For a challenge and treat, I decided to challenge myself and make a Buche de Noel for Christmas. We had Christmas dinner with some friends and I only had to make a salad and dessert so I had the time to try this decadent dessert. A few years in a row my parents bought a Buche de Noel from a little French Bakery and we'd have that with our Christmas dinner. It was always so delicious and beautiful! With meringue mushrooms and leaves it truly looked like a log in the forest. I was really worried about making the actual cake, or genoise, which needed to be rolled and stored in the fridge, then unrolled, filled, rerolled, then frosted. I found this Martha Stewart recipe and tried that. Well, the cake did not turn out. It was almost paper thin and rolling it was a major task. I may have overbaked it but something else was really wrong, I wasn't sure. But, determined to make the Buche de Noel, I tried this recipe. I was thrilled when the genoise turned out. An electric mixer with a whisk is a must. I beat those eggs like crazy! After it was rolled in the towel, I wrapped the entire thing in plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight. The filling in the Allrecipes recipe is basically just chocolate whipped cream, which is fine with me. Delicious and easy. However, the cake is already very rich so I recommend cutting the cocoa powder in the filling to 1/3 or 1/4 cup. The Allrecipes recipe doesn't include a frosting so I took a shot at Martha Stewart's. Well, once again I was met with failure (I nearly shed some tears over all that wasted butter). So, I tried a simple chocolate buttercream using this vanilla buttercream recipe, just adding cocoa powder. It's difficult not to eat the frosting with a spoon. It was easy to spread on the cake. I cut of the end of the cake for the top "branch" on the log. I shaved some milk and dark chocolate over the top and dusted the entire thing with powdered sugar for a snowy effect. For my first Buche de Noel, I think the overall result was pretty good. The dessert was very rich. I'm going do research over the next year and try another Buche de Noel next year. Send me any tips you may have!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Buche de Noel
For a challenge and treat, I decided to challenge myself and make a Buche de Noel for Christmas. We had Christmas dinner with some friends and I only had to make a salad and dessert so I had the time to try this decadent dessert. A few years in a row my parents bought a Buche de Noel from a little French Bakery and we'd have that with our Christmas dinner. It was always so delicious and beautiful! With meringue mushrooms and leaves it truly looked like a log in the forest. I was really worried about making the actual cake, or genoise, which needed to be rolled and stored in the fridge, then unrolled, filled, rerolled, then frosted. I found this Martha Stewart recipe and tried that. Well, the cake did not turn out. It was almost paper thin and rolling it was a major task. I may have overbaked it but something else was really wrong, I wasn't sure. But, determined to make the Buche de Noel, I tried this recipe. I was thrilled when the genoise turned out. An electric mixer with a whisk is a must. I beat those eggs like crazy! After it was rolled in the towel, I wrapped the entire thing in plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight. The filling in the Allrecipes recipe is basically just chocolate whipped cream, which is fine with me. Delicious and easy. However, the cake is already very rich so I recommend cutting the cocoa powder in the filling to 1/3 or 1/4 cup. The Allrecipes recipe doesn't include a frosting so I took a shot at Martha Stewart's. Well, once again I was met with failure (I nearly shed some tears over all that wasted butter). So, I tried a simple chocolate buttercream using this vanilla buttercream recipe, just adding cocoa powder. It's difficult not to eat the frosting with a spoon. It was easy to spread on the cake. I cut of the end of the cake for the top "branch" on the log. I shaved some milk and dark chocolate over the top and dusted the entire thing with powdered sugar for a snowy effect. For my first Buche de Noel, I think the overall result was pretty good. The dessert was very rich. I'm going do research over the next year and try another Buche de Noel next year. Send me any tips you may have!
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