Traditionally, the yule log was a specially-selected log that was to be burnt on the hearth or fireplace during Christmastime in France. Pastry shops turned the tradition into something sweet by making a log cake that resembles the yule log, which the French call a Bûche De Noël. Typically, the yule log cake is a flourless genoise which is then rolled up while cooling, and then later unrolled and filled with anything from chocolate mousse to chestnut cream or mocha whipped cream, and then frosted and decorated with meringue mushrooms, fresh berries and powdered sugar (to look like snow). The possibilities are endless when it comes to decorating a yule log!
I have been making a Bûche de Noël cake for as long as I can remember. I always helped my mom in the kitchen at Christmastime to bake it; she would serve it after Christmas dinner. Now I have my own daughters helping me in the kitchen when it’s time to bake the yule log. My younger daugher loves frosting the cake to make it look like wood bark and my older daughter loves sprinkling on the powdered sugar snow. This has been a wonderful tradition in my family and hopefully it will be for yours as well.
This Bûche de Noël is a chocolate genoise with a chocolate truffle mousse filling and a mocha buttercream frosting that is surprisingly easy to make. The cake is light and the filling is rich and delicious. It’s a showstopping Christmas dessert!
