Recipe - Buche De Noel (Yule Log)

BUCHE DE NOEL
Three fourths cup Cake flour
Three fourths teaspoon Baking powder
One fourth teaspoon Salt
5 Eggs
Three fourths cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

CHESTNUT BUTTERCREAM FILLING
One half cup Sugar, superfine
1 Egg yolks
1 pn Salt
1 One half teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 tablespoon Cream, heavy
One half cup Butter
2 cup Sugar, powdered
30 Chestnuts, whole cooked
2 tablespoon Butter
4 tablespoon Cream, heavy
1/3 cup Sugar, powdered

MOCHA SILK FROSTING
1 One fourth cup Sugar, powdered
3 tablespoon Cocoa powder
2 teaspoon Instant coffee
5 1/3 tablespoon Butter
1 One half tablespoon Corn syrup
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 tablespoon Cream, heavy

Have ready: clean lintfree dish towel and cookie sheet larger than jelly
roll pan. Preheat oven to 400; prepare 10"x15"x1" jelly roll pan by
greasing it, lining bottom and sides with wax paper, and greasing wax
paper. Bring eggs to room temperature and separate. Mix flour, baking
powder, and salt; set aside. Beat yolks until thick and pale. Gradually add
6T sugar, beating well after each addition. Mixture should fall in thick
ribbon when beaters are lifted. Add vanilla and beat again. With clean dry
beaters, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add remaining sugar,
beating constantly, until whites stand in firm, glossy, moist peaks. Fold
1/3 whites into yolk mixture to lighten it, then fold remaining whites in
too. Gradually fold dry ingredients into egg mixture; fold in gently but
thoroughly. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan, making sure to get it
into the corners. Put pan into oven immediately. Bake 1012 minutes, just
until cake is golden on top and tester comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Remove from oven; working quickly, cover jelly roll pan FIRST with clean
towel, then with inverted cookie sheet. Turn over pan, towel, and sheet to
turn out cake. Remove jelly roll pan; peel off wax paper. Slide towel and
cake onto counter; cake is wrong side up. Cut off any crisp edges, fold one
end of towel over short end of cake, and roll cake in towel. Place rolled
cake seam side down on wire rack or cookie sheet to cool completely.
CHESTNUT BUTTERCREAM FILLING: combine sugar, egg yolk, salt, vanilla, and
cream; beat for 8 minutes at medium speed. Without washing beaters, cream
butter until light. Add yolk mixture a little at a time, beating well after
each addition. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well after each
addition. Set basic buttercream aside. Puree chestnuts with butter, cream,
and powdered sugar. Stir chestnut puree into buttercream, blending
thoroughly. If necessary, thin with a little more cream to bring to very
spreadable consistency. MOCHA SILK FROSTING: powder instant coffee by
placing in plastic bag and crushing with rolling pin. Mix together sugar,
cocoa, and coffee. Add remaining ingredients and beat for 1 minute at
medium speed. If necessary, add a little more cream to make frosting easy
to spread. Unroll cooled cake, leaving it on towel; don't worry about the
cake looking deflated, it will perk up soon. Spread One half cup frosting evenly
over cake, all the way to the edges. Spread 2 cup filling over thin layer of
frosting, pushing generous amount into curved end. Roll up again, without
towel but using it to help roll. Place cake, seam side down, on cake plate
or tray. Remove any excess villing from ends and seam edge. Refrigerate for
1 hour to firm filling. Trim and discard (or eat!) a thin slice from one
end of chilled cake; cut and reserve wedge from other end. Spread a small
amount of filling on top center of cake and press reserved wedge on it to
make the "knothole." Frost entire cake with remaining frosting, building
frosting up around sides of "knothole." Do NOT cover knothold top! Work
frosting as far under roll as possible. Repeatedly draw narrow metal
spatula lengthwise through frosting to simulate rough texture of bark. Snip
pieces of angelica into leaf shapes and cut glace cherries in half to make
log decorations. Keep cake refrigerated until serving; it is much easier to
slice when cold and firm. Before serving, surround cake with holly and
cranberries.

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