Yule log
6 servings
50 minutes
Yule log was not always sweet: in the Middle Ages, the French gave the most ordinary log as a gift for Christmas. In Paris and Bordeaux, for example, there was a special position at the city council - the supplier of Yule logs. Closer to the holidays, he would put together a group of townspeople who would go into the forest for firewood, and then sell it in the squares, arranging something like Christmas tree markets. And after the Christmas mass, the log burning in the fireplace was "fed" with wheat grains and poured with sweet wine or cherry kirsch to appease good luck for the year ahead. Today, Bûche de noël is a festive cake or roll, and only its shape reminds us of the old days: closer to the holidays, the windows of pastry and chocolate boutiques turn into an exhibition of logs decorated with tons of chocolate balls, marzipan towers and pralines.
1
Whisk the eggs, 75 grams of sugar, and vanilla sugar into a thick foam. To speed up the process, you can whisk in a water bath.
- Chicken egg: 3 pieces
- Sugar: 325 g
- Vanilla sugar: 1 g
2
Add the sifted flour to the eggs and gently mix with a spatula, without sharp movements, to avoid disrupting the airy texture of the dough.
- Wheat flour: 40 g
3
Spread the dough on parchment and shape it to a thickness of 1 cm. Smooth the edge of the layer with your finger. Place in a preheated oven at 190 degrees for 5 minutes. When the sponge is ready, cover it with film and let it cool so that it remains soft and easy to roll.
4
Whisk the yolks. Meanwhile, heat the remaining sugar with water over low heat. Pour the resulting syrup into the yolks and continue whisking.
- Egg yolk: 8 pieces
- Sugar: 325 g
- Water: 50 ml
5
Add room temperature butter to the cream, ensuring there are no lumps. Whip at low speed. Extract vanilla seeds from the pod and add them to the mixer. Divide the cream into three parts. Add citrus zest to one part and praline to the other two. Leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (it can be stored for up to 3 days).
- Butter: 250 g
- Vanilla pod: 1 piece
- Orange zest: 10 g
- Lime zest: 10 g
- Lemon zest: 10 g
- Praline: 50 g
6
Spread syrup on the bottom side of the sponge cake. Add orange liqueur for flavor when preparing the syrup. Then spread a thin layer of citrus cream. Tightly roll the sponge cake into a roulade, trimming uneven edges if desired. Wrap the roulade in plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator for the cream to thicken and the sponge to soak, optimal time is 2 days.
- Sugar syrup: 100 ml
7
Cut the edge of the roll at an angle. Decorate the roll with praline cream, place the cut piece as a branch on it, and decorate that as well.
- Praline: 50 g
8
Use a fork to give the cream a natural bark appearance. Then let your imagination run wild: make fly agarics from meringue, scatter red currants on a log, and create moss from torn biscuit colored with pistachio paste.