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Bûche de Noël
The logs burned slowly for a whole week. Then people would spread the ashes and cinders on their fields and in their barns They believed this would bring them a better harvest. Some of the cinders and charcoal from the log were kept inside peoples' houses since it was believed that if you relit them during a thunderstorm it would protect your property from lightening. Pieces of the burnt log were then kept about the home usually under the bed as good luck and to start next years fire.
In many areas of France today, people still burn a log in their homes from Christmas Eve until New Years Day. (Because its so cold!) But for the most part, the Yule log tradition has faded, and the French make a traditional Yule log-shaped cake instead. I made two last year for my French relatives which were a big sensation: one with crème de marrons, a sweet chestnut spread that my husband loves and eats straight out of the can and the other with poached pears and “eau de poire” liqueur, a kind of pear brandy. Our local Marché de Noël is Canadian themed and I got a full of bottle of --rare for here-- maple syrup, so I will make one with maple buttercream frosting that is based on a recipe that I found on epicurious.com, one of my favorite on line recipe repertoires.
The cake will resemble a Yule log. Maybe you have seen them in bakery windows elaborately decorated with marzipan forest animals and meringue mushrooms? I am going to give you an idea of how to make these log cakes and you can take and add whatever you would like for example, you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar to look like snow and cocoa mix for the wood dust. Its creative and fun, you can do lots of different artistic things… I mention some throughout the recipe. Have fun!
Maple Butter Bûche de Noël : based on a recipe from Gourmet Entertains December 2003
1 1/4 cups walnuts (4 1/2 oz), toasted and cooled—or any other kind of nuts
1/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs, warmed in a bowl of hot water 5 minutes and then separated
1 1/2 tablespoons whiskey (or rum, or some kind of brandy)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or a vanilla bean sliced open, scraped with back of knife
1/4 teaspoon
almond extract
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Maple Butter Cream Frosting (see below for recipe) or any other kind of filling like crème de marrons, chocolate frosting, hazelnut spread, coconut cream filling...anything!
Stuff for decorating your Yule Log: shards of chocolate, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, meringue, marzipan, little elves with hand saws…ok, you don’t have to get the last one.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line and butter a sheet pan with parchment paper. Butter paper and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
Pulse walnuts, flour, salt, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped.
Beat together yolks, whiskey, vanilla, almond extract and 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until thick and pale and forms a ribbon that takes 2 seconds to dissolve when beaters are lifted, about 8 minutes or more, you really want to beat the yolks a lot until it almost holds it own shape. Then fold in nut mixture.
Beat whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl with cleaned beaters at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Be gentle with your egg whites. Don’t over beat the whites. Add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time, beating, and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
Fold one fourth of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently. Stir 1/2 cup batter into butter in a small bowl until combined, then fold butter mixture into batter gently but thoroughly. Spread batter evenly in baking pan and rap once on counter to help eliminate air bubbles.
Bake cake until firm to the touch, pale golden, and beginning to pull away from sides of pan, 12 to 16 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then loosen sides with a knife. Put a sheet of foil over cake and invert rack over foil, then flip cake onto rack and remove paper. Cool completely. This is your “wood” of the log. You can also make a basic sponge cake for this.
Spread 1 1/4 cups butter cream over cake (or if you are making a different filling now is the time, the chestnut spread can be spread on like you are making a giant toast). Using foil as an aid, roll up cake, beginning with a short end. Removing foil as you roll along. Frost cake with about 1 1/2 cups butter cream, then chill cake until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes. Or you can frost with a cocoa frosting (substitute 7 oz melted chocolate and ½ cup sugar for the maple syrup) instead for a realistic brown wood color. (Or if you have food coloring add it to the butter cream to make it brown like a real log).
“Saw” a thin slice from one end of log then, starting about a 1/2 inch in from cut edge, cut a diagonal piece from same end of cake. Arrange piece on side of cake to resemble a cut branch, using a bit of remaining butter cream frosting to glue piece to "log" and cover seam with frosting. I like to then dust it with cocoa powder and powdered sugar for the snow affect. If you make some meringue mushrooms you can dip them in melted chocolate and use red food coloring (make a paste out of water and powdered sugar) to add spots so that they resemble magic mushrooms. The epicurious recipe says to make “maple brittle” and form wood chips, which is a good idea, but that stuff gets stuck in my teeth, so I will pass on that.
Maple Butter Cream Frosting
2 large egg whites, at room temperature for 30 minutes
Scant 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple sugar
2/3 cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade A dark amber)
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
Special equipment: a candy thermometer
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add maple sugar 1 teaspoon at a time, beating, and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
Boil syrup in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it reaches soft-ball stage (registering 238 to 242°F on thermometer), about 3 to 7 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and slowly pour hot syrup in a slow stream down side of bowl into egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Beat meringue, scraping down side of bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 6 minutes. (It's important that meringue be fully cooled before proceeding.)
