FRENCH YULE LOG
The French yule log, or bûche de noël is something all French families look forward to - and so do I. I usually make one with dark chocolate, but this year I decided to make it with white - it's delicious!
Paola Westbeek is a food, wine and travel journalist. For more of her recipes, please visit ladoucevie.eu, thefrenchlife.org and her YouTube channel, LaDouceVieFood
Read about the origins of the yule log cake here
Bûche de Noël recipe
Ingredients
Serves 6-8
5 eggs
110g sugar
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
Pinch of salt
70g flour
4 tbsps good-quality cocoa powder
150g white chocolate, chopped
60g butter
125g sour cream
250g powdered sugar
To make the frosting, gently melt the chocolate and butter au bain-marie. Allow the mixture to cool and whisk in the rest of the ingredients until you have a smooth consistency.
Pop into the fridge for 10 minutes so that it thickens.
Spread the genoise with a layer of frosting and roll tightly from the long side. Cut a small piece from both ends at an angle. These will be used as branches. Use a little of the frosting to ‘glue’ the branches to the sides of the roll. Spread the rest of the frosting over the entire surface and use the prongs of a fork to swirl texture into the frosting.
Decorate as you wish and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.