A Belated Birthday Bûche De Noël (Yule Log)

This is my second offering in the 2025 Alphabet Challenge, our second year of working our way through the alphabet with recipes. We post every other week for the entire alphabet and this is year two. Thanks for starting this series, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. It's so much fun!

B is for...

• A Belated Birthday Bûche De Noël (Yule Log) by Culinary Cam (you're here)

• Barley Salad by Mayuri’s Jikoni

• Bhune Mutton Paya by Sneha's Recipe

• Black Bean Sweet Potato Skillet by Jolene’s Recipe Journal

• Blistered Snap Peas by Food Lust People Love

• Blueberry Basil Cocktail/Mocktail by A Messy Kitchen

• Boiled Peanuts by Blogghetti

• Buffalo Cauliflower Paneer Dip by Magical Ingredients

• Chocolate Espresso Rainbow Brownie Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

• Coconut Brigadeiros by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

• White Bean and Basil Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm

A Birthday Tradition

For years we have been making Bûche de Noël for D's birthday. This year is no exception, we were just a few days late. D's birthday is two days before Christmas and it's a tradition that he gets a Bûche De Noël as his cake. This year he turned twenty-one. Legally allowed to drink. I'll be honest, watching my husband do shots with our baby at a Mezcal bar was pretty surreal. How did that happen?!

photos by Riley

Below are photos of his many, many bûche. The top left photo was the very first one I made for him...for his second birthday. And we have made one every year since. Well, I skipped his fifteenth birthday because we were on a plane to Denmark that day. And there was the year that his birthday coincided with our Mateo family Christmas, so my cousin who is an exquisite baker made his bûche that year.

Last year I tried a souche instead of a bûche. Souche means 'stump' or the part of the tree that stays in the ground - upright - after you cut the tree down while bûche means 'log'.

But for this year's celebration, I went back to a Bûche. I had actually tried to order one while we were in Paso Robles, but the baker I found was an hour away from our rental. That didn't work, so I told D that his birthday cake was going to be late. He was fine with that.

A Belated Bûche De Noël (Yule Log)

When we got home, I made a gluten-free espresso sponge cake, filled it with a Frangelico cream, and smothered it in a semisweet ganache. As usual I decorated it with Meringue Mushrooms and I added Woodsy Toffee Apples.

Ingredients

Gluten-Free Espresso Sponge Cake

• 6 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste

• 1/2 cup gluten-free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 Baking Mix)

• 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa

• 3 Tablespoons gluten-free cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon espresso powder

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 cup oil

• 6 Tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature

Frangelico Cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur from Italy, but use whatever liqueur you want or skip it completely)

• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Semisweet Ganache

• 1 cup organic heavy whipping cream

• 1 Tablespoon butter

• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

Meringue Mushrooms

• ½ cup egg whites (reserve the yolks for a different purpose)

• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup organic granulated sugar

• 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder for decorating

• ½ cup chocolate chips or chunks for assembly

• Also needed: baking sheet; silicone mat or parchment paper; piping bag with a round tip

Toffee Apples

• 1 cup butter

• 1-1/4 cup organic granulated sugar

• apples (I found some tiny apples that were perfect for garnishing the cake)

• sticks (I used organic curly willow and loved the woodsy feel they evoked)

• candy thermometer is optional (I have been making this for so long, I don't use one)

Procedure

Gluten-Free Espresso Sponge Cake

Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs until thick and pale, then beat in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. until thick ribbons form when you lift the whisk from the bowl; this can take up to six minutes.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, espresso powder (if using), and baking powder. When the egg mixture is ready, sift a third of the dry ingredients into the bowl and fold in gently; repeat twice more until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.

Whisk together the oil and buttermilk. Fold into the batter until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. It will be thin and might not quite reach the corners; that’s fine. Bake the cake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for two minutes. Invert the cake onto a clean parchment paper and gently peel the original parchment from the cake. Roll up the cake loosely from one short side - with the paper inside. Let it cool completely.

Frangelico Cream

Beat all of the ingredients together until soft peaks form.

Semisweet Ganache

Place whipping cream and butter in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until bubbles begin to form on the side of the pan. Add in the chocolate chunks and swirl to make sure they are covered with the warmed cream. Let stand for 3 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Cool in refrigerator until it thickens enough to spoon it over the cake, at least 45 minutes. Spread it as evenly as you can, then score the frosting with a fork to make it look like bark. Refrigerate, lightly covered, until ready to serve.

Meringue Mushrooms

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

In a large mixing bowl whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla. Continue whipping until the egg whites hold soft peaks. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar and continue whipping until the mixture holds stiff shiny peaks.

Place a round tip on a pastry bag and fill the bag half way with the meringue. Pipe the caps and the stems.

To pipe the mushroom caps, squeeze mounds of meringue onto one of the prepared baking sheets. Pull the bag off to the side to avoid making peaks on the top of the caps. This doesn't have to be perfect!

For the stems, press out a tiny bit of meringue onto the sheet, then pull the bag straight up. They should resemble elongated candy kisses. Again, don't fret about making all of the pieces exactly the same. The mushrooms will look more natural if the pieces are different sizes anyway.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the caps are dry enough to easily remove from the cookie sheets. Set aside to cool completely.

When the mushrooms pieces are completely cool, melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

To assemble, smudge the caps lightly with cocoa powder. Then poke a small hole in the bottom of a mushroom cap. Spread chocolate over the bottom of the cap. Dip the tip of a stem in chocolate, and press lightly into the hole. When the chocolate sets, they will hold together. Repeat with remaining pieces.

Toffee Apples

Skewer apples with sticks. Make sure they stay flat and are balanced. I had to adjust my stick placement since the curly willow was not symmetrical. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, place the butter and sugar over very low heat. Stir constantly until the sugar completely dissolves. Bring the syrup to a boil and boil until the mixture is at the hard crack stage – 302 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't use a thermometer, but the mixture will go from pale and foamy to caramel-colored and separated. Keep stirring! It will come together and get progressively more and more brown. I pull it off the heat when the sugar in the mixture begins to burn and you get bubbles that are slightly darker than the toffee you want. Remove from heat and stir to combine.

Take the pan off the heat then carefully tip the saucepan on an angle and dip the apples, turning them a few times to coat well all over. Place them on a platter to harden and set.

Assembly

Unroll the cooled cake and spread the Frangelico cream inside, before gently rolling the cake back up. Place the seam-side down on a serving platter.

Cut a small piece of the cake at a 45-degree angle and place the angled edge against the larger log to form a branch.

Pour or spread the ganache all around the outside in a layer at least 1/4-inch thick. Score the frosting with a skewer or fork with widely spaced tines to make it look like bark. Refrigerate, lightly covered, until ready to serve.

Just before serving, dust the top with confectioners’ sugar and decorate with the mushrooms and toffee apples.

This Time Last Year

I shared...with links to everyone else's posts...

• A Reclaimed Æbleskiver Pan + Æbleskiver Bread Pudding

• Börek with a California Twist

That's a wrap for the letter 'B' v.2025. See you in two weeks for the letter 'C'. Stay tuned!