Have you ever made a Bûche de Noël? They are rolled cakes that make for gorgeous and impressive centerpieces at holiday dinners. For this version, I chose to fill and frost the cake with a cloud-like honey marshmallow creme. When toasted, it gives the cake a rustic log-like appearance. It is also filled with tart cranberry sauce, which is just the thing to balance out the sweet marshmallow. A Bûche de Noël doesn’t have to be quite as much work as you may think, but there are a few key steps to get down when making them.
The first is the cake portion. You will need to make a thin layer of chocolate sponge. This essential component for this part is to roll the cake in a tea towel while hot. If you try and roll the cake while cooled, it will invariably crack.
Once the cake is rolled, you can turn your attention to the marshmallow creme filling. They important part of this is patience and a food thermometer, making sure the sugar mixture gets to the right temperature.
That leaves the most exciting part, the filling and decorating. Be sure to read all the steps of the recipe before beginning. Happy baking!
Bûche de Noël (Yule log) with Cranberry and Honey Marshmallow Creme
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 10-12 slices
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, separated into whites and yolks
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled so no longer hot
- Powdered sugar
- For the honey marshmallow creme:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- ¾ cup honey
- 3 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- For filling and assembling:
- ¾ cup cranberry sauce (preferably homemade, you can find my recipe here)
Instructions
- Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a standard half baking sheet (about 12x17 inches) with nonstick cooking spray. Line with parchment, then spray parchment with nonstick cooking spray as well to ensure no sticking.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Beat egg whites in a medium size bowl until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl, beat together egg yolks and sugar and pale, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in vanilla and and then melted butter. Add dry ingredients from above, mixing until just barely combined. Add egg whites, in two batches, folding very gently until just combined (this helps prevent deflating egg whites).
- Pour batter into prepared pain and spread evenly. It will be a very thin layer of batter in the pan. Bake in preheated oven for 9-10 minutes, until cake is cooked through.
- While the cake is cooking, prepare for rolling. Lay out a tea towel (at least the size of the sheet pan) on a work surface. Dust with powdered sugar evenly over the top of the towel in a thin layer.
- Once cake is done, immediately run a knife around the edges to loosen from the pan, then invert onto prepared tea towel. Fold any edges of the towel over the top of the cake, then slowly roll the cake up tightly with the towel inside along the long edge to create a long roll. Once rolled up, let roll cool completely while you prepare the marshmallow cream (you can also do this step the day before and let cool overnight if desired).
- Make the honey marshmallow creme while the cake cools. Add egg whites to a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Sprinkle cream of tartar over the top.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the ¾ cup granulated sugar. Add water, then honey. Do not stir, mixture will melt together and combine as it boils. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil (coving can help present crystallization of the syrup mixture). Once boiling and sugar is fully dissolved, remove lid and check the temperature using candy or food thermometer. Once it is 220 degrees F, turn on your stand mixer on medium to medium high to start whisking egg whites. Whisk until soft peaks form.
- While your egg whites whisk, continue to check the temperature of your sugar mixture. once 240 degrees, remove from heat. Egg whites should whipped to soft peaks by this point.
- Turn your mixer on to a medium speed. Carefully pour sugar mixture in a very slow, steady stream on the side of the bowl while the mixer is on until all of the mixture is poured in. Increase to medium-high speed, and continue to whisk until light and fluffy, around 5-7 minutes. Add in vanilla and salt, and continue to whip until mixture is cool, another few minutes.
- For assembling:
- Once cake is completely cooled and you have your marshmallow creme ready, slowly and gently unroll cake from tea towel. Cake will still curve up at edges even when unrolled, don't force it to be flat as this may cause it to break or crack. Gently frost with a layer marshmallow creme (you will use about 1½ cups). Top with cranberry sauce spread in an even layer on top of the marshmallow creme. Gently re-roll the cake.
- At this point, you can either cut the roll in half to form two smaller logs, or you can make 1 larger log with branches (like I did--in this case, cut about ⅓ of the roll off, then cut the ⅓ piece into two "branches" of the log by cutting the piece into two at a diagonal).
- Frost assembled buche de noel with a layer of marshmallow creme (you will need about another 1½ to two cups). Using a kitchen torch, toast the outside of the log. Decorate as desired. Slice and then serve.
Notes
Notes: you will need about 3 to 3.5 cups of marshmallow creme for this recipe. Instructions and ingredient list makes more than this, but I like to make a full amount to have for other uses if I am already making it. Marshmallow creme can be frozen in an airtight container or freezer bag.
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