Our Family’s Traditional Bûche De Noël
Christmas Eve was filled with food, family, and festivity when I was a child, but I also loved the magic of all the food preparations that filled the week before – fussing and primping and putting everything together for the grand finale.
Lots of baking
Mom would make her Spritz cookies, little buttery treats in playful shapes of Christmas trees, camels, wreaths. We got the job of sprinkling them with colored sugar, and eating the broken ones of course. She also made her mincemeat cookies, and when I was older, I got to help fill them, usually greedily putting a bit too much in each, but that is how you learn. There would be sweet breads, and whatever else caught my mother’s fancy from time to time, often a weekly dousing of my Aunt Elda’s fruitcake with brandy. I have so many memories of mom in her apron, humming along to Christmas tunes on the radio, fussing over fruit pies or cakes, and totally in her element, cooking for a crowd.
Rituals
There was always an attempt at fudge. My mom was a great baker, but since she was not the most patient of cooks, she seldom cooked it long enough, so we would usually eat our fudge with a spoon, not that we minded, of course. She would get the tourtière, meat pies, made the day before, and dust off the pretty dishes and plates, and the punch bowl and little cups for serving the homemade eggnog on its own table. Mémé’s fruit bowl would make its twice-a-year appearance, along with the little pink Depression-era sugar bowl and creamer.
Making the Bûche De Noël
But my favorite creation was the Bûche De Noël, from the French Canadian side of the family, a chocolate yule log filled with blackberry jam and covered with chocolate frosting, all dressed up to look like a tree log complete with meringue mushrooms. Watching this come together was amazing to me, and helping to make the magic mushrooms was a proud task. It was pure fun, and made a great centerpiece.
Traditional or not
I still make this most years, and use my mom’s chocolate sponge filled with jam. It is more traditional to fill it with whipped cream, and I like it both ways, but since I often some dairy-challenged folks in attendance, I opt for the jam.
Passing it on
This past weekend I enlisted my granddaughter’s help in creating one for a small gathering here. I assigned her the tasks of making the mushrooms and the chocolate ganache, which is what I use rather than frosting because it is a little less sweet, and, well, who doesn’t like chocolate ganache. Bittersweet chocolate is our preferred, but you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate if you want it sweeter.
Always a twist
I was out of blackberry, so I substituted raspberry jam instead, and added some fresh raspberries as well. My mother brushed her sponge with brandy; I used a raspberry liquor just to enhance that raspberry flavor. If you don’t want alcohol in your cake, you can use a simple syrup instead.
Let there be fun!
Don’t be afraid of the rolling up; just don’t over-bake the cake, and make sure to roll it up right out of the oven so it gets trained to be a roll! To get over any fear, just watch this early episode of The French Chef, Season 3, when Julia makes her version, not terribly perfect, but she loved it anyway!
Put on an apron, turn the radio on, there will still be some carols playing, and enlist the help of another. This is the best time to play with your food!
Sylvia’s Chocolate Sponge for Bûche De Noël
- ½ cup sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- Large pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 F. Greases and line a 17” X 12” rimmed baking sheet with parchment, then grease again. Place a kitchen towel on the counter and dust well with confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until more than double or triple in volume, about five minutes. Don’t skimp on this step. Beat in the vanilla.
While this is beating, sift together the dry ingredients.
Fold the dry carefully into the beaten egg mixture and stir gently until there are no streaks, being careful not to deflate all the air you’ve just beat in.
Spread the mixture gently and evenly in prepared pan, all the way to the corners. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Check at 9. You don’t want this to overcook, so remove it when it first feels firm to the touch.
Take a deep breath and flip the whole pan on top of the towel. Let it set for a couple of minutes, then carefully remove the pan and the parchment liner. It should come right off.
Immediately roll up the whole thing, long end facing you. Let sit until completely cooled. This is all way easier than it might sound, and it is an important step, giving the cake a memory of its roll shape. Don’t laugh.
When ready to fill, unroll, brush with spirits if using, and add your filling of choice, jam or stabilized whipped cream, below. Re-roll, and slice off about of third of the cake at a 45-degree angle. This will be the branch
Frost with chocolate ganache or chocolate frosting, using a fork to create the bark texture. This is really fun, no matter what you do, it will look like bark.
Decorate with meringue mushrooms and mint or frosting leaves with red cinnamon balls or fresh cranberries standing in for holly berries. Sprinkle with a little confectioners’ sugar snow. You can also color coconut flakes with green food coloring sprinkle around as moss. A few rosemary sprigs add to the mood.
If filling with whipped cream:
Use a pint of heavy whipping cream and beat it to soft peaks with a splash of vanilla and a little powdered sugar to taste. Add 4 oz. of softened full-fat cream cheese, and continue beating until fairly stiff, but don’t turn it to butter. By stabilizing, you can make this the day before.
Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
In a deep bowl, or bowl of your stand mixer, place 12 oz. of bittersweet chocolate chips and a scant teaspoon of espresso powder. Simmer 12 oz. of heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes, then gently stir until the funny looking mixture becomes beautiful melted dark chocolate. Make sure it is all melted.
Place in the refrigerator to cool for about a half hour, or until it just starts to set at the edges. Now you are going to whip in a stick of softened butter, a tab at a time. Whip it until nice and fluffy, stopping to scrape down and under a couple of times.
Magic Meringue Mushrooms
Beat together three egg whites until frothy. Add a half teaspoon of white vinegar or a pinch of cream of tartar to stabilize, and continue beating. Slowly drizzle in about a half cup of sugar, and whip until stiff peaks form. Add a splash of vanilla extract.
Using a piping bag with no tip, fashion little mushroom trunks, just round standing cylinders of meringue. Don’t worry if they are flat, since you can scrape them so with a knife after baking. Then, make little caps, cookie shaped mushroom tops. With a slightly wet finger, smooth down any peaks.
Bake on parchment at 200 for between one-and-a-half and two hours. They should be crisp to the touch and not rubbery. If still soft, put them back in the oven.
To assemble, level off the tops of the stems with a knife, put a little frosting or jam on top, and thus ‘glue’ the cap to the stem. Dust with a bit of cocoa powder.
© Copyright 2023– or current year, The New Vintage Kitchen. Dorothy Grover-Read. Unattributed use of this material is strictly prohibited. Reposting and links may be used, provided that credit is given to The New Vintage Kitchen, with active link and direction to this original post.
The New Vintage Kitchen does not accept ads or payment for mention of products or businesses.
Supporter of: Slow Food Fair Trade USA Northeast Organic Farmers Association EcoWatch Let’s Save Our Planet No Kid Hungry Hunger Free Vermont Environmental Working Group World Central Kitchen Sustainable America
Looks beautiful Dorothy! I love that you are passing on the tradition to your granddaughter. Joyeux Noël!
Joyeux Noël to you too!
I am still up to my eyeballs in apples, a bumper distribution from my fall/winter CSA. But cookies are definitely next. I love the recipes from my childhood. My favorite is Mrs. Wenner’s recipe for Christmas cookie dough to roll out and cut with the same cookie cutters I first used as a tot in 1948.
Oh, how wonderful that you still have those cookie cutters! I have two left from mom, don’t know where the rest went, but I love the ones I have. Happy baking!
Beautiful presentation Dorothy! Love the tray and dusting of sugar snow. Maybe I can get my kids to try this out this Christmas!
Thank you! Your kids will have a ball making this, so much fun, and great to do with someone else.
Beautiful! Your grand daughter did so well!
Thank you Mimi! She learns very quickly!
What a beautiful tradition! It looks lovely, your granddaughter did a wonderful job with the meringue mushrooms.
Thank you Jan! She was quite proud of herself!
I love the presentation, and also the great skills of your granddaughter. You are definitely a wonderful generation of bakers and cookers; Dorothy. 😉 May you enjoy a wonderful, blessed Christmas! Best wishes, Michael
Beautiful. I admire that you are able to create this masterpiece.
Thank you! When you break it down, it’s really quite easy to make, and so tasty.
What a wonderful Christmas treat!
Thank you! It’s always fun to make.
This looks amazing and how lovely to involve the granddaughter. She did a grand job at the meringues. I have not made a yule log but your post has inspired me to consider it as an alternative to pavlova this year and along with the christmas pudding…. I do like the sound of Bûche De Noël.
Thank you Amanda! This is so much fun to make, and everyone really loves to both admire it, and then gobble it up!
What an amazing dessert, and a wonderful helper. Memories – your granddaughter will never forget this, and you will smile every time you make it or enjoy it in the future. Happy Holidays, and I envy the folks at your table. 🙂
Happy holidays to you too my friend! I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Whoa! This is a masterpiece, almost too beautiful to eat.
Side note: I love your mention of tourtiere. I recently came across an old recipe given to me by a schoolmate’s Quebecois mum, handwritten entirely in French, which I made for my mum as a teenager. I can still read French, and it got me inspired to make it again soon.
Thanks!
Almost…but we did anyway!
I have happy tears rolling down my cheeks. My grandmother always made one of these. When we went on Christmas Eve, all the cousins got a thin slice. So many happy memories. My Mom never added this Yule Log to all her Christmas Baking, but that’s okay because she made Figgy Pudding. So Yule Log at Grandma’s and Figgy Pudding at our house created by Mom!
Thank you for the memories. Who knows… I may attempt this!
Oh, how wonderful! I love to bring on the memories!
You should definitely give it a try, keep the tradition going.
I admire anyone who can bake a Buche de Noel. Yours is a masterpiece!
