Classic Yule Log Recipes

CLASSIC YULE LOG

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly spray a 12-x 17-inch sheet pan with non-stick vegetable oil spray and place a sheet of parchment paper on top.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour and cocoa powder.
• Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
• Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed until frothy.
• Slowly add the sugar to incorporate, then turn the speed to high and continue whisking until you get medium-stiff peaks.
• Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl, Using a rubber spatula, fold the yolks into the whipped egg whites until almost fully incorporated.
• Add half of the dry ingredients into the eggs and fold in using large strokes to prevent deflating the batter.
• While the mixture is still streaky, add the remainder of the dry ingredients and fold until everything is fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
• Spread the batter onto the prepared sheet pan using a large offset spatula, making it as even as possible.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the cake springs back to the touch.
• Gather the ingredients.
• Place the chocolate chunks in a microwave-safe bowl and heat at 45-second increments until it is almost completely melted. Stir the chocolate and allow the residual heat to finish melting any remaining chunks. Set aside.
• In a small pot place 1 1/4 cups sugar and the water and stir to combine. Wet your fingers to wipe any sugar crystals off the sides of the pot.
• Place over medium-high heat and let cook until the sugar syrup reaches 238 F. Do not stir the syrup while it is cooking, this will cause the sugar to crystalize.
• In the meantime, place the egg whites and salt into a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until the whites become frothy.
• Slowly add 1/4 cup sugar until fully combined. Turn the speed up to high and continue to whisk until medium-stiff peaks form. Turn off the mixer and wait for the sugar syrup to reach temperature.
• When the sugar syrup reaches 238 F, remove the pot from heat and turn the mixer back on low speed. Slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl until fully incorporated.
• Turn the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk until it has doubled in size and the bowl is no longer warm.
• Turn the speed back down to medium and slowly add in the butter chunks until smooth.
• Lower the speed and slowly pour in the melted chocolate and mix until everything comes together into a beautiful silky smooth buttercream.
• Gather the ingredients.
• Make a simple syrup. Heat the water and sugar together in a small pot over medium heat and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange liqueur if using. Set aside.
• Use a small paring knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the pan. Flip the pan over onto a cutting board to release the cake.
• Peel the parchment paper off the bottom of the cake and place a new piece of parchment on top. Make sure the parchment paper is larger than the cake itself-this will make it easier to roll.
• Pick up the cutting board and flip the cake onto a clean work surface. The large parchment should now be on the bottom with the cake on top.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the simple syrup all over the top of the cake. This will keep the cake moist.
• Using a large offset spatula, spread 1/2-inch of chocolate buttercream over the cake in a smooth even layer.
• With the short side of the cake facing you, start rolling the cake away from you, pulling it tight with each turn. When you get to the end, leave the seam on the bottom.
• Cut 2 inches off one end of the rolled-up roulade and slice a little off the other side to make the end even. The 2-inch piece will be used for a log stump.
• Place the roll on a serving platter and use the offset spatula to spread the remaining buttercream all over to cover the log. Make sure to reserve some to cover the stump.
• Place the stump on top of the cake and cover with the remaining buttercream. (You can use the buttercream as glue to help the stump "stick" to the log or use toothpicks to help keep the stump in place.) Let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
• Remove from the fridge and use a fork to scrape wood grain designs all over the log. Use a chopstick or something pointy to carve a spiral on the ends of the log. If desired, decorate with meringue mushrooms , marzipan or fondant holly leaves, and a dusting of powdered sugar.

CLASSIC YULE LOG

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan. Line with waxed paper. Grease paper.
• Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat together sugar and egg yolks at high speed until light and fluffy. At low speed, alternately beat milk and flour mixture into egg mixture.
• Using clean beaters, beat egg whites at high speed until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold one third of beaten whites into batter. Fold in remaining whites. Spread batter in prepared pan; smooth top.
• Bake cake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until set, 12 minutes.
• Dust a clean cloth with confectioners' sugar. Turn cake out onto prepared cloth. Remove waxed paper. Trim cake edges. Starting with a long side, roll up cake, jelly-roll style. Transfer, seam-side down, to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
• Unroll cake; remove cloth. Spread whipped cream over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Re-roll cake. Place, seam-side down, on serving plate.
• To prepare frosting, in a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, melted chocolate, and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring vigorously until blended. Remove from heat. Let stand until set. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake.
• To prepare garnish, dust work surface with confectioners' sugar. Knead food coloring into marzipan until blended. Using a rolling pin dusted with confectioners' sugar, roll marzipan to a 1/8-inch thickness. Using a small knife, cut out leaves. Arrange leaves, cinnamon candies, and snowmen on top of cake and around plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

