A traditional Christmas desert in our family is the Yule Log, made from the recipe in Julia & Jacques, a cookbook of the favorite recipes of M. Pepin and Ms. Child. Taking less than an hour to make, this desert is best prepared on the day it will be eaten, but can be stored in a fridge for a few days. The decorating is the time consuming part and can be skipped all together or be a source of entertainment for your kids and guest. And then, each year the Yule Log is a different spectacle.
This is the cooked roll, and the cream whipped. And here’s how you get that beautiful souffle/cake/roll:
- Warm 1 cup of heavy cream to steaming
- Melt 5-8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces into the cream
- Mix in 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (if using less chocolate) and let chocolate mixture cool to room temperature
- Separate 7 eggs and whip the whites to stiff but not dry peaks
- Fold a small amount of the whites into the chocolate, then fold that mixture into the egg white bowl
- Pour/spread the mixture into a parchment lined, shorted-sided cookie sheet.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 350 F, no fan, for about 20 minutes.
- Let cool until you can handle the bottom of the parchment, but no longer
- Spread whipped cream (another cup of heavy cream that you have whipped while the roulade is baking) onto the cooled cake and roll up using the whole length – less rolling – separating the cake from the parchment as you go. Set the roll on a large serving plate, and decorate.