Thank you! But if you take it step by step, it’s not real hard, just a few balls to juggle.
If you watch early Julia Child’s episode on making one of these, Season 3 of The French Chef, you’ll see how forgiving it is!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6RGdAfIGM
Beautiful cake and tradition. Your granddaughter did a great job!
Adding fresh raspberries and raspberry liquor is brilliant. I’ll take it anytime over whipped cream! 🙂
Thank you! I like it with the whipped cream, but the memories are all mingled in the jam!
The classic festive dessert here in France although it’s made with chestnut purée rather than jam. I LOVE those meringue mushrooms, such a clever and effective touch. There is something very special about you passing such wonderful family recipes and traditions down to the younger generations, Dorothy. Wishing you all a very merry and peaceful festive holiday! 😊
Oh
, I bet it is delicious with the chestnut purée, so delicious. I think we like making the mushrooms best!
Whoa you have mastered the art is food for sure with this beauty!
Thank you! Art meets fun here!
Very Impressive, Dorothy. And very French. Oui, Oui. Ooh-Là-Là! 🪵🌟🍒🌲🎶
Beautiful!!! What a masterpiece. So enjoyed reading your family memories and happy to know your granddaughter participated this year with preparations. Great job, both of you. Happy Holidays!!
Thank you Jana! She thoroughly enjoyed herself!
Your granddaughter did a fabulous job. I love it served on the silver tray.
Thank you! The tray was a special touch, kick out the jams and make it pretty!
Such a beautiful dessert and she did a fantastic job! Now she has a very special memory! Merry Christmas Dorothy!
Jenna
Merry Christmas Jenna! Have a beautiful holiday!
This looks divine! I’ve always wanted to make one, but I bake so many cookies, and we have a white almond cake for Jesus’ birthday, so I don’t need more desserts. But I’m going to do it one of these days. Yours is lovely, and how special to have your granddaughter help. She’s adorable. You must be so proud of her.
Merry Christmas!
We had a wonderful time making this, and we’re making a second one this weekend!
Looks absolutely delicious! Once again, I shall attempt one of your recipes. . .wish me luck. Merry Christmas and Happy 2024!
Thank you!
Have fun with this, and watch the Julia Child episode, hers certainly didn’t come out perfect, but she loved it just the same!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6RGdAfIGM
Gorgeous, Dorothy! I’ve wanted to make a roll cake but have been intimidated to try it. You’re inspiring me again! The ingredient swaps sound perfect so that everyone can enjoy it. I love the nostalgia, too. That kitchen table brought a tear to my eye, and one day, that sweet granddaughter will fondly share her memories of time in your kitchen. What a gift you are giving her!!!
Thank you my friend!
I love that photo, I wish I had a photo of the rest of the kitchen. Mom loved her eggnog, and always set it on its own table.
Leola had a blast!
Looks delicious! A classic Christmas cake, also in the Netherlands. Sweet memories. Thanks!
That’s what it all about this time of year, memories! Sharing them and keeping our loved ones with us.
This is so sweet Dorothy, fills me with warm memories, and feeling of nostalgia and love. Thank you for your post, your words, and for sharing your special recipes. Merry Christmas to you and yours, hugs, C
Have a wonderful time with that beautiful family of yours! That’s what it’s all about!
Ok Dorothy, who is having more fun, your granddaughter making such a beautiful Yule Log or you beaming with pride? She has made what I never have, I always wanted to but never could fit it in. Please tell your beautiful young lady nice job!
I will do so Diane! She’s so funny. We are making another one for our family gathering this weekend, and she is making it all from scratch. She said to me, and it is hard to even write this without laughing myself silly – Mimi, you’ve been preparing me for this all my life!
this is a glorious Yule log. I love it.
Thank you so much Philip! It’s definitely a year for many yule logs about! I love it!
Now that is an artfully created masterpiece – Love the traditions!💖
Thank you! We love to keep those memories alive!
Wonderful sharing this with your granddaughter!
Thank you Marilyn! We had such a nice time with this, and she learned very quickly!
What a beautiful Yule log cake! I am sure it is the star of the show!
Fun to make, fun to look at, and really fun to eat!
I am sure it is a delicious cake, raspberries and chocolate sounds wonderfully delicious.
They were so good!
I only tried making a Bûche De Noël once and the roll split. I immediately called the French bakery in our town and ordered one for our party. Your looks and sounds wonderful.
Thanks! We’ve all had those kitchen mishaps! A little extra frosting perhaps?
How wonderful it must be to pass these holiday recipes down to your granddaughter! And she looks so proud in that photo 🙂 Happy holidays to you and yours, Dorothy!! Sending much love xo
Thank you so much. She was very proud. Have a joyous season Christy!
Love this beautiful and traditional dessert! 🙂