Warmth and Light, Daring Baker Style
December is a month for lists, so here we go:
What this is:
- A Yule Log, or Bûche de Noël.
- The December Daring Bakers challenge, hosted by Lis (La Mia Cucina) and Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice), who are also the illustrious founders of the DBs.
- My interpretation of the recipe Lis and Ivonne adapted from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert. (The recipe should be up on their blogs soon.)
- A genoise cake rolled with coffee buttercream filling and frosted with mocha buttercream, garnished with meringue mushrooms and other embellishments.
What I did:
- Followed the recipe exactly for the plain genoise. No fancy flourishes for me here. I’m a cake neophyte, so best to stick to basics. Luckily, this went without a hitch.
- Followed the recipe for the coffee buttercream filling exactly, only substituting Kahlúa for the rum I was out of.
- Because the alcohol flavor in the filling was quite strong, enough for the entire cake, I made another batch of buttercream for the outside. This time I left the Kahlúa out, and added about 1/3 cup of melted semi-sweet chocolate.
- Rolled the cake with the filling two days before serving, and kept it in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped in plastic.
- Frosted the cake the night before serving, and kept it refrigerated, covered with a plastic cake dome.
- Made meringue mushrooms one day ahead and stored them in a ziploc bag.
- Made sugared cranberries by dipping toothpick-impaled raw berries in a light sugar/water syrup, then in granulated sugar. Same for the rosemary, minus the toothpick of course.
- Brought this to my clinic’s holiday party.
- Failed to take any photos of the cut cake. I’m self-conscious enough taking photos of my food at home; I draw the line at doing it in front of my colleagues.
What I liked:
- I’m sorry if saying so is immodest, but it looked amazingly like a “real” yule log (i.e., one made by someone who actually knew what they were doing).
- I haven’t has this much fun with mushrooms since… well, never.
- I haven’t had this much fun assembling a cake since… also never.
- The parts could all be made ahead, and each element was pretty straightforward to make.
- It was definitely a crowd-pleaser.
What I didn’t like (happily, a short list!):
- The flavor reminded me of one of my least favorite desserts, tiramisu. Next time (and there will definitely be a next time, very soon) I will leave the alcohol out completely, and probably make some kind of fruit filling instead of the buttercream.
What I learned:
- Burning a (real) yule log started as a Scandinavian pagan Winter Solstice tradition, and symbolizes protection, warmth, and light.
- Genoise is a sponge cake leavened only with the air beaten into the batter. It also contains no butter or oil.
- Coffee powder dissolves nicely in Kahlúa, not so much in melted chocolate. (Which is not necessarily a disaster if the aim is to make your buttercream frosting resemble bark.)
- Raw cranberries are surprisingly edible when glazed with sugar.
- Mushroom stems that fall over during piping or baking let you make mushrooms that grow on the side of the log.
- If you bring this to a party, be prepared for everyone to ask how you made the mushrooms. Next time I think I will prepare a poster.
Thank you Lis and Ivonne for a dazzling challenge! And to everyone, may your holiday season be filled with warmth and light.
foodie froggy December 22 2007 at 12:54 am 1
Hey, DB’s are so creative !! It looks fantastic !
Ulrike aka ostwestwind December 22 2007 at 02:46 am 2
Great! I looks really like a real log, I’ll do it again with a chocolate filling
Happy Holidays!
desie the maybahay December 22 2007 at 02:54 am 3
this log looks fab. have a great christmas!
Lewis December 22 2007 at 07:22 am 4
Your icing and mushrooms came out beautifully!
zorra December 22 2007 at 08:30 am 5
Looks delicious! Happy Christmas to you.
maria~ December 22 2007 at 08:35 am 6
Oh, no immodesty there. I agree with you that your log looks pretty damn professional
Merry Christmas!
Tartelette December 22 2007 at 10:35 am 7
The mushrooms look amazingly real sprouting out from the log. You did a gorgeous job! Bravo!!
MyKitchenInHalfCups December 22 2007 at 11:26 am 8
You are absolutely entitled to rave about your log Susan. It looks terrifically real!!
I used only a single tablespoon of rum and it seemed just right but maybe I’m a booze lover. I really want to try it with Kahlúa & chocolate but I really loved it with the expresso powder.
Michelle December 22 2007 at 11:31 am 9
You should be very proud! Your yule log looks amazing!!
Judy (Judy's Gross Eats) December 22 2007 at 05:52 pm 10
It’s lovely. The bark has a great texture and feel to it.
