganache or leave them exposed.
- Use a fork to make indentations in the ganache to make it look even more like tree bark.
- Decorate the cake with the sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs, meringue mushrooms, and marzipan acorns, as desired.
- When it’s time to serve the cake, heat a serving knife by running it under very hot tap water and then wiping it off to make slicing easier.
- If you’re not eating the cake right away, cover it in plastic wrap after coating in ganache and put it in the fridge for up to five days before decorating. Covering the ends in ganache can help keep the cake from drying out.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Bûche de Noël | Celebrate the holidays with this fun and festive cake”
This article appears in Kids VT Winter 2025.
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