Alaskan Yule Log Recipes

ALASKAN YULE LOG

Steps:

• Put your freezer on the fast-freeze setting, or clear some space in the coldest part of the freezer. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 23 x 33cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, grease with a little butter and set aside.
• First, make the sponge. Put the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until thick and creamy. Sift the cocoa powder over the egg mixture and whisk in thoroughly. Wash and dry the beaters. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold a third of the egg whites into the cocoa mixture, then gently fold in the rest until evenly distributed.
• Pour into the prepared tin and spread gently with a spatula. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 mins or until well risen and just beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven, loosen the edges with a round-bladed knife and leave to cool in the tin.
• Prepare the filling while the cake is cooling. Place a large sheet of cling film on the work surface, take the ice cream out of its tub and place on top. Working quickly, cover the ice cream with cling film, then press and roll into a long sausage shape. It will need to be 33cm long and around 5cm wide. Wrap a second piece of cling film around the first and twist the ends to maintain the sausage shape. Return to the freezer to harden for at least 1 hr.
• Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Take the ice cream out of the freezer, unwrap it and place in the centre of the sponge. Using the parchment to help you, bring up the sides to enclose the ice cream and carefully lift the roll onto the lined baking tray, rotating it so the seal is underneath. Trim the ends. Cover the cake and tin with cling film and place in the freezer for at least 4 hrs, or up to 1 week.
• Make the meringue topping 20 mins before serving. Put the sugar and 175ml water in a pan and bring to a rolling boil over a high heat. Continue to boil until it reaches 115C on a sugar thermometer.
• Meanwhile, put the egg whites in a large mixing bowl or tabletop mixer and whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Continue whisking at high speed and very slowly trickle in the hot sugar syrup. The meringue will begin to thicken and become glossy after about 10 mins. Continue to whisk until it is just warm, then whisk in the vanilla extract. Use the meringue immediately, as it is easier to work with while warm.
• Fit a large piping bag with a 1.5cm star nozzle and fill with the meringue. Take the baking tray out of the freezer and slide the log gently onto a serving platter using a couple of spatulas. Pipe the meringue in lines down the length, then around the ends. Use a cook's blowtorch to scorch the meringue all over. Alternatively, bake for 8 mins at 220C/200C fan/gas 7 or until the meringue is set and lightly browned. Serve in generous slices (it will sit quite happily for 5-10 mins). Please note this recipe contains lightly cooked egg whites, which may be unsuitable for babies and toddlers, the elderly, pregnant women and people who already feel unwell.

CLASSIC YULE LOG

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan. Line with waxed paper. Grease paper.
• Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat together sugar and egg yolks at high speed until light and fluffy. At low speed, alternately beat milk and flour mixture into egg mixture.
• Using clean beaters, beat egg whites at high speed until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold one third of beaten whites into batter. Fold in remaining whites. Spread batter in prepared pan; smooth top.
• Bake cake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until set, 12 minutes.
• Dust a clean cloth with confectioners' sugar. Turn cake out onto prepared cloth. Remove waxed paper. Trim cake edges. Starting with a long side, roll up cake, jelly-roll style. Transfer, seam-side down, to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
• Unroll cake; remove cloth. Spread whipped cream over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Re-roll cake. Place, seam-side down, on serving plate.
• To prepare frosting, in a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, melted chocolate, and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring vigorously until blended. Remove from heat. Let stand until set. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake.
• To prepare garnish, dust work surface with confectioners' sugar. Knead food coloring into marzipan until blended. Using a rolling pin dusted with confectioners' sugar, roll marzipan to a 1/8-inch thickness. Using a small knife, cut out leaves. Arrange leaves, cinnamon candies, and snowmen on top of cake and around plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

Steps:

• Whip powdered sugar, butter, cocoa powder, salt, and coffee liqueur together in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed. Transfer buttercream into a separate bowl and add mascarpone cheese. Mix until combined; set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Brush a little melted butter over a 13x18-inch rimmed sheet pan. Line pan with parchment paper and brush remaining melted butter on top.
• Combine cocoa powder, salt, and flour together in a bowl; whisk or sift to break up clumps.
• Place eggs in the clean bowl of your stand mixer. Add sugar and whip until fluffy, thick, and very light in color. Add 1/2 of the cocoa powder mixture and vanilla extract; mix on low speed for a few seconds. Beat in remaining cocoa mixture on low for a few seconds. Switch to high speed; stop once mixture is moistened but not fully blended. Pull off the whisk attachment and whisk batter with it until evenly blended.
• Pour batter onto the prepared sheet pan and spread out with a spatula, leaving some room around the edges. Tap pan on the counter to knock out the large bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry and edges start to pull away from the sides, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Dust a clean kitchen towel with enough powdered sugar to cover an area slightly larger than the sponge cake. Remove cake from the oven. Run a knife around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top. Run a spatula under the parchment paper to make sure it's not stuck to the pan.
• Quickly flip pan on top of the sugared area to invert the cake. Remove parchment paper and dust cake with more powdered sugar. Gently roll cake up inside the towel; allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Unroll cake and dollop buttercream on top, reserving some for later. Spread frosting to the edges. Roll cake up over the frosting, using the towel to lift it if needed. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top. Wrap log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Combine chocolate chips and hot cream in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate melts.
• Make an angled cut 3 inches from one end of the log. Place log on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Apply some buttercream to the angled slice and attach it to one side. Spread a layer of ganache all over the cake, except for the swirls. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up ganache.
• Carve lines into the ganache using the tip of a knife to create the appearance of tree bark. Refrigerate until completely chilled before serving. Dust with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

YULE LOG

Steps:

• In a bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla on high until thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low; beat in chocolate and water until blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. , In another bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form. Fold in the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly in a greased and floured 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. , Meanwhile, sprinkle a kitchen towel with confectioners' sugar. Invert cake onto the towel. Starting from a short end, roll up cake in the towel. Place seam side down on a wire rack to cool completely. , Unroll cake; spread coconut-pecan frosting to within 1 in. of edges; roll up cake without the towel. Cut and reserve a narrow diagonal slice from each end of the cake. Attach diagonal cake slices with a little of the chocolate frosting to opposite sides of cake. With remaining chocolate frosting, frost the top and side of the cake. With the tines of a fork, make strokes in the frosting to resemble bark on a tree trunk. , For the mushrooms, half large marshmallows widthwise for mushroom caps. Attach cut side of caps to mini marshmallows for stems. Dust tops of mushrooms and log with cocoa; place mushrooms around the log.