Daring Bakers in December: Yule Log
December 22, 2007 at 9:25 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, daring bakers, groups, sweet things | 54 Comments
‘Tis the season…to eat cake shaped like tree branches! I love holiday baking (wish I’d gotten to do more of it this year) and I absolutely love yule log, or Bûche de Noël. If you were wondering what the Daring Bakers would be up to for the holidays, this is it! Or hosts, the co-founders of the group, Ivonne and Lisa chose a yule log, a symbol of light and warmth for this month’s challenge.
A Bûche de Noël is usually a genoise sponge cake rolled up with a filling, cut to resemble a log and frosted with buttercream. Then it gets all kinds of slightly wacky decorations. Mushrooms are a traditional yule log decoration. Don’t worry–I’m taking about sweet sugar mushrooms! We were able to chose to make our ‘shrooms from either meringue or marzipan. Not being a huge marzipan fan, I went the meringue route. I dusted them with cocoa and a little gold luster dust. My log came from a magical, sparkley forest!
I have made a couple of yule logs in the past, so I knew the general drill. The genoise sponge we used was slightly different from ones I’ve made in the past. This one had no butter and used cornstarch…more like a ladyfinger recipe I’ve used many times. I decided to keep my sponge plain in flavor, but I was worried it would dry out in the fridge, so I soaked it with a rum simple syrup before rolling it. We had to use coffee buttercream to frost the cake (which was fine by me), and it was made Swiss-meringue style.
I didn’t have any real problems making the yule log. The most difficult part was deciding on a filling, as we could chose whatever we wanted to roll our cakes up with. I decided to do a chocolate mousse filling. It set up nicely and went well with the coffee and rum flavors in the other components. Decorating the cake was a lot of fun, and we certainly had no difficulty eating it up!
I am flying to the States today for the holidays. I’m very excited about the trip, but it means I may not be able to comment on as many of my fellow DBer’s posts as I would like. I apologize for that, but do check out the Daring Bakers’ blogroll and see all the beautiful Bûche that were made! Ivonne has the recipe on her site. Happy holidays!
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a whisk and a spoon 
Just Gorgeous! I love the look of it.IYour mushrooms look so real!
Comment by Courtney— December 22, 2007 #
Great job Steph! It’s still Friday in my part of the world, and since i don’t intend to bake until Sunday, I’m going to benefit from the wisdom of all you early-posters!
Comment by Dolores— December 22, 2007 #
I want to know about the platter your Yule Log is sitting on… I can just make out that great pattern…
Comment by Joey Biscotti— December 22, 2007 #
Wow, ok, your mushrooms are out of this world! Beautiful.
Comment by Lewis— December 22, 2007 #
Steph,
Very nicely done! The mushrooms look great as well. Merry Christmas!
Comment by Dharm— December 22, 2007 #
Beautiful! I love the gold luster dust. So glam 🙂
Happy Holidays.
Comment by desie the maybahay— December 22, 2007 #
Steph, of course, it looks wonderful! I always anticipate your post with these challenges. Sparkly mushrooms and the swirls on the log look great! Have a great time at home!
Comment by Sathya— December 22, 2007 #
That’s true, the mushrooms are great and the yule itself : wow ! I like the chocolate spiral !
Comment by foodie froggy— December 22, 2007 #
This looks great! I wish you happy holidays
Comment by Ulrike— December 22, 2007 #
I love the glittery mushrooms!
Comment by culinography— December 22, 2007 #
Now THAT’S a pretty Yule log! I love the gold luster.. very whimsical. =)
I just took a moment to skim through some of your recent posts, and I must say you are a very talented baker! I especially love the cupcakes you come up with – gorgeous! =)
Another fantabulous DB challenge, Steph! Way to go!
xoxo
Comment by lamiacucina67— December 23, 2007 #
Beautiful..does look magical and sparkly indeed 🙂
Comment by sunita— December 23, 2007 #
Your Bûche looks wonderful! Have a great trip to the states! We are happy you’re stopping by. 🙂
Comment by Chris— December 23, 2007 #
great great job! and buttercream looks so good! so smooth and shiny!
Comment by Aamena— December 23, 2007 #
Stunning! Have a safe flight and happy holidays!!
Comment by Tartelette— December 23, 2007 #
Love the piping on the ends. Bet it tasted as good as it looks!
Comment by Kim— December 23, 2007 #
Your yule log rocks! It did come from a distant sparkley forest and I love it. Great job!
Comment by Carla— December 23, 2007 #
Your log is beautiful! And I love those mushrooms!
