Buche de Noel (Yule log)
This project involves sponge cake (genoise), buttercream, ganache, and meringue.
Sponge cakes are leavened by whipping eggs (whole, yolks only or whites only) with sugar. Whipping air into the mixture is what makes them light. When baked, the air bubbles expand from the heat of the oven and the cake rises.
Superfine sugar, rather than regular granulated sugar, is preferred for the following recipes, and gives a finer texture. (It can be easily made by placing granulated sugar in a food processor for a few seconds). Sponge cake batters must be baked immediately after mixing. To test for doneness lightly press the top — it should spring back or test the cakes with a toothpick after the minimum amount of time, and bake just until it comes out clean.
Buttercream: The basic ingredients in most buttercream are butter, sugar, salt, and eggs. Making slight changes to the basic recipe and adding different ingredients changes the properties of the buttercream. Color, texture, shelf life, and flavor are slightly different with each type of buttercream. The four main types are American, Swiss Meringue, Italian Meringue, and French Meringue.
The most basic type of buttercream is American buttercream. This is the frosting on the cakes at your local supermarket. Because its main ingredients are butter or shortening and sugar or other sweeteners, American buttercream has a very long shelf life.
Meringue buttercream are made from a meringue or beaten egg whites and sugar. To stabilize a meringue and use it as a base for buttercream, you mix sugar with egg whites and warm over simmering water and then whip. This is called a "Swiss" Meringue. Or, a sugar syrup can be cooked and then added to whipped egg whites, this is called an "Italian" Meringue.
The primary difference between Italian and Swiss Meringue Buttercreams is stability or how well they hold up in all situations. Swiss tends to deflate slightly faster and doesn't hold up as well in warm environments. Italian is more dependable and heartier. Either can be frozen for long-term storage. Both types of Buttercream often take quite a bit of whipping in order to reach the right consistency of light and fluffy. Cool butter is whipped in and many times the meringue buttercream breaks, but with more beating it comes together and makes a silky, very buttery, not too sweet or grainy buttercream.
To fix a meringue-based Buttercream: Italian Buttercream is a simple "water and fat emulsion". Sometimes the emulsion breaks, resulting in a buttercream that looks broken and curdled. Don’t throw it out if it looks lumpy or if it is too soft or too stiff, fix it.
Buttercream is cold and broken: Separately melt about 25% of the mixture, return it to the remainder and then rewhip -- it should come right together. OR, if the mixture is warm and broken, simply chill the buttercream in the refrigerator until the mixture is cool and then rewhip.
Buttercream that has become too runny: (1) It can become soupy and runny if too warm. Place mixing bowl into an ice bath and whisk briskly until the icing becomes cohesive and silky Or, you can refrigerate it until well-chilled. Then, re-whip, if necessary; (2) It can become too runny from not enough confectioner's sugar, meringue or egg white powder. Add more, a little at a time, to stiffen it.
Buttercream that has become too stiff: (1) It can become too cold: wrap a steaming hot dishtowel, turban like, around the mixing bowl. When the sides of buttercream begin to melt a bit, whisk or stir with a wooden spoon until it becomes satiny and shiny; (2) It can become too stiff and difficult too spread if too thick: thin with light corn syrup or heat it slightly.
Buche de Noel
Chocolate Genoise Sheet: for Yield: 1 half sheet pan (10 by 15-inch). Approx 14 servings
Use the larger amount for a slightly thicker cake. It can be tricky to know how much to beat (or whip) the eggs and sugar. Too little and you get an unspectacular rise. Too much and you get no rise at all. An egg-and-sugar mixture can be whipped up to an unbelievable degree. Five or six times. That creates very big bubbles, which when heated, pop. The result is a flat disk of egg and sugar. Be aware and only whip your eggs to about triple their volume.
To make a good génoise, have all your ingredients and tools ready ahead of time. That will allow you to move from one step to the next promptly (especially after the foam has been created).
Replacing some of the flour with cornstarch (a European technique) tightens the grain and holds the moisture supplied by the eggs and sugar. Although using part cake flour produces the best texture, other flours will work, even flours that are all starch such as potato flour (although the higher the starch content, the lower the génoise).
Chocolate Buttercream Yield: 1+ lb.
