Buche de Noel, literally translated, means Yule Log.
It is a cake which is shaped and decorated to resemble a log, sometimes even adorned with meringue or marzipan mushrooms and moss made of crushed pistachio nuts.
I've heard horror stories about how hard this cake is to make. Luckily, I heard them after I'd already made it! I never had a problem with it and it's fabulous!
CAKE:
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cold brewed coffee
1 tsp. vanilla
FILLING:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp. instant coffee
1/2 cup powdered (10X) sugar
FROSTING:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
1 cup butter
3/4 cup light corn syrup
4 egg yolks
To make cake:
Line a jelly-roll pan with waxed paper and grease. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a seperate bowl, beat eggs until thick and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating constantly
until mixture is very thick. Stir in coffee and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
Sprinkle a kitchen towel with powdered sugar and invert WARM cake onto the towel. Remove the waxed paper
and roll the cake AND the towel jelly-roll fashion. Let cool. When the cake has cooled, unroll it, spread with filling and re-roll.
To make filling: Beat cream until stiff. Add instant coffee and powdered sugar.
To make frosting:
Melt chocolate chips with coffee over hot, not boiling water. Cool. Beat butter in a small bowl until light and fluffy.
Beat corn syrup and egg yolks into butter. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture.
To assemble cake:
At this point you have a filled jelly-roll. Slice off a small portion and place on the top of the cake to resemble a knot on a log.
Frost the cake. Drag the tines of a fork through the frosting to resemble bark. Decorate, if you wish, with meringue mushrooms, chopped pistachios or
sprinkle a little confectioners sugar lightly over to resemble snow.
