A Chocolate Bûche de Noël Cake decorated with utterly delicious Chocolate Frosting – Perfect Chocolate Cake for the Christmas Season!
I have had so many requests for a Yule Log recipe that I literally can’t count them any more – so I decided, this is was a must recipe for Christmas this year! I know you all love my Rocky Road Christmas Pudding, my Gingerbread NYC Cookies, Mint Chocolate Yule Log, and my Christmas Tree Cupcakes – so hopefully you love this festive bake just as much!
The absolutely WONDERFUL thing about this recipe, is that it is moist, delicious and is naturally Gluten-Free! Thats right – no gluten containing ingredients so everyone can enjoy it!
The recipe for the cake is made up of very few things, but works like an absolute dream. I have made swiss roll recipes in the past and they have been rubbery, or a little tasteless.. but this really isn’t!
When the cake had finished baking, it had ballooned up quite a bit as it had so much air in it that I popped them with a cake skewer – but this was evidence of the fact that I hadn’t knocked out the air when folding my mixture together – and it is totally worth it.
The Chocolate Frosting is made with melted dark chocolate because I wanted a deeper coloured Frosting compared to when its made with cocoa powder, and it worked an absolute treat. The Frosting is smooth, rich, sweet, yet not heavy when you eat it! Its the perfect frosting for such a cake, and it looks great too!
When I decorate this recipe, I always roll my cake from the longer edge, to the longer edge… this means its long enough to decorate and create the second branch like I have done in the picture.. however, this does of course mean there is less ‘layering’ you could say as there is much cake to roll up! So, if you prefer more rolls in your cake, do it the shorter way!
For the holly sprig on top, I used regular green candy melts melted down, which i then piped on top. You could alternatively use regular buttercream using this recipe and this green colouring, which I then piped on top using this leaf tip. For the berries I just used 3 red m&m’s! You could use anything you fancy – you could use fondant and make or cut out your own, you could buy holly sprinkles – its completely up to you!
This would for SURE be a hit at the Christmas dinner table – and easy twist on a timeless classic, and suitable for everyone! The cake is so chocolatey, moist, and stays good for days compared to going rubbery after a few hours like other people’s recipes I have found do! I hope you all love it just as much as i do! Enjoy!
Christmas Yule Log
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Ingredients
Cake
- 250 g dark chocolate (chopped)
- 4 tbsp cold water
- 7 medium eggs
- 150 g caster sugar
- icing sugar (to dust)
Chocolate Frosting
- 200 g dark chocolate (chopped)
- 250 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 300 g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
Decoration Options
- green/red fondant
- green/red buttercream
- green candy melts/red sweets
Instructions
Cake
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Preheat your oven to 220ºC/200ºC Fan and line a 23cmx33cm swiss roll tin with parchment paper (I find its easier to grease the tin so the paper sticks), then leave to the side.
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In a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (Double Boiler), melt the chopped dark chocolate with the 4tbsp cold water – stir occasionally whilst melting, then once fully melted leave to cool. (Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave on short bursts, then add the water and beat until smooth!)
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Separate the eggs into two different bowls, yolks in one, whites in the other.
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Add the caster sugar to the egg yolks and with an electric whisk, whisk until light and creamy (this may take 2-3 minutes).
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Once mixed, fold through the cooled dark chocolate.
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In the other large bowl, whip up the egg whites with a clean whisk until they form stiff peaks. (Don’t over beat them however as they can go dry and then deflate – they will be unusable then!)
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Mix in two spoonfuls of the egg whites into the chocolate and yolk mix so that it loosens the mixture, then carefully fold through the rest of the egg whites as carefully as possible .
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Once combined, carefully pour evenly into the prepared tin, and bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes. It won’t need any longer as it may start to catch!
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Once baked, get a clean tea towel and dust the tea towel with icing sugar.
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Flip the cake over onto the tea towe,l so the top of the cake is face down onto the icing sugar covered towel and peel off the parchment paper.
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Roll the cake from the longer side, to the longer side (including the towel) so that the rolled cake is longer and thinner, not short and fat! Doing this means it will be far easier to roll again later & decorate.
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Leave the cake to cool fully in the towel sausage!
Chocolate Frosting
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Melt the dark chocolate and leave to cool slightly.
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Beat the unsalted butter & icing sugar together until smooth, then add the vanilla bean extract, and fold through the cooled melted chocolate.
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CAREFULLY unroll the cake again and spread a couple of spoonfuls of the frosting onto the cake, and roll back up – it doesn’t matter if it cracks as this will be covered up!
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At an angle, cut off a few inches of the end of the cake and sit it next to the rest of the cake (like shown in the pictures!)
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Cover the cake with the rest of the frosting and create lines using a fork or a skewer, so it looks like bark on a tree!
Decorating Options
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I used some green candy melts, melted them down and piped them on, and topped with three red M&Ms! Dust the cake with icing sugar and serve!
Notes
- The cake recipe is inspired by Paul Hollywood, the Frosting is my own!
- I find it easier to roll it when the cake is warm, but be careful not to burn yourself. If you roll the cake when its cold you might find its much harder and is more likely to crack. However, even if it cracks, you can easily just glue it back together with some of the frosting to form the log shape, and then still decorate as you won’t see the cracks once its decorated!
- I know the idea of putting water into the chocolate is a little terrifying – but it makes a delightfully thick ganache like chocolate. Just be careful with it – don’t over mix the chocolate if its melting over a double boiler, but if you’re doing it in the microwave and then adding the water after, beat like crazy so that its smooth!
- This cake will last for 3 days in an airtight container, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months!
- I used this Swiss roll tin
- I used this Dark Chocolate
- I recommend this green food colouring
- I recommend this red food colouring
- I use this baking parchment
- I recommend these green candy melts
- Recommend this Leaf tip
ENJOY!
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