25 Days of Christmas Baking Day 10: Buche De Noel

This is on the list solely by list-writer veto.  I didn't actually make it in November, so it wasn't on the ballot.  But I put it on the 25 for my own memories.

Buche de Noel is a Christmas cake made in France, Quebec, Switzerland and other Francophone places.  They are a very ancient tradition, originally for Jule and the feast of Thor, but then incorporated into Christian celebrations as the Yule Log Cake.  In high school French, we had to have a certain number of culture points.  We got culture points by making French food for the class, watching French movies, reading French literature, etc.  Or Francophone.  Let's be fair.  However, Christmas in high school is the end of a term.  And that's when people started realizing that they didn't have the sufficient number of culture points.  So, everyone always made Buche de Noel for culture points.

Unfortunately for these high school students, Buche de Noel are kind of complicated.  It's kind of like a cross between a crepe cake and a meringue cake.  They are very picky and very temperamental if you're not somewhat familiar with baking.  So, we were always subjected to various levels of palatability of Buche de Noel.  I don't even really like crepe-type stuff that much, but if made well, the general public likes them.  And, oh the memories!

Plus a shout-out to my sister who, with Celiac in her family, keeps a gluten-free home.  This one is GLUTEN FREE!

Buche de Noel

Yule Log Recipe:

cake

1/4 c sugar

6 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 oz of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

 Chocolate Whipped Cream center

1 c heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 tbls sugar

2 tbls cocoa (preferably Dutch processed

Garnish: (optional)

marzipan mushrooms (I like marzipan, so I broke my decorating rule)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 

2. Line a pan (I used a cookie sheet) with parchment paper and then butter and flour the parchment paper.  

3. separate eggs, keeping both whites and yolks.  Cover both and bring to room temperature (about 30 minutes)
4. Melt the chocolate (I used double-boiler style)
5. beat egg yolks and 1/4 c of sugar beat until light and fluffy (about 5 min)
6. Beat in vanilla
7. scrape bowl and then add melted chocolate, beat only until combined
8.  In a separate mixing bowl, beat the whites until foamy
9. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form
10. gradually beat in 2 tbls of sugar until stiff peaks form
11. Gently fold in egg whites into yolks. Don't over mix, or it will deflate.
12. Put in the pan.
13. Bake about 15-17 minutes.  It should be a little puffy, spring back when you press it, and it won't be super shiny anymore.
14. Allow the cake to cool, and cover with a slightly damp towel until we're ready with the whipped cream.
15. Combine the whipping cream, vanilla extract, sugar and cocoa. Whip it until stiff peaks form.
16. Once the cake is cool, spread it with cream and roll it up, peeling if off the parchment as you go.  It's possible that it will crack, and that's mostly okay so long as it's not the last layer of the rool.
17. Cut off the ends so you get a really cool looking end.  It's also acceptable to take the piece you cut off, and make a branch to the log. I didn't.  I ate it. 
18.  Make sure you place the cake seam side down.  Make any decorations you want--some Buche de Noel have leaves and everything.  Mushrooms are very common on Buche de Noel (made out of meringue or marzipan traditionally, but today people are making them out of fondant and stuff). I made marzipan mushrooms, and that's as fancy as I get.  Those mushrooms were a serious accomplishment for me.  They even look like mushrooms.