With mixer at medium speed, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. (If buttercream looks soupy after some butter is added, meringue is too warm: Chill bottom of bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all butter is added but will come together before beating is finished.) Makes about 3 cups.
For more recipes and insight into Riana’s life in France
http://frenchtoastfrance.blogspot.com/
The cake will resemble a Yule log. Maybe you have seen them in bakery windows elaborately decorated with marzipan forest animals and meringue mushrooms? I am going to give you an idea of how to make these log cakes and you can take and add whatever you would like for example, you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar to look like snow and cocoa mix for the wood dust. Its creative and fun, you can do lots of different artistic things… I mention some throughout the recipe. Have fun!
Maple Butter Bûche de Noël : based on a recipe from Gourmet Entertains December 2003
1 1/4 cups walnuts (4 1/2 oz), toasted and cooled—or any other kind of nuts
1/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs, warmed in a bowl of hot water 5 minutes and then separated
1 1/2 tablespoons whiskey (or rum, or some kind of brandy)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or a vanilla bean sliced open, scraped with back of knife
1/4 teaspoon
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Maple Butter Cream Frosting (see below for recipe) or any other kind of filling like crème de marrons, chocolate frosting, hazelnut spread, coconut cream filling...anything!
Stuff for decorating your Yule Log: shards of chocolate, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, meringue, marzipan, little elves with hand saws…ok, you don’t have to get the last one.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line and butter a sheet pan with parchment paper. Butter paper and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
Pulse walnuts, flour, salt, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped.
Beat together yolks, whiskey, vanilla, almond extract and 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until thick and pale and forms a ribbon that takes 2 seconds to dissolve when beaters are lifted, about 8 minutes or more, you really want to beat the yolks a lot until it almost holds it own shape. Then fold in nut mixture.
Beat whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl with cleaned beaters at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Be gentle with your egg whites. Don’t over beat the whites. Add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time, beating, and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
Fold one fourth of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently. Stir 1/2 cup batter into butter in a small bowl until combined, then fold butter mixture into batter gently but thoroughly. Spread batter evenly in baking pan and rap once on counter to help eliminate air bubbles.
Bake cake until firm to the touch, pale golden, and beginning to pull away from sides of pan, 12 to 16 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then loosen sides with a knife. Put a sheet of foil over cake and invert rack over foil, then flip cake onto rack and remove paper. Cool completely. This is your “wood” of the log. You can also make a basic sponge cake for this.
Spread 1 1/4 cups butter cream over cake (or if you are making a different filling now is the time, the chestnut spread can be spread on like you are making a giant toast). Using foil as an aid, roll up cake, beginning with a short end. Removing foil as you roll along. Frost cake with about 1 1/2 cups butter cream, then chill cake until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes. Or you can frost with a cocoa frosting (substitute 7 oz melted chocolate and ½ cup sugar for the maple syrup) instead for a realistic brown wood color. (Or if you have food coloring add it to the butter cream to make it brown like a real log).
“Saw” a thin slice from one end of log then, starting about a 1/2 inch in from cut edge, cut a diagonal piece from same end of cake. Arrange piece on side of cake to resemble a cut branch, using a bit of remaining butter cream frosting to glue piece to "log" and cover seam with frosting. I like to then dust it with cocoa powder and powdered sugar for the snow affect. If you make some meringue mushrooms you can dip them in melted chocolate and use red food coloring (make a paste out of water and powdered sugar) to add spots so that they resemble magic mushrooms. The epicurious recipe says to make “maple brittle” and form wood chips, which is a good idea, but that stuff gets stuck in my teeth, so I will pass on that.
Maple Butter Cream Frosting
2 large egg whites, at room temperature for 30 minutes
Scant 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple sugar
2/3 cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade A dark amber)
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
Special equipment: a candy thermometer
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add maple sugar 1 teaspoon at a time, beating, and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
Boil syrup in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it reaches soft-ball stage (registering 238 to 242°F on thermometer), about 3 to 7 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and slowly pour hot syrup in a slow stream down side of bowl into egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Beat meringue, scraping down side of bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 6 minutes. (It's important that meringue be fully cooled before proceeding.)
With mixer at medium speed, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. (If buttercream looks soupy after some butter is added, meringue is too warm: Chill bottom of bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all butter is added but will come together before beating is finished.) Makes about 3 cups.
For more recipes and insight into Riana’s life in France
http://frenchtoastfrance.blogspot.com/
