Holiday Bûche de Noël
Time:
4h
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Loot:
2 cakes
I was prompted to do this one by my French 203 final…
Yep. T’was the night before LDOC, and all were studying awake. My prof told me extra credit would go to those who bake. But with about three other finals to study for and a troubled project at work, walking a mile to Target and fighting with the grody dorm oven would turn me berserk.
Anyway, day of the final. The reading period came and went, and on the exam, I vaguely remember a section where we had to write about the traditions of a Francophone country we’d learned about at some point. Given that it was Christmastime and I called on my 7 years of public education on Montréal winters, I remembered my go-to Québecois fun fact: the elusive bûche de Noël or “yule log cake.”
After yapping for about a paragraph about bûche, I spent the rest of the exam period thinking about why the hell I hadn’t made one of these yet — especially after tackling the monstrous Opera Cake. So as soon as I conquered the last of my finals and landed back in Chicago, I sprinted to my stand mixer to get to work. If you’ve been around the block with Swiss rolls or tiramisu, this one isn’t actually that bad. The stars of your show are your two creams: the coffee-cocoa infused mascarpone whip and the ganache bark.
Similar to the vanilla variant I did about 100 years ago, the cake base has a subtle, mellow flavor that serves as a perfect vehicle to bring together the two stars. The level of effort you put into this up to you, but if you want to level up your baking or school your judgy in-laws who still talk about you bringing a Jewel Osco pie to Thanksgiving (no hate to the grocery story bakeries): I’d go for the traditional meringue mushrooms and candied rosemary.
Word to the Wise
Make sure your mixing bowl is SQUEAKY clean before attempting to whip egg whites. Even a little bit of fat or yolk will leave you whisking for a very long time.
Make the meringue mushrooms and rosemary night before if you can. Most of it’s just passive time anyway. Save your Sunday and spend Saturday night just watching Suits with the oven on.
Cool your cake for 10 minutes EXACTLY before frosting and rolling. Through a lot of trial and error, I’ve found that this is the IDEAL window where your cake is still easily rollable and won’t turn your filling into a puddle. Stop laughing.
If you don’t have cake flour, use ¾ cup of all-purpose flour, remove 1 ½ Tbsp, and put in 1 ½ Tbsp of corn starch. Mix it together and voila, you’ve got a passable sub.
Add in only A LITTLE of your sugar at a time to your whites. This helps it dissolve and incorporate more evenly into your meringue, and keeps it from collapsing under the weight of too many grains at a time.
Be sure to fold your white and brown mixture GENTLY until JUST COMBINED. Seriously, with wax-on wax-off level discipline. Use your spatula and very gently fold bottom to top to make sure you don’t deflate the meringue and ruin the rise.
If you make the meringue mushrooms, make sure you whip your whites until they reach REALLY STIFF peaks. Do not be shy with these. If your meringue isn’t solid enough, you will not get upright stems.
DO NOT touch your meringue mushrooms with wet hands. Think of it like Gremlins…or more like the Wicked Witch of the West. They’ll melt.
For the candied holly, if your simple syrup still runs and pools off your cranberries/rosemary, it’s TOO SOON. If it hardens and dulls, it’s too late. If this happens, no worries, use a pastry brush to paint on some more simple syrup and try again.
Heads up! Today we’re going to be splitting our instructions into two parts: one is just for the base bûche, the other is for the décor if you want to go in for the kill.
Ingredients
Cake
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
4 ½ Tbsp vegetable oil
6 Tbsp whole milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup cake flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
⅛ tsp kosher salt
5 Tbsp granulated white sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar
Filling
8 oz mascarpone (1 container or 1 cup)
½ cup powdered sugar
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp instant espresso powder
Ganache
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Meringue Mushrooms
2 egg whites, room temperature
⅛ tsp cream of tartar
6 Tbsp of superfine sugar OR 8 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
Candied Rosemary (optional)
¾ cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup fresh cranberries OR maraschino cherries
Instructions
Cake
Line (2) 9x13 baking pans with parchment paper. Cut a line down each of the corners to ensure that it stays upright. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Separate your egg yolks from your egg whites into two bowls. Place the egg whites in your stand mixer bowl.
Combine milk and oil in a separate bowl. Using a sieve, sift in your flour and cocoa powder and whisk until combined.
Add the yolks to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined. It should be thick, smooth, and drop into thick ribbons. Drop in the vanilla and salt and mix until just incorporated.
In your stand mixer bowl, wipe down the sides of the bowl and make sure there is absolutely no oil. Whip your whites on high for about 1 minute or until foamy and bubbly.
Add in your cream of tartar and 2 Tbsp of your sugar.
Whisk on high until the mixture turns white and solid. Add in 2 Tbsp more of the sugar and keep whisking.
When it drips into ribbons, fold in your final 1 Tbsp of the sugar. Stop whisking AT SOFT PEAKS. If you go any further, it’ll collapse the cake.
Pour out ⅓ of your whites mixture into the yellow, and fold gently with a spatula from bottom to top until smooth and one color. Pour in your mixture into the rest of the whites and fold from bottom to top until fully combined into a uniform light brown color.
Pour out half of your mixture into each of your two 9x13 pans. Make sure to run a bench cutter or a spatula across the top to ensure you have a flat batter. Drop each pan from about an inch off the ground about 3-4 times to pop any lingering air bubbles.
