Black Forest Christmas Bûche
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a decadent dessert to share with your loved ones. What could be more magical than a homemade yule log filled with festive flavours? It might take a bit of time but the pride and joy of having serving it makes it worth it. This year, we decided to give a christmassy twist to one of our beloved cake: The black forest. You will find juicy black cherries, soft and mellow mascarpone, and lucious chocolate in all its possible forms.
- 90 g flour
- 100 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 25 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 200 ml heavy Cream
- 120 g milk chocolate
- 150 ml double cream
- 75 g mascarpone
- 30 g icing sugar
- 250 g milk chocolate
- 40 mg vegetable oil
- 60 g hazelnuts
- 4 tbsp black cherry jam
- A few hazelnuts
- 30 g sugar
- 1
The ganache needs to be prepared the day before to be sure it's set.
- 2
Bring the double cream to a simmer.
- 3
Pour the double cream in a bowl containing the thinly cute chocolate and give it a good stir until melted and well combined.
- 4
Place in the fridge overnight with a piece of cling film put directly on top of the ganache to avoid a nasty crust.
For the sponge cake- 5
Preheat the oven to 180°C (170°C).
- 6
Separate the egg yolks from the white and beat the whites until soft. Set it aside.
- 7
In another bowl, combine the egg yolks and the sugar.
- 8
Add the flour, baking powder and cocoa and combine. You can a dash of milk if the batter is too firm.
- 9
Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula.
- 10
Spread the batter about 1cm thick onto a parchement paper lined baking tray.
- 11
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 12
When the sponge cake is ready, immediately flip it on a slightly damp clean cloth. Remove the parchement paper and roll to form... a roll.
- 13
Set aside while making the Mascarpone whipped cream.
For the Mascarpone Whipped Cream- 14
With an electric handmixer, whip together the cream and mascarpone until it forms a beak.
To insure that the whipped cream sets correctly, you can place your bowl and the whips in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes beforehand.- 15
Add the icing sugar and give one last stir.
Assembly- 16
Gently unroll the sponge cake from the cloth.
- 17
Spread the black cherry jam and the mascarpone whipped cream.
- 18
Roll back into shape and cover with cling film.
- 19
Chill in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.
For the rocher icing- 20
Melt the chocolate in a double bath. Avoid going above 45°C so the chocolate stays runny enough.
- 21
Once melted, remove from the hob. Add the oil and the crushed hazelnuts and stir until well combined.
- 22
Place the sponge cake on a cooling rack with a large foil lined tray below.
- 23
Pour the icing until the whole roll is covered and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
Decorations- 24
While the icing is cooling. Retrieve your ganache from yesterday and whisk with a handmixer until it has the texture of whipped cream. Set aside.
- 25
Melt some sugar to make caramel and dip a few hazelnuts for decoration.
- 26
With the piping bag of your choice, pipe the whipped ganache on top of the roll.
- 27
Decorate with the caramelized hazelnuts, or any other decorations of your choice. We went for chocolate stars and edible gold dusted hazelnuts.
yule log, black forest, black cherries, bûche de noêl, christmas recipe, christmas baking - 2