Gigi December 22 2007 at 08:01 pm 11
Oh wow, looks fantastic! I love the sprigs, berries, and the mushrooms.
Aparna December 22 2007 at 08:29 pm 12
Your Yule Log looks beautiful. I don’t thinkI need to say anything more.
Merry Xmas and A Happy New Year
peabody December 22 2007 at 10:13 pm 13
Looks great. Glad to see someone else used cranberries and rosemary to decorate.
Danielle December 23 2007 at 03:21 am 14
Absolutely lovely! You are correct–it does lool like a real log. Very clever using the cranberries and rosemary.
Ann December 23 2007 at 08:24 am 15
It’s beautiful! And I like your write-up a lot. “just the dacts, ma’am.”
Ann December 23 2007 at 08:24 am 16
erm, FACTS.
Sheesh.
sugarlaws December 23 2007 at 10:31 am 17
gorgeous! it really does look like a real log! the color of your buttercream is perfect, and i love the cranberries and rosemary!
baking soda December 23 2007 at 11:07 am 18
Looks great! Love the bold strikes in the outer frosting. I hope I have some time left tomorrow to do proper mushrooms! Love yours.
Claudia December 23 2007 at 02:52 pm 19
Your log looks amazingly real. Chocolate buttercream fillings seems better than espresso buttercream - at least for the outside decoration. Love your mushrooms! Merry Christmas!
greysaltismyfavorite December 23 2007 at 03:36 pm 20
Looks gorgeous!
Tanya December 23 2007 at 03:53 pm 21
Oh my gosh! It’s stunning!
Let me know how the one that smelled like omlette tastes.
Sheltie Girl December 23 2007 at 08:39 pm 22
Your log is fabulous! Great job.
Happy Holidays!
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
Christmas Bellini Valli December 24 2007 at 04:52 am 23
I love the look of your log. What did I learn about this challenge or any challenge is not to leave it to the last minute ..then I would have had time to make the meringue mushrooms!!
Ann-Marie December 24 2007 at 05:29 am 24
That looks delicious AND gorgeous. And what a great idea for the sideways mushrooms! That’s going in my notes for next time. Merry Christmas!
Claire December 25 2007 at 01:02 pm 25
Beautiful! I LOVE the cranberries.
Tara December 26 2007 at 03:47 am 26
Your log is beautiful… I love your side-of-the-log mushrooms… so cute!
Jen December 26 2007 at 06:33 am 27
Great idea adding the little bit of choco to the buttercream. It added additional color, and I’m sure some YUMMY flavor too! What a pretty cake!!!
Gretchen Noelle December 27 2007 at 04:42 am 28
Very cute, I love hearing what you learned! The cranberries and rosemary are a beautiful touch!
Deborah December 28 2007 at 08:59 am 29
I had quite a few mushroom stems fall over, and didn’t even think to have them grow out of the side of the log! What a great idea! Your log looks amazing!
Wendy December 29 2007 at 11:04 pm 30
Love the cranberries. Your yule log looks great. Your post was a pleasure to read. Wendy
Jen Yu December 30 2007 at 04:43 pm 31
Gorgeous yule log! You did a fantastic job. Cake neophyte?! Are you kidding me?
Bridget December 31 2007 at 03:43 pm 32
Great idea sugaring the cranberries! They look so elegant. Beautiful yule log!
Andrea January 1 2008 at 08:40 am 33
Your cake is beautiful and very realistic looking! Congratulations, you did a really great job.
Judith Serrao January 1 2008 at 08:42 pm 34
Loved the way you illustrated everything. Congrats, you did a good job.
Tanya January 3 2008 at 08:47 pm 35
Ooooof! It does look good. I had some fork problems with my buttercream.
Christina January 6 2008 at 01:42 pm 36
Adorable mushrooms! Brilliant idea with the candied cranberries, I really like it. You made a stellar yule log!
Christina January 6 2008 at 01:43 pm 37
I love the sugared cranberries, what a brilliant idea! Cute mushrooms and great yule log, too.
Christina January 6 2008 at 01:44 pm 38
Oops… The first comment didn’t pop up so I rephrased it, but apparently the first did go through.
Dolores January 18 2008 at 07:59 am 39
I love your list-style retrospective and I’m glad you had fun with December’s challenge. I’m just sorry it’s taken me nearly a month to get here. If we continue to grow at the current rate, I’m going to have to find a different approach!