Bûche de Noël
Scaled amounts are a guide — baking times and pan sizes do not scale with them.
Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 large eggs
- 200 g sugar, for the cake
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 40 g butter, melted and cooled
- 7 large egg whites
- ½ tsp salt
- 250 g sugar, for the buttercream
- 157 g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
- ½ tsp vanilla extract, for the buttercream
- 355 g unsalted butter, softened
- Powdered sugar, cranberries and rosemary sprigs, to decorate
The bûche de Noël recalls the log families once burned through Christmas, and everything about it is built to look like wood. A thin génoise is baked for only twelve minutes, then rolled up inside a sugared towel while still hot — that is what teaches it the curve and stops it cracking later. Once cool it is unrolled, spread with a chocolate meringue buttercream and rolled again; a wedge cut on the diagonal is stuck to the side as a branch stub, and a fork dragged through the frosting makes the bark.
Method
Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line a 25 x 38 cm rimmed baking sheet. Sift the flour with the baking powder.
Beat the eggs until foamy, about 5 minutes, then add the sugar and vanilla and beat 2 minutes more. Fold in the flour gently, then stream in the melted butter while mixing.
Spread the batter evenly in the pan and bake for 12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Straight out of the oven, sprinkle a clean kitchen towel with a tablespoon of sugar, flip the cake onto it, peel off the parchment and roll the cake up in the towel from a short end. Leave it rolled while you make the frosting.
Beat the egg whites with the salt to soft peaks. Boil the 250 g sugar with 160 ml water and reduce by half to a syrup, then pour it slowly into the whites while beating. Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla and keep beating until cool, about 5 minutes, then add the butter a tablespoon at a time.
Unroll the cooled cake, spread half the buttercream over it and roll it up again. Cut a wedge off one end on the diagonal and stick it to the side as a branch.
Cover the whole log with the remaining buttercream and drag a fork through it to make bark. Chill 2 hours, then dust with powdered sugar and decorate before serving.