Steps:

• Whip powdered sugar, butter, cocoa powder, salt, and coffee liqueur together in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed. Transfer buttercream into a separate bowl and add mascarpone cheese. Mix until combined; set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Brush a little melted butter over a 13x18-inch rimmed sheet pan. Line pan with parchment paper and brush remaining melted butter on top.
• Combine cocoa powder, salt, and flour together in a bowl; whisk or sift to break up clumps.
• Place eggs in the clean bowl of your stand mixer. Add sugar and whip until fluffy, thick, and very light in color. Add 1/2 of the cocoa powder mixture and vanilla extract; mix on low speed for a few seconds. Beat in remaining cocoa mixture on low for a few seconds. Switch to high speed; stop once mixture is moistened but not fully blended. Pull off the whisk attachment and whisk batter with it until evenly blended.
• Pour batter onto the prepared sheet pan and spread out with a spatula, leaving some room around the edges. Tap pan on the counter to knock out the large bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry and edges start to pull away from the sides, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Dust a clean kitchen towel with enough powdered sugar to cover an area slightly larger than the sponge cake. Remove cake from the oven. Run a knife around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top. Run a spatula under the parchment paper to make sure it's not stuck to the pan.
• Quickly flip pan on top of the sugared area to invert the cake. Remove parchment paper and dust cake with more powdered sugar. Gently roll cake up inside the towel; allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Unroll cake and dollop buttercream on top, reserving some for later. Spread frosting to the edges. Roll cake up over the frosting, using the towel to lift it if needed. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top. Wrap log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Combine chocolate chips and hot cream in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate melts.
• Make an angled cut 3 inches from one end of the log. Place log on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Apply some buttercream to the angled slice and attach it to one side. Spread a layer of ganache all over the cake, except for the swirls. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up ganache.
• Carve lines into the ganache using the tip of a knife to create the appearance of tree bark. Refrigerate until completely chilled before serving. Dust with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

CLASSIC YULE LOG

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a 15 X 10" jelly roll pan. Line with a sheet of waxed paper. Grease paper as well.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
• In separte bowl, beat together sugar and egg yolks. Alternate adding the milk and the flour mixture into the egg and sugar mix.
• In another separtate bowl, using clean mixer blades, beat egg whites until stiff but not dried out. Fold one third of the egg whites into the other mixture. Then carefully fold in remaining egg whites.
• Spread batter into pan, smooth out the top.
• Bake for 12 minutes, or until set.
• While waiting for cake to cook, prepare whipping cream. Beat whipping cream with 1 tablespoon sugar until thick. Set aside in the fridge.
• When cake is done, remove from oven. Dust a clean tea towel with icing sugar. Turn cake out onto this. Remove waxed paper. Cut edges of cake to make a nice even looking rectangle. Starting with the short side, roll the cake up jelly-roll style. Transfer seam side down to a rack for cooling. (30 minutes).
• While cake is cooling, prepare icing:.
• In a small pot, bring cream, melted chocolate and butter to a low boil over medium low heat. Stir vigorously until blended. Remove from heat and let stand.
• On a flat surface dusted with remaining icing sugar, knead food colouring into each piece of marzipan, (as many colours as you'd like)until well blended.
• Unroll the now cooled cake and spread the whipped cream over it to with 1 inch of all sides. Re-roll cake. Place seam side down on serving dish.
• Spread icing over top and sides and ends of cake.
• Roll out marzipam with a rolling pin and cut into various shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Arrange on cake. Sift a small amount of icing sugar on completed cake to make it looked like a light dusting of snow.