There ain’t a lot of more festive than a Yule Log. I make one every year and it’s something a enjoy so much as it always gets me feeling festive, they’re bloody delicious, but they also test your skills a bit and make you concentrate as it isn’t the simplest cake to make.
Yule logs are made up of a “Genoise Sponge” which is a fatless cake, basically meaning it doesn’t use any butter. The base of this cake is made up of eggs – by whisking the egg whites into stiff peaks you get a light fluffy batter that creates a gorgeous light airy sponge, then you gently fold in flour and icing sugar and bake it all in a thin layer. This method means you get a much more malleable sponge, therefore it’s easier to roll into the classic log shape.
Now the flavours of this aren’t like the classic Yule Log which I normally make every year. This year I’ve gone for white chocolate, cranberry and a few festive spices to mix things up a bit and it is soooooo delicious. It also looks so pretty and would make the perfect centre piece to your Christmas Dinner.
It may be a little more complicated to make but I promise with a little time and effort anyone can do it and the results are so worth it – light, fluffy, delicious Christmassy sponge!
Ingredients:
Sponge:
4 eggs – yolks and whites separated
75g icing sugar
110g self raising flour
1tsp cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
Butter cream & filling:
150g white chocolate, melted
150g butter
250g icing sugar
2tbsp milk
100g dried cranberries
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180C fan and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks – this should take about 4 minutes depending on the speed of your whisk (you can do this by hand whisk, you’re just gonna have a hell of an arm workout!) Then whisk in the yolks one by one until the mix is very pale and fluffy.
- Fold through the icing sugar and flour (very gently, you don’t want to knock any of the air out, it’s best to use a metal spoon) until fully incorporated, then pour onto the lined sheet. Don’t do this from a height, be as close to the pan as possible so you don’t deflate the mixture.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden and firm to the touch but with a slight spring back.
- While the cake is still warm, roll it up lengthways towards you and leave to cool in the log position – this will prevent the log from cracking and make it much more pliable than if you folded it while it was cold.
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter until light and fluffy then add in the melted white chocolate and icing sugar, then beat in the milk until everything is smooth.
- Unroll the cooled log and spread 1/3 of the buttercream over the cake and add the cranberries over the top, then roll back up into the same position.
- Use the rest of the buttercream to cover your log, then drag a fork over the icing to create the log effect. Dusk with a little icing sugar to finish for extra festive magic then slice and enjoy!
Claudia's Home Kitchen 