Holiday Challenge Day 24 - Buche de Noel

Buche de Noel (also known as a Yule Log) is a traditional European Christmas dessert decorated to look like, well, a log, complete with branches and mushrooms similar to what you'd find in the forest.  Pretty impressive, don't ya think?  If Santa saw a Buche de Noel waiting for him, I am sure he'd want to pull up a chair, pull out a fork, and stay awhile, regardless of how many more homes he had to visit.

So for this reason, twenty-five days ago I thought the Buche de Noel would be an appropriate "grand finale" to my holiday baking challenge.  The recipe seemed somewhat complex, but definitely do-able, with some time and advance preparation.  Today, though,  I wasn't so sure.  Not only had I recently watched Tyler Florence's Yule log go up in flames (so to speak) on the Iron Chef Holiday Challenge, I also botched my first attempt at making the sponge cake last night.  I had been so careful - measuring, mixing, sifting (not once, but THREE times).  Separating eggs.  Clarifying butter.  And I fully expected my efforts to be rewarded with a beautful, delicate sponge cake...the kind that springs back when lightly touched.  What I ended up with was a cake alright, but one whose texture resembled the rubber on the bottom of your favorite tennis shoe.  For a brief minute, I thought if I put the rubber on the inside of the roll, no one would would be the wiser.  But my conscience got the best of me - if I was going to do this, I needed to be able to say I'd done it right.

So this morning I got up, and armed with a different (and simpler) recipe, I baked a new chocolate sponge that didn't require sifting flour or clarifying butter.  I may have done a little elfin jig when I pulled the resulting sponge cake from the oven  - it was as beautiful, light, and moist as I'd imagined.  And when rolled with pink peppermint flavored whipped cream, frosted with chocolate ganache, and decorated with chocolate mushrooms, my amateur attempt at Buche de Noel ended up being a pretty good facsimile of a Yule log.  What it may have lacked in appearance it more than made up for in taste.  As evidenced by the fact that there was nary a twig left for Santa. 

Chocolate Peppermint Roll
Served 10-12
www.hersheys.com
(chocolate ganache from marthastewart.com)

Chocolate Sponge Roll
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar plus 1/3 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan with foil; generously grease foil.

2. Beat egg whites in large bowl on high speed of mixer until soft peaks form; gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat egg yolks and vanilla in medium bowl on medium speed 3 minutes. Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup sugar; continue beating 2 additional minutes.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; on low speed, add to egg yolk mixture alternately with water, beating just until batter is smooth. Using rubber spatula, gradually fold chocolate mixture into beaten egg whites until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Immediately loosen cake from edges of pan; invert on clean towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off foil. Immediately roll cake in towel, starting from narrow end; place on wire rack to cool completely

Peppermint Filling
1 cup cold whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup finely crushed hard peppermint candy or 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
Few drops red food coloring (optional)

Beat cold whipping cream in medium bowl until slightly thickened. Add powdered sugar and finely crushed hard peppermint candy or mint extract and a few drops red food color, if desired; beat until stiff.

Chocolate Ganache Icing

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

Chop chocolate into small pieces, and place in a medium bowl. Heat cream until bubbles begin to appear around the edges (scalding); pour over chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Refrigerate until cold but not solid, stirring occasionally. Whip ganache at medium speed until it has the consistency of soft butter.

Assembling the Cake:
1.  Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cake with filling; reroll cake. 
2.  Cut two wedges off ends of cake at a 45 degrees.angle; set aside.
3.  Ice log with a thin layer of ganache. Attach wedges on diagonally opposite sides of log. Spread ganache all over log, using a small spatula to form barklike ridges. Chill until ganache is firm, about 30 minutes.
4.  Decorate cake to your liking (I made chocolate mushrooms, and some chocolate slivers to look like bark, but some people decorate Yule logs with meringue mushrooms or powdered sugar).  Chill until ready to serve. 




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