Recipe - Buche De Noel (Christmas Log Cake)

CAKE
1 cup Flour, sifted cake
One fourth teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking powder
4 Egg
1 cup Sugar
One fourth cup ;water
1 tablespoon Lemon juice

MERINGUE MUSHROOMS
2 Egg white
One fourth cup Cream of tartar
One fourth cup Sugar
Cocoa, powdered

BUTTER CREAM
1 cup Butter, sweet; softened
3 Egg yolk

ICING
1 tablespoon Espresso, powdered
1 tablespoon Milk
3 cup Sugar, confectioners, sifted
Food coloring, green

Grease a jelly roll baking sheet. Line with parchment paper. Grease the
parchment paper. Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs at high speed
about 5 to 10 minutes. Add sugar by tablespoonfuls. Continue beating until
the butter is very thick. Then add lemon juice and water. Fold in dry
ingredients in four stages, One fourth cup at a time. Spread evenly on the baking
sheet. Bake at 375 F. for 15 minutes or until the sponge springs back when
tested. Sift powdered sugar onto the sponge. Turn cake out onto a clean
tea towel. Remove parchment paper. Trim edges of the sponge if they are
crispy. Roll up gently, leaving towel inside, while still warm. Let cool.

Beat egg whites, and when foamy add the cream of tartar. When soft peaks
form, gradually beat in the sugar. Beat until meringue is stiff and glossy.
Pipe meringue through a pastry bag, making and equal number of stems and
caps to resemble small mushrooms. Bake mushroom pieces at 250 F. about 45
minutes. When cool, glue them together with butter cream icing and dust
lightly with cocoa in a fine strainer. Beat egg yolks and butter together
until smooth. Add coffee and milk. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat
until smooth. Mix about 1/3 cup to One half cup of the frosting with green food
coloring for the ivy decoration.

To assemble: Unroll cooled sponge, remove towel, spread, cake with butter
cream icing. Roll up. Cut off at a diagonal, a 2" slice. This is the tree
stump. Frost the outside, then add the stump and frost. Make ivy patterns.
Add the mushrooms. Dust the whole cake very lightly with powdered sugar,
to simulate snow. Keep in refrigerator. Cut with serrated knife.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini