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YULE LOG

YULE LOG

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Makes: about 12 fat slices

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  • Gluten Free
  • Nigella Recipe
  • Vegetarian

I know the recipe looks finicky, and I can’t promise it’s a doddle, but it works easily and you will soon find you are rolling chocolate logs without a care. In fact, if you have a lot of people coming round, and you can find a serving dish or board long enough, it might be worth making 2 cakes and sitting them end to end, to look like a really long log. But even if you’re making just one log, I advise at least a freestanding mixer or a hand-held electric whisk: I wouldn’t contemplate this by hand.

Now, it doesn’t look anything like a log when it is just a bald roulade, but once you’ve spread on the chocolate icing, made approximations of wood- markings on it (I use the sharp end of a corn-on-the-cob holder for this) and all, it does look quite impressive. I don’t go as far as the French, and make sugar mushrooms to adorn it: this is not only because I lack the talent, but also because a light snowfall of icing sugar is all this yule log really needs to complete its wintry perfection.

Find even more Christmas cake ideas and recipes for Christmas with Nigella's collection of delicious main courses and side dishes. 

 

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Ingredients

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for the cake

  • 6 large eggs (separated)
  • 150 grams caster sugar
  • 50 grams cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 5 teaspoons icing sugar (to decorate)

for the icing

  • 175 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
  • 250 grams icing sugar
  • 225 grams soft butter
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
  2. In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until thick and peaking, then, still whisking, sprinkle in 50g of the caster sugar and continue whisking until the whites are holding their peaks but not dry.
  3. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining caster sugar until the mixture is moussy, pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract, sieve the cocoa powder over, then fold both in.
  4. Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of the egg whites, folding them in robustly. Then add the remaining whites in thirds, folding them in carefully to avoid losing the air.
  5. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, leaving a generous overhang at the ends and sides, and folding the parchment into the corners to help the paper stay anchored.
  6. Pour in the cake mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking parchment. If you dust this piece of parchment with a little icing sugar it may help with preventing stickage, but don’t worry too much as any tears or dents will be covered by icing later. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel.
  7. To make the icing, melt the chocolate – either in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water or, my preference, in a microwave following the manufacturer’s guidelines – and let it cool.
  8. Put the icing sugar into a processor and blitz to remove lumps, add the butter and process until smooth. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and the tablespoon of vanilla extract and pulse again to make a smooth icing. You can do this by hand, but it does mean you will have to sieve the sugar before creaming it with the butter and stirring in the chocolate and vanilla.
  9. Sit the flat chocolate cake on a large piece of baking parchment. Trim the edges of the Swiss roll. Spread some of the icing thinly over the sponge, going right out to the edges. Start rolling from the long side facing you, taking care to get a tight roll from the beginning, and roll up to the other side. Pressing against the parchment, rather than the tender cake, makes this easier.
  10. Cut one or both ends slightly at a gentle angle, reserving the remnants, and place the Swiss roll on a board or long dish. The remnants, along with the trimmed-off bits earlier, are to make a branch or two; you get the effect by placing a piece of cake at an angle to look like a branch coming off the big log.
  11. Spread the yule log with the remaining icing, covering the cut-off ends as well as any branches. Create a wood-like texture by marking along the length of the log with a skewer or somesuch, remembering to do wibbly circles, as in tree rings, on each end.
  12. You don’t have to dust with icing sugar, but I love the freshly fallen snow effect, so push quite a bit through a small sieve, letting some settle in heaps on the plate or board on which the log sits.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

Make the Yule Log up to 1 week ahead and store in an airtight container in a very cool place.

FREEZE AHEAD TIP:

Make the Yule Log and freeze in a rigid container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in a cool room and store in an airtight container until needed.

 

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  • This cake is simply known in our house as 'THE' cake. It is quite simply the best cake any of us has ever tasted. It is not only made for Christmas, but easter, birthday's, valentines any excuse really!. I keep mine in the fridge and add a little more icing sugar than Nigella but that's just me. It is also the perfect cake for a wheat free diet, as it has no flour but you wouldn't notice.

    Posted by retrochick on 17th Jul 2012 at 19.25

  • A pretty good cake. Tin size is not specified but if you make the full recipe, I suggest using the biggest Swiss roll tin you can get on your oven. Next time I will use half amounts and a smaller tin. I used half fat spread for the icing and it worked surprisingly well. May experiment cutting sugar down too. Over all, it was a success!

    Posted by saschlet on 10th Nov 2012 at 19.16

  • I am afraid to say that, although this looks good and tastes nice, it's really rather sickly and I could only eat a few mouthfuls. Basically, there seems to be far too much very heavy buttery icing, relative to quite a small amount of light and delicate sponge. In fact the sponge is almost incidental, because it's so overwhelmed by the icing.

    Posted by Maplo on 25th Nov 2012 at 22.38

  • Additional comment: have tried using golden caster sugar - works perfectly; used fruit sugar/fructose - worked ok, sponge a bit dry but still acceptable; used stevia powder and it did not work at all!

    Posted by saschlet on 26th Nov 2012 at 8.51

  • I've never tried to bake anything like this before but decided to give it a go and found it extremely easy, and the end result is amazing! I will definitely be making this again in the future. I didn't have any Vanilla essence so swapped that for Amaretto which gave it a nice flavour.

    Posted by AmandaClaire1 on 17th Dec 2012 at 17.54

  • I've just made a Yule log for solstice today. It was incredibly easy to make (in true Nigella style, I used an electric hand whisk for the sponge and my food processor for the icing). The only things I did different was that I turned it out when it was still hot and then rolled it up with the greaseproof, after that I let it cool right down before icing. Can't wait to get stuck in :)

    Posted by sabrina.coultas on 21st Dec 2012 at 20.14

  • I'm going to try this one on Christmas Eve - Wish me luck!

    Posted by GalileeBlue on 22nd Dec 2012 at 20.47