Pastries & Desserts

Bûche de Noël: The Holidays Yule Log

Pastries & Desserts | Bûche de Noël, The Holidays Yule Log [cover]

The Bûche de Noël: the Holidays Yule Log, is the perfect dessert for the holidays, and this one it’s also kids friendly! 🥳

Welcome to our plant-based recipes collection – the fruit (veggies and desserts) of the collaboration between Simona & Orsola (ottimoblog.com and appetibilis.net) | Here happily edited and translated by Orsola 😀

Even if, this stuffed roll is a festive treat, it can be enjoyed at any time of the year. Just thinking of the Spring version with strawberries, it’s absolutely mouth-watering!

Matter of fact, it’s an incredibly delicious dessert that’s as simple as can be, once you familiarise with the recipe.

Imagine a thin sponge cake, just barely moistened with a moderately sweet syrup, then covered with a luscious custard (or jam) and rolled up into a neat little package that looks like a log. That’s all there is to it! 😉

As you roll it, the sponge cake should be nicely soft. If you opt for a gluten-free version, just be aware of crackings (it tends to break a bit more), but that’s no problem at all! We’ll “plaster” it all over with frosting, and you’re good to go! 

No worries, a little food styling always helps!

Recipe for the Bûche de Noël, the Holidays Yule Log

The recipe is a bit elaborate, but it’s much easier to make it than to explain it!

Just start by prepping all ingredients for each step at once, and keep them ready on the counter.

Please note!

  • The overall time given for this recipe does not take into account the one required to make the custard (or pastry cream). You should consider additional timing according to the recipe you pick.
  • The info and directions provided for the recipe are indicative: the end result may vary from person to person.
Pastries & Desserts | Bûche de Noël, The Holidays Yule Log <div class="hrecipe h-recipe jetpack-recipe" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Recipe"><div class="jetpack-recipe-content"></div></div>

[servings: 6 to 8 | time: 1 h 45 min (45 min prepping | 15 min baking | 2 h resting) | difficulty: medium]

Ingredients

Sponge cake

  • 180 g manitoba flour (or “all purpose”, to make an elastic dough)
  • 50 g cornstarch (or rice or tapioca)
  • 90 g margarine (or soy butter) at room temperature
  • 90 g brown sugar (or erythritol)
  • 230 ml soy milk sugar-free (or almond milk)
  • 1 pinch turmeric powder
  • 12 g baking powder, or
    • 7 g cream of tartar +
    • 3 g baking soda +
    • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Syrup

  • 1 orange (medium size) the juice only
  • 50 ml water
  • 1 teaspoon agave syrup

Custard

  • Check our ‘Crème Légère’ – a great example of delicious simplicity used in the recipe for our “Tiriamoci-Sù”… Or replace it with a jam of your liking
  • chocolate chips (optional)

Frosting

  • 300 g brown powdered sugar (you can make it yourself with a powerful blender)
  • 20 g cocoa powder
  • 250 g margarine (chopped in small cubes)
  • 40 g vegetable milk (or soy/almond/oat)

Tools

  • Electric whisk
  • Few bowl
  • Baking paper
  • Aluminium foil
  • Spatulas
  • Dish towels

Directions

For the sponge cake. 

  1. Start by turning on the oven to 200 °C, static.
  2. Whip the margarine and brown sugar with an electric whisk.
  3. Add the other ingredients starting with the vegetable milk, then the dry ingredients, finishing with the baking powder.
  4. Mix until the mixture is silky creamy.
  5. Place a sheet of baking paper on the oven baking tray.
  6. Pour the mixture onto the lined tray and level the mix with a spatula.
  7. Bake in the hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
  8. Once cooked, remove the sponge cake from the oven, and the tray. DO NOT PEEL off the baking sheet.
  9. Cover it with a piece of aluminum foil, then with a dish towel, so that it cools while retaining the moisture. Place aside.

Let’s make syrup and frosting

  1. For syrup – mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and set aside.
  2. For the frosting. Place all ingredients in a boule and whip with an electric whisk until smooth and creamy.

Time to prep the log

  1. Take back the just cooled-down sponge and, flip it so that the baking paper side is on top (and the aluminum underneath).
  2. Now you can peel off the paper and moisten the sponge with a spoon.
  3. Take the cream (already prepared), and spread it on the base, add the chocolate chips
  4. Roll up the log with the help of the aluminum foil, trying to make as few cracks as possible… Take your time.
  5. Compact well, giving it a cylindrical shape.
  6. Seal back in the aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
  7. Once the roll has firmed up, coat it with frosting giving the typical log shape and making lines with a fork for the bark effect.
  8. Place it back in the refrigerator to let the frosting set.
  9. Decorate as desired with pomegranate kernels or chopped dried fruit with a knife

Notes and variations

  • Covering the sponge traps the moisture and creates a flexible cake that is easy to roll just once, but not unrolling. So take your time!
  • Instead of custard, use a chestnut cream or bitter orange marmalade.
  • You can leave the frosting white by omitting the cocoa or color it to taste with vegan food coloring.

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