John's Awesome Yule Log
Bûche de Nöel


I agreed to bring a ham, a carrot dish, and a traditional Yule Log to Christmas Day at my sister's. She'd had extra duties this year, as our parents were in town as well, and she was to leave for 10 days right after New Year's -- so this was a way to lighten her load. Here is the chronicle of the Bûche. I particularly enjoy making it as realistic as possible.


Some Ingredients:


Growing up in England, we'd use slices of candied angelica root for holly leaves. Lacking that, I came up with the idea of using filo dough. Seven layers lathered with melted butter, cut into holly shapes, sprinkled with green sugar topping, and baked till just crisp and lightly brown. They looked perfect and tasted yummy!


A Ghirardelli semi-sweet bar, shaved with a vegetable peeler. This would add realism to the bark.


A selection of nuts for the forest floor, including imported Italian chestnuts (un-roasted, for lack of time).


The array of 'nuts and twigs'-type cereal I got for the 'forest floor' look.


The finished cereal 'compost' in the bowl. Weetabix reserved for 'soil'. Coconut (sorry, coconut-haters) reserved for 'snow'.


Macaroons (not used - intended as 'shelf mushrooms') and fried Chinese rice noodles (for dead winter grass).


Meringue mushrooms fresh from oven. Unfortunately I had the formula wrong, and they were as sticky as melted marshmallows. Only 4 or 5 survived. (I used Joy of Cooking's recipe for Almond Meringue Wreath cookies -- without the almonds -- but prepared it incorrectly. Note: the whites must be whipped very stiff before adding the powdered sugar. The first batch can be seen in the prior photo, basically liquid marshmallow, reserved for snow frosting -- to be used sparingly because the whites weren't cooked.)


The surviving mushroom parts, set aside with the holly leaves. I make a meringue mushroom with a medium round decorator's tip: two lines, when sandwiched face-to-face, make a round stem; and a smooth blob makes the cap. Fasten the parts with a bit of icing or very sparing dabs of water (too much and the meringue disintegrates).

Assembly


The naked Bûche. I used Joy of Cooking. The chocolate cake I'd made and rolled the previous day, refrigerating overnight wrapped in wax paper and a tea towel. I filled it with our family's traditional apricot jam and vanilla butter-cream frosting. Foreign coins wrapped in plastic dotted the inside as surprise gifts.


The cake frosted, and the surface roughened with a kitchen knife and a lobster fork. The chocolate syrup drizzled on the tray was to help the 'forest floor' adhere (I would be driving this thing two hours). Note: I would have used a nicer tray or platter than this, if I'd had one. Of course.


The bed of granola, etc., begun. The 'rings of wood' on the top section were a bit of a travesty, so I resolved to cover them with snow. The ends were better.


The (almost) final presentation. Honey drizzled in the 'soil' helped hold it together further. The holly leaves are embedded in icing with candied cherry halves. The shelf fungi are sun-dried apricots from Colorado.


Really final. Note the mushrooms. Click the image for a closer view.


At the dinner table. The photographer (me) didn't get its best side. Click the image for a closer view.