Ingredient
Ingredient
To assemble the buche de noel:
Evenly spread 2 cups (or desired amount) of the coffee or chocolate buttercream on the inside of the cake and gently form it into a cake roll. Cut off the ends of the cake roll on the diagonal and reattach them in the center of the cake with a bit of buttercream to fashion a “branch” coming off the main Yule log.
Spread the exterior of the buche de noel with enough chocolate buttercream to cover it. Freeze to harden the buttercream, and then spread with ganache and texture. Add meringue mushrooms, marzipan/fondant holly leaves and berries to complete the look.
Chill the cake before serving it, and refrigerate any leftovers.
Meringue Mushrooms Recipe
Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into even rounds building up the meringue to form a 2 inch (5 cm) round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Sharply twist the bag and stop the pressure as you slowly move the tip off the meringue. Try to make the top as smooth as possible but use a wet fingertip to smooth out any bumps.
To Pipe Stems:
Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into a cone-shape, making the base of the stem a little larger than the top. The stem should be about 1 inch (2.54 cm) high. Try to keep the stems as straight as possible. Some of the stems may fall over on their sides during baking, so it is a good idea to make extra.
Bake the meringues for approximately one hour, or until the mushrooms are firm enough that they can be lifted from the baking sheet without sticking. Rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back (about three quarters of the way through) to ensure even baking.
Remove from oven and with a small sharp knife, make a small hole in the middle of the underside of each mushroom cap. Using the small pastry bag fitted with the 1/l6 inch tip, pipe a little bit of meringue in the hole and gently press the top of the stem into the hole.
Place the mushrooms, caps down, on a parchment lined baking sheet and return to oven for about 15 - 30 minutes, or until the mushroom are dry. Remove from oven and lightly dust the tops of the mushrooms with cocoa powder. Use a small pastry or paint brush to smudge the cocoa powder, if desired.
Store in an airtight container for several weeks.
Makes about 24 - 30 mushrooms (depending on size)
Adapted from Maida Heatter 's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts and Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies
Meringue:
Marzipan decorations
Basic Fondant recipe (use for holly leaves and berries)
https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-fondant-520781
Ingredients:
1. Prepare your workstation by setting a large baking sheet on a sturdy counter or table top, and sprinkling it lightly with water.
2. Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then cover the pan and allow the sugar syrup to boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, and continue to cook the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 240 degrees Fahrenheit (115 C).
4. Pour the sugar syrup onto the prepared baking sheet. Allow it to sit at room temperature for several minutes. After 2-3 minutes, lightly touch the syrup with a fingertip. When it is warm but not hot, it is ready to be worked.
5. Dampen a metal spatula or dough scraper with water, and use the scraper to push the syrup into a pile in the middle of the sheet.
6. Using a dampened plastic spatula or wooden spoon, begin to “cream,” or work, the fondant in a figure-8 pattern. Continually scrape the fondant into the center, draw a figure-8, then scrape it together again. At first the fondant will be very clear and fluid, but it will gradually become more opaque and creamy. After 5-10 minutes, the fondant will become very stiff, crumbly, and hard to manipulate.
7. Once the fondant reaches this state, moisten your hands and begin kneading it into a ball like bread dough. As you knead, the fondant will begin to come together and will get softer and smoother. Stop kneading once your fondant is a smooth ball without lumps.
8. It is best to “ripen” your fondant for at least 12 hours to obtain the best flavor and texture. To ripen the fondant, place it in an airtight plastic container, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the fondant, and seal the lid on tightly. Ripen the fondant at room temperature, or if it is hot, in the refrigerator. After ripening, the fondant can be flavored, colored, rolled, and shaped in whatever manner you wish. If it is stiff, you can always knead it by hand on a surface dusted with powdered sugar, until it is easy to manage. This recipe produces about 3/4 lb fondant.
9. To add coloring and flavoring to fondant, dust your workstation with powdered sugar, and lightly press your fondant flat. Cut several slits in the fondant, and pour the flavorings (like extracts, melted and cooled chocolate, or fruit purees) and food coloring in the slits. Dust your hands with powdered sugar and knead the fondant as you did before until the coloring and flavoring are evenly distributed throughout the fondant.
This project involves sponge cake (genoise), buttercream, ganache, and meringue.