One at a time, bake each cake for about 12-16 minutes until the top is lightly crusty, and the cake springs back fully when you push down on the surface. Do your first checks at 12 minutes since oven temperatures can vary. Let your cake cool in the pan for EXACTLY 10 minutes. Get started on the cream and place your other cake in the oven.
Cream Filling
Use a spatula and scrape out about half of an 8-oz container, or a quarter of a 16-oz container of mascarpone cream into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Add in your powdered sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Use a whisk to stir the ingredients together until just combined.
Pour in your heavy cream. Using your stand mixer’s whisk attachment (after washing it off of course), a handheld beater, or a whisk, whip your cream together until it forms stiff peaks.
Ganache
In a small saucepan, pour in your heavy whipping cream and heat for about a minute. Not boiling or simmering, just warm.
Add in your chocolate. Using a spatula stir and fold constantly scraping down the sides of the pot to avoid burning chocolate (it’s a pain to clean, be vigilant). Keep stirring until the chocolate is fully melted and your ganache is combined.
Take your ganache off the heat, and place it on the counter to cool at room temperature. It’ll set as it cools to make it perfect for spreading.
Rolling
Once your cakes are completely cooled. Get out another sheet of parchment paper larger than the size of your pan and place it on the counter.
Grab the parchment paper holding your cake by the sides and carefully lift it up and place it on your new parchment. Be sure to unfold the sides.
Flip your cake onto the new sheet, and gently peel off the old sheet you baked with. Some of the crust may come off. That’s okay. Use a sharp knife to trim each of the edges to form a neat rectangle.
Using a spatula, spread about half of your mascarpone whip evenly across the surface of the cake.
Grab the end of the parchment paper closest to you, and very carefully, pick it up and roll it away from you.
Once the end of your cake is bending over, grab it by the end closest to you, and with two hands, gently tuck it in to ensure you don’t get a hole in the middle with no cream, and ensure its as tight as possible.
In a very slow, gentle, rolling pin motion, carefully continue to roll your cake forward until you get a creamy seam. Make sure that this side faces down.
Carefully pick up the parchment holding your roll to a safe plate or an airtight container. Wrap it up with Saran Wrap to prevent any contamination, and place your cake in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.
Repeat the process with your other cake after it cools. If you want the decorations, now’s a great time to start if you didn’t go night before.
Decorations
This is just a recommended order to minimize your time in the kitchen.
Meringue Mushrooms
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large, clean mixing bowl. Combine your 2 egg whites and cream of tartar. Whisk on a medium high setting until it turns frothy and doubles in volume. Add in 2 Tbsp of your superfine OR 2 Tbsp of your powdered sugar here.
Whisk on high until the mixture turns white and solid. Add in 2 Tbsp of your sugar and keep whisking.
When it drips into ribbons, add in 2 Tbsp of the sugar. If you’re using superfine sugar, NO MORE SUGAR. If you’re using powdered sugar, you have one more step…
Once you reach soft peaks, sift in your last 2 Tbsp of powdered sugar.
Keep whisking until you’ve achieved stiff peaks. They should be able to stand completely straight on their own. Get out a round tipped piping bag (or a Ziplock bag with a corner cut off), and fill it about halfway with your meringue.
Pipe half of your meringue into stems. Place your piping tip on the parchment and squeezing the piping bag, slowly moving the tip up (like a cone) creating a small column about 1-inch tall. Quickly swirl your piping bag and pull up to release without collapsing your meringue.
Pipe your other half into caps. These should be about twice the size of your stems. Holding your piping bag about ½-inch off the surface, squeeze until you get round tops your desired size.
Dust your caps very lightly with cocoa powder, and place your tray or meringue to bake in the oven for 2 hours.
Candied Holly
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a wired cooling rack over the sheet if you have one on hand.
Combine your sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until fully dissolved to avoid burning. Set it aside to cool.
Place your cranberries and rosemary sprigs on your wire rack or baking sheet. Once your simple syrup is cooled to room temperature, drizzle it over the cranberries and rosemary.
Wait about 5 minutes for your simple syrup to set and stop running off your confections. You’ll know they’re ready when they look glossy with a slightly thick coating.
Dust your cranberries and rosemary with granulated white sugar, and let them air dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Finishing Mushrooms
Once you take your mushrooms out, fill a pot or saucepan with warm water over medium heat. Place a heatproof bowl over it to create a double boiler. Drop in your chocolate, and gently stir it constantly to keep it from burning. Keep stirring until it’s melted.
Use a pair of scissors to snip the pointed tops off your stems to provide. a flat, round base for your caps.
Gently dip the top of your stems into the melted chocolate. Hold it for a few seconds upside-down to let your excess chocolate drip. Gently attach your mushroom caps to form mushrooms.
Assembly
Take your roll cakes out of the fridge. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut a slanted piece off the ends of your yule logs, and place the slanted part on the side of your cake to create a branch shape.
Using an offset spatula, spread your ganache across the sides and tops, leaving the ends of your roll cakes exposed. Run a fork through the ganache a few time to create the signature bark pattern.
Place your meringue mushrooms onto the log to decorate. Place your cake in the fridge to chill and set for 30 minutes to 1 hour uncovered or with a cake cover.
Place your candied cranberries and rosemary sprigs on the top of your cake to resemble holly. For added detail, dust a little cocoa powder around the bases of the mushrooms to look like soil, and dust the full cake with powdered sugar to resemble snow.
Serving
Serve at room temperature, ideally under a cake plate. For storage, place it in the fridge covered with either a cake plate or a very loose piece of Saran wrap to prevent condensation.
