Recipe: Buche de Noel (Yule Log) (with coffee cream filling)

BUCHE DE NOEL (YULE LOG)
Servings: 10-12

CAKE:
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup cake flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch baking pan.

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Add sugar gradually and beat until creamy. Then add vanilla and beat in well.

Sift flour and resift with baking powder. Gradually add flour mixture to egg yolk mixture. Beat the batter until smooth.

Whip egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. Fold them lightly into the cake batter. Spread batter into prepared baking pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 13 minutes. Loosen edges and immediately turn out onto a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with sifted confectioners' sugar. Roll up cake and towel, starting with long side; cool.

FILLING:
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. (or more) instant coffee (dry)

Whip cream until stiff and fold in instant coffee; taste and add more coffee powder if you wish.

FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Sift together cocoa and sugar. Cream part of sugar mixture with butter. Blend in vanilla and half the milk. Add remaining ingredients. Add extra sugar if too thin, extra milk if too thick.

DECORATIONS:
1 egg white
Sugar to taste
Confectioners' sugar
Milk
Green and red food coloring

Beat egg white until stiff, beat in sugar to make stiff meringue. Use an icing bag with round tip to shape small rounded mounds (=mushroom caps) and tapering oblongs (=mushroom stems) on paper-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 250 degrees until tan.

When meringue mushrooms are cool, put a dab of chocolate frosting on underside of each cap and gently push a stem into frosting and cap.

Mix confectioner's sugar and milk (about 1 cup sugar and 2-3 tablespoons milk), to make decorating icing. Color 3/4 green, 1/4 red.

TO ASSEMBLE AND DECORATE:
Gently unroll cake and towel; do not flatten cake. Remove towel and spread filling inside rolled cake. Reroll. With a sharp knife, carefully cut a slice about 1 1/2-inches thick off each end; set aside. Put rest of cake on serving dish.

Spread chocolate frosting on top and sides of log. Put reserved slices cut side up, near ends of log and frost sides (they should look like cut-off branches). Use an icing bag with small round tip and green frosting to make vines all over the log - leave an open space for message; use a leaf tip to put leaves on the vine. Gently stick mushrooms into the chocolate frosting.

Use small round tip and red frosting to write "Joyeux Noel." You may wish to dust the log with confectioners' sugar snow just before servings. Keep the finished log cool, and slice with a very sharp knife.