Sponge cakes are leavened by whipping eggs (whole, yolks only or whites only) with sugar. Whipping air into the mixture is what makes them light. When baked, the air bubbles expand from the heat of the oven and the cake rises.
Superfine sugar, rather than regular granulated sugar, is preferred for the following recipes, and gives a finer texture. (It can be easily made by placing granulated sugar in a food processor for a few seconds). Sponge cake batters must be baked immediately after mixing. To test for doneness lightly press the top — it should spring back or test the cakes with a toothpick after the minimum amount of time, and bake just until it comes out clean.
Buttercream: The basic ingredients in most buttercream are butter, sugar, salt, and eggs. Making slight changes to the basic recipe and adding different ingredients changes the properties of the buttercream. Color, texture, shelf life, and flavor are slightly different with each type of buttercream. The four main types are American, Swiss Meringue, Italian Meringue, and French Meringue.
The most basic type of buttercream is American buttercream. This is the frosting on the cakes at your local supermarket. Because its main ingredients are butter or shortening and sugar or other sweeteners, American buttercream has a very long shelf life.
Meringue buttercream are made from a meringue or beaten egg whites and sugar. To stabilize a meringue and use it as a base for buttercream, you mix sugar with egg whites and warm over simmering water and then whip. This is called a "Swiss" Meringue. Or, a sugar syrup can be cooked and then added to whipped egg whites, this is called an "Italian" Meringue.
The primary difference between Italian and Swiss Meringue Buttercreams is stability or how well they hold up in all situations. Swiss tends to deflate slightly faster and doesn't hold up as well in warm environments. Italian is more dependable and heartier. Either can be frozen for long-term storage. Both types of Buttercream often take quite a bit of whipping in order to reach the right consistency of light and fluffy. Cool butter is whipped in and many times the meringue buttercream breaks, but with more beating it comes together and makes a silky, very buttery, not too sweet or grainy buttercream.
To fix a meringue-based Buttercream: Italian Buttercream is a simple "water and fat emulsion". Sometimes the emulsion breaks, resulting in a buttercream that looks broken and curdled. Don’t throw it out if it looks lumpy or if it is too soft or too stiff, fix it.
Buttercream is cold and broken: Separately melt about 25% of the mixture, return it to the remainder and then rewhip -- it should come right together. OR, if the mixture is warm and broken, simply chill the buttercream in the refrigerator until the mixture is cool and then rewhip.
Buttercream that has become too runny: (1) It can become soupy and runny if too warm. Place mixing bowl into an ice bath and whisk briskly until the icing becomes cohesive and silky Or, you can refrigerate it until well-chilled. Then, re-whip, if necessary; (2) It can become too runny from not enough confectioner's sugar, meringue or egg white powder. Add more, a little at a time, to stiffen it.
Buttercream that has become too stiff: (1) It can become too cold: wrap a steaming hot dishtowel, turban like, around the mixing bowl. When the sides of buttercream begin to melt a bit, whisk or stir with a wooden spoon until it becomes satiny and shiny; (2) It can become too stiff and difficult too spread if too thick: thin with light corn syrup or heat it slightly.
Buche de Noel
Chocolate Genoise Sheet: for Yield: 1 half sheet pan (10 by 15-inch). Approx 14 servings
Use the larger amount for a slightly thicker cake. It can be tricky to know how much to beat (or whip) the eggs and sugar. Too little and you get an unspectacular rise. Too much and you get no rise at all. An egg-and-sugar mixture can be whipped up to an unbelievable degree. Five or six times. That creates very big bubbles, which when heated, pop. The result is a flat disk of egg and sugar. Be aware and only whip your eggs to about triple their volume.
To make a good génoise, have all your ingredients and tools ready ahead of time. That will allow you to move from one step to the next promptly (especially after the foam has been created).
- 5.6 oz eggs (7.5 oz)
- 2.25 egg yolks (3 oz)
- Pinch salt
- 6.6 oz sugar (1 cup) (8.77 oz or 1 1/3 cups)
- 4 Tbl melted butter (preferably clarified) (2.66 oz)
- ½ tsp vanilla ex
- 1.87 oz cake flour (-1/2 cup) (2.5 oz or 2/3 cup)
- 1.87 oz cornstarch (-1/2 cup) (2.5 oz or 2/3 cup)
- 1 oz cocoa powdered (Dutch) (1/3 cup) (1.33 oz or -1/2 cup)
Replacing some of the flour with cornstarch (a European technique) tightens the grain and holds the moisture supplied by the eggs and sugar. Although using part cake flour produces the best texture, other flours will work, even flours that are all starch such as potato flour (although the higher the starch content, the lower the génoise).
