For the Meringue Mushrooms: click here

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Buche de Noel - A Heavenly Christmas Cake Recipe!
Hello friends, today I am going to share with you a very special Christmas recipe I make every year! A traditional Christmas cake that looks like a Yule Log. The burning of a Yule Log is a special Christmas tradition that symbolizes guiding beacons for the Christ Child. Although, why we would want to light a fire to stop Santa from coming down the chimney, I will never know. Merry Christmas to all!
Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
For The Meringue Mushrooms
- 2 large Egg Whites, no trace of yolks
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 oz Dark Chocolate - melted
For the Cake Batter:
- 7 Eggs, separated
- ½ cup 220 g Sugar, divided in two ¼ cups
- ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons, 1.8oz / 50g Cake Flour
- 4 tablespoons 0.7 oz / 21g Cocoa Powder
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
For the Orange Butter Cream:
- 2 oz good quality White Chocolate, melted
- 8 oz Sweet Butter, softened out of refrigerator for al least 4 to 5 hours
- ½ cup 2 oz / 55 g 10 X Powdered Sugar OR 7 oz / 200 g Condensed Milk
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 zest of Orange grated with a microplane
- 1 pint Strawberries chopped
- 1 pinch Salt
For the Dark Chocolate Butter Cream:
- ¼ cup / 2 oz /50 g Cocoa Powder
- 4 oz good quality Dark Chocolate, melted
- 12 oz / 350 g Sweet Butter softened out of refrigerator for at least 4 to 5 hours
- 7 oz / 200 g Condensed Milk
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup 2 oz/ 55g 10 X Powdered Sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
Recipe Instructions
For The Meringue Mushrooms
Preheat Oven to 275°F / 135°F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the egg whites until the yellowing color turn white, add sugar, salt and cream of tartar and beat until the eggs are glossy and to a firm pic.
- Using a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8" round tip. Pipe 12 stem and 12 caps like the chef did in the video.
- Bake for about 45 minutes until they are dry and let them cool on paper completely to room temp.
- Dust the tops and stems lightly with cocoa powder.
- Transfer them to an airtight container at room temp, not in the refrigerate.
Make the Cake:
Preheat Oven to 425˚
- Clean and cut the strawberries into small dice and let them drain in a stainless-steel strainer or a colander.
- In your CLEAN mixer, beat 7 egg whites and 1/4 cup of sugar until soft peaks form (DO NOT OVER-BEAT). Transfer to a glass or stainless steel bowl and reserve at room temp.
- In a separate glass bowl, SIFT the flour, cocoa powder and salt.
- Line an 11" x 17" Jelly Roll / Sheet Pan with buttered parchment paper.
- In your cleaned mixer bowl, combine 7 egg yolks, vanilla and the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Whisk for approximately 5 to 7 minutes until the eggs are pale yellow and thickened. Add the flour mixture and mix for one minute until well blended. Fold in the reserved beaten egg whites GENTLY, DO NOT OVER-MIX.
- Spread the mixture in the bowl onto the Jelly Roll / Sheet Pan and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cake is springy to touch or it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Take immediately out of the jelly roll pan and let cool. Leave the parchment paper underneath.
Make the Orange Butter Cream:
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds about 4 to 5 times each, no more than 10 to 15 seconds each time. In a mixing bowl, place the softened butter (not melted, just very soft) and mix it until pale white. Add the 10X sifted powdered sugar or the condensed milk and mix until well blended. Add orange zest, vanilla and white chocolate.
Make the Dark Chocolate Butter Cream:
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds about 4 to 5 times each, no more than 10 to 15 seconds. In a mixing bowl, place the softened butter (not melted, just very soft) and mix it until pale white. Add the 10X sifted powdered sugar, cocoa powder, condensed milk, vanilla and mix until well blended. Add chocolate and mix well.
Build the Log:
- Cover the entire surface of the cake with an even layer of the orange butter cream. Sprinkle the chopped strawberries. Using the parchment paper as an aid, roll the cake on the long side, tight as a log and Refrigerate.
- Let the Cake / Roulade cool in the fridge for at least a couple hours.
- Coat the outside of the Cake / Roulade with the dark chocolate butter cream.
You can find the items below used in making this dish at our online store!
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My mom taught me to make Swiss Roll cakes, and one trick the YouTube folks might like to know is that we took the cake out of the oven and rolled it in a tea towel while still warm, then when cool, unrolled it gently to add filling and roll it back up.
Please add the missing 1 tsp of Tahiti vanilla in both buttercream recipes.
Thank you for this video. Looking forward to making the buche de Noel for the first time this Friday!
Thank you we’ll fix it ASAP! 🙂