Comment by Ivonne— December 23, 2007 #
Ooh I like the sparkly on the mushrooms!
Comment by Jenny— December 23, 2007 #
Wow, chocolate mousse filling. That sounds delicious! Anyway, I’m not a big fan of marzipan either so I made meringues. They’re so tasty that now I’m totally addicted to them! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Comment by maria~— December 23, 2007 #
Looks great, Your buttercream is so light looking!
Comment by Claire— December 23, 2007 #
Lovely mushrooms!
Comment by Suzanne— December 23, 2007 #
Great looking shrooms there!
Comment by rachel— December 23, 2007 #
Yum! Your yule log looks great! (From one DB to another!!!)
Comment by Jen— December 23, 2007 #
Great job, I was going to do chocolate mousse with pears and went with chocolate buttercream instead. Your log and mushrooms look fabulous!
Comment by Hilda— December 24, 2007 #
The whole thing is lovely! Merry Christmas!
Comment by Sara— December 24, 2007 #
It looks yummy. I love how you have added swirls to the ends of your logs.
Comment by Katie— December 24, 2007 #
Simply gorgeous – love the mousse idea!
Comment by Meeta— December 24, 2007 #
Great job. Have a safe trip and a very Merry Christmas!
Comment by peabody— December 24, 2007 #
Love the sparkly forest!!
Comment by brilynn— December 24, 2007 #
Love the golddust on the mushrooms and the chocolate filling and detailing. Fantastic job.
Comment by Cheryl— December 24, 2007 #
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Steph!
Comment by Cynthia— December 24, 2007 #
Beautiful! Love the swirl 🙂
Comment by Beth G— December 24, 2007 #
such a lovely log!! great job on the challenge
Comment by monica— December 24, 2007 #
I’m pretty envious of your glitter, great log!
Comment by Lisa— December 24, 2007 #
Merry Christmas, Stephanie! And have a safe, happy, healthy New Year!
Comment by Lori— December 24, 2007 #
Oh My goodness, check out the sheen on that buttercream! With so many folks coming un-stuck (ho ho) when it came to buttercream, you are surely one of the buttercream queens. Well done!
Comment by naomi devlin— December 25, 2007 #
You’re right — definitely from a magic forest. I love the delicate chocolate swirls, and the gold luster dust is just the right touch. Have a marvelous trip, and merry Christmas!
Comment by Ann-Marie— December 25, 2007 #
Your log looks like a perfect angel! Loved the silkiness of the buttercream and how pure it looks! Great job!
Comment by Cherry— December 25, 2007 #
Are you absolutely sure those aren’t real mushrooms? 🙂 They look SO authentic! I also really love the chocolate swirls on the ends, very pretty!
Comment by Anne— December 26, 2007 #
I like your kind of ‘magic mushrooms’! 😉
Comment by fruittart— December 26, 2007 #
That’s one fantastic looking bûche de Noël.
Happy Holidays!
Julius from Occasional Baker
Comment by Julius— December 26, 2007 #
Your log and mushrooms look perfect! Great job!
Cheers,
Rosa
Comment by Rosa— December 27, 2007 #
I love the magical sparkly forest mushrooms!
Lovely yule log and I hope you have a great trip!
Best wishes for a happy 2008 too!
xoxo
Gabi
Comment by Gabi— December 28, 2007 #
That last picture is stunning! Congratulations on a beautiful Yule Log.
Comment by Angela— December 28, 2007 #
Wonderful job!! It looks great!
Comment by Deborah— December 28, 2007 #
Oooh, the swirly chocolate decoration is great! Your yule log turned out wonderfully. Congratulations on a job well done 🙂
Comment by Jen— December 28, 2007 #
Your log looks perfect. I love how you made your bark look so good. You didn’t go too deep. The chocolate rings are great too. The mushrooms are cute too. Wendy
Comment by Wendy— December 30, 2007 #
your yule log looks fantastic, and the mushrooms seems so perfect! waoh!
Comment by auntie jo— December 30, 2007 #
Wow – your Yule log turned out so well. I wish I had read this post prior to attempting one myself. Great photography as well.
Comment by Jerry— December 31, 2007 #
Great presentation!
Comment by Jennyfer— January 1, 2008 #
It looks wonderful. Inspiring really:-)
happy new year.
X M
Comment by Matin— January 5, 2008 #
Your cake turned out so pretty, and I love the gold dust on the shrooms. Lovely job!
Comment by Andrea— January 18, 2008 #
I love how you swirled the tree rings on – so pretty! Someday, I’ll master meringue mushrooms…
Comment by Caitlin— December 29, 2008 #