- Set rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees (50 degrees less for convection).
- Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so the water is simmering.
- Whisk the eggs, yolks, salt, and sugar together in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Place over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the mixture is just warm, about 110 degrees (test with thermometer) and the sugar is dissolved. Attach the bowl to the mixer and with the whisk attachment, whip on high speed until the egg mixture is cooled (touch the outside of the bowl to tell) and tripled in volume (about five minutes).
- Reduce the speed to medium and continue to whip for another minute to stabilize the foam.
- While the eggs are whipping, stir together the flour, cornstarch, and cocoa.
- Pour a cup or so of the egg foam into the cooled melted butter and stir it until it’s completely incorporated, then gently pour the mixture back into the mixer bowl (this eases the incorporation of the butter into the batter).
- Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl on every pass through the batter to prevent the flour mixture from accumulating there and making lumps. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour mixture and finally with the last third.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the genoise for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until well risen, deep and firm to the touch. (Make sure the cake doesn't overbake and become too dry, or it will be hard to roll.)
- Use a small paring knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a rack and let the cake cool on the paper. Remove the paper when the cake is cool.
- Storage: Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several days, or double-wrap and freeze for up to a month.
Chocolate Buttercream Yield: 1+ lb.
Ingredient
- Sugar 5 oz.
- Water 1.5 oz.
- Egg white 2.5 liquid oz.
- Butter 8 oz.
- Bittersweet chocolate, melted 1.5 oz.
Ingredient
- Sugar 5 oz.
- Water 1.5 oz.
- Egg white 2.5 liquid oz.
- Butter 8 oz.
- Espresso shot 1 oz.
- Separately cream the butter (and coffee if using) till light and soft. Set aside.
- In a clean, completely dry bowl beat the egg whites on high until frothy; add 2 oz of sugar and whip until soft peaks form. Set them aside for a moment.
- Place the other 8 oz sugar and water together in a pot. Place over medium heat, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Raise heat to high and cook till 240F. Washing down sides of pot with water throughout this process.
- At 230F begin whipping egg whites again, whip them to med/ soft peaks.
- When the sugar reaches 240F slowly begin pouring the hot sugar syrup into the soft peak egg whites. * Machine is on 2nd speed! After all the sugar is added, turn machine up to 3rd speed, and whip till cool – this can take about 10 minutes.
- Slowly add the creamed butter to the meringue with the machine running on 2nd speed using the whip. After the butter is all added, add melted cooled chocolate. Turn the machine up to 3rd speed for about 5 minutes, until light and airy.
- Semi Sweet Chocolate 8 oz.
- Heavy Cream 8 oz
- Butter 2 oz
- Chop chocolate finely.
- Scald heavy cream and butter
- Pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth.
- Allow to thicken at room temperature, stirring occasionally until a spreadable consistency is reached.
- Reserve until needed; rewarm if ganache becomes too firm to spread.
To assemble the buche de noel:
Evenly spread 2 cups (or desired amount) of the coffee or chocolate buttercream on the inside of the cake and gently form it into a cake roll. Cut off the ends of the cake roll on the diagonal and reattach them in the center of the cake with a bit of buttercream to fashion a “branch” coming off the main Yule log.
Spread the exterior of the buche de noel with enough chocolate buttercream to cover it. Freeze to harden the buttercream, and then spread with ganache and texture. Add meringue mushrooms, marzipan/fondant holly leaves and berries to complete the look.
Chill the cake before serving it, and refrigerate any leftovers.
Meringue Mushrooms Recipe
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Have two pastry bags ready (one for piping the caps and stems and one for gluing them together).
- Fit one small pastry bag with a number 3 (1/16 inch diameter) (.2 cm) round plain tip (used to glue the stems and caps together) and one large pastry bag with a number 6 (1/2 inch diameter) (1 1/4 cm) round plain tip (for stems and caps). Fold down the tops of the bags to form a deep cuff on the outside and place each bag in a tall narrow glass for support. This will make it easy to transfer the meringue to the pastry bags.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (100 degrees C) and place 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
- In bowl of electric mixer, at moderately slow speed, beat the room temperature egg whites until foamy.
- Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form.
- Continue beating (increasing speed to high), gradually adding the superfine sugar, until the whites are very stiff and glossy. (You want to make sure that the sugar has dissolved completely - to test rub a little of the meringue between your fingers. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers.)
- With a rubber spatula place approximately 1/4 cup of the meringue in the pastry bag with the small tip (used to glue the caps and stems together). Place the remainder of the meringue in the large pastry bag.
Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into even rounds building up the meringue to form a 2 inch (5 cm) round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Sharply twist the bag and stop the pressure as you slowly move the tip off the meringue. Try to make the top as smooth as possible but use a wet fingertip to smooth out any bumps.
To Pipe Stems:
Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into a cone-shape, making the base of the stem a little larger than the top. The stem should be about 1 inch (2.54 cm) high. Try to keep the stems as straight as possible. Some of the stems may fall over on their sides during baking, so it is a good idea to make extra.
Bake the meringues for approximately one hour, or until the mushrooms are firm enough that they can be lifted from the baking sheet without sticking. Rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back (about three quarters of the way through) to ensure even baking.
Remove from oven and with a small sharp knife, make a small hole in the middle of the underside of each mushroom cap. Using the small pastry bag fitted with the 1/l6 inch tip, pipe a little bit of meringue in the hole and gently press the top of the stem into the hole.
Place the mushrooms, caps down, on a parchment lined baking sheet and return to oven for about 15 - 30 minutes, or until the mushroom are dry. Remove from oven and lightly dust the tops of the mushrooms with cocoa powder. Use a small pastry or paint brush to smudge the cocoa powder, if desired.
Store in an airtight container for several weeks.
Makes about 24 - 30 mushrooms (depending on size)
Adapted from Maida Heatter 's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts and Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies
Meringue:
- 2 large (60 grams or 2 ounces) egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) superfine (caster) white sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take granulated white sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor).
Marzipan decorations
- ½ # marzipan
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
Basic Fondant recipe (use for holly leaves and berries)
https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-fondant-520781
Ingredients:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
1. Prepare your workstation by setting a large baking sheet on a sturdy counter or table top, and sprinkling it lightly with water.
2. Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then cover the pan and allow the sugar syrup to boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, and continue to cook the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 240 degrees Fahrenheit (115 C).
4. Pour the sugar syrup onto the prepared baking sheet. Allow it to sit at room temperature for several minutes. After 2-3 minutes, lightly touch the syrup with a fingertip. When it is warm but not hot, it is ready to be worked.
5. Dampen a metal spatula or dough scraper with water, and use the scraper to push the syrup into a pile in the middle of the sheet.
6. Using a dampened plastic spatula or wooden spoon, begin to “cream,” or work, the fondant in a figure-8 pattern. Continually scrape the fondant into the center, draw a figure-8, then scrape it together again. At first the fondant will be very clear and fluid, but it will gradually become more opaque and creamy. After 5-10 minutes, the fondant will become very stiff, crumbly, and hard to manipulate.
7. Once the fondant reaches this state, moisten your hands and begin kneading it into a ball like bread dough. As you knead, the fondant will begin to come together and will get softer and smoother. Stop kneading once your fondant is a smooth ball without lumps.
8. It is best to “ripen” your fondant for at least 12 hours to obtain the best flavor and texture. To ripen the fondant, place it in an airtight plastic container, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the fondant, and seal the lid on tightly. Ripen the fondant at room temperature, or if it is hot, in the refrigerator. After ripening, the fondant can be flavored, colored, rolled, and shaped in whatever manner you wish. If it is stiff, you can always knead it by hand on a surface dusted with powdered sugar, until it is easy to manage. This recipe produces about 3/4 lb fondant.
9. To add coloring and flavoring to fondant, dust your workstation with powdered sugar, and lightly press your fondant flat. Cut several slits in the fondant, and pour the flavorings (like extracts, melted and cooled chocolate, or fruit purees) and food coloring in the slits. Dust your hands with powdered sugar and knead the fondant as you did before until the coloring and flavoring are evenly distributed throughout the fondant.
