Buche de Noel (Yule Log)

I love pies, cakes, and cookies at Christmastime.  But, I also like trying new things, and I wanted to bring a little bit of France with me home to Lousiana for the holidays.  The buche de noel (Yule Log) is a traditional Christmas dessert in France, Belgium, French Canada, Lebanon, and Vietnam.  It is traditionally made from a sponge cake , and filled with chocolate buttecream rolled up to ressemble a log.

I wanted to make one a little more–interesting. I found a recipe that combined Nutella, whipped cream, and toasted almonds. I couldn’t resist!

The toasted almonds really bring out the nuttiness of the Nutella, and compliment the Genoise cake splendidly.  The finished product is so festive and really adds a nice flair to any dining table set for Christmas dinner.  You can always enjoy a left over piece the next morning with coffee for holiday-only guilt-free breakfast 😉

This Yule Log recipe is particularly wintry since the whipped cream frosting symbolizes snow on the log.  Get creative and really create a winter wonderland! Enjoy!

Buche de Noel (Yule Log), courtesy Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
4 large eggs, separated
¾ c. granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
½ c. all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Powdered Sugar, for dusting
½ c. sliced almonds, toasted
Chocolate-hazlenut filling and whipped cream frosting (recipes above)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Coat a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper.  Coat parchment paper with cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yoks with ½ c. granulated sugar until pale yellow.  Whisk in almond extract and flour just until combined (do not overmix!).  Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.  While beating, slowly add remaining ¼ c. granulated sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) and beat until stiff and glossy.  Whisk 1/3 of beaten egg whites into yolk mixture.  Gently fold in remaining egg whites with a rubber spatula.  Spread batter evenly in prepared pan; bake until center of cake springs back when lightly pressed, 15-17 minutes.
4.  Immediately after removing cake from oven, run a knife around edge of pan.  Dust top of cake with powdered sugar.  Invert cake onto clean parchment paper and gently peel off the lining paper that is now the top of the cake.  Starting from short side of cake, gently roll cake, along with clean paper, into a log.  Let cool, seam side down, 30 minutes.
5. Once cake has cooled, prepare filling and frosting.  Gently unroll cake and spread with filling, leaving a ½ inch border.  Starting from a short side, carefully re-roll (do not roll paper in cake), and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet or serving platter.  Spread log with frosting; sprinkle with almonds.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.