Buche de Noel is a French Christmas dessert resembling a log, made with genoise sponge cake and chocolate buttercream. It can be garnished with berries or marzipan, and is dusted with powdered sugar to mimic snow. A similar dessert is jellyroll.
Buche de Noel is a classic French dessert, normally served at Christmas celebrations. You may also hear Buche de Noel referred to as a Holiday Log, Yule Log, or Holiday Log. The finished Buche de Noel is quite impressive, as it resembles a log, and can be sprinkled with powdered sugar to mimic the look of snow.
Some cooks use a vanilla genoise to make Buche de Noel, while others prefer a chocolate genoise. Or is it acceptable. A genovese is simply the French term for a sponge cake that tends to use quite a few whole eggs. Preparing the Genovese is probably the simplest part of preparing a Buche de Noel, although you have to be very careful not to overcook the cake.
Generally the Genoese batter is poured into long, thin pans, so the cake typically doesn’t rise significantly. This is important as a cake that is too thick may be impossible to roll without breaking the “log”.
When the genoise is completely cooled, the assembly of the Buche de Noel begins in earnest. The cake can be frosted on top first or it can be covered with a layer of whipping cream. Once the icing or cream is on, the Buche de Noel is rolled slowly and carefully to create the register.
If the Buche de Noel cracks a bit in this process, the less experienced cook should feel no shame. The Buche de Noel is glazed with a thick layer of chocolate buttercream, so you can cleverly hide some cracks with the glaze. Often when Buche de Noel is frosted, a fork is pulled through the frosting to give an overall sturdier, loglike appearance to the cake.
Buche de Noel can be garnished with berries, echoing the red colors of holly berries. Alternatively, some prefer to use marzipan shapes around the cake. Some bakers prepare a Buche de Noel that sits on the serving plate and one that stands straight in the middle. For starters, this architectural feat is quite challenging.
Buche de Noel is almost always dusted with powdered sugar as a finishing touch. The individual decorations around the Buche de Noel should continue before the dusting of powdered sugar, so they all look like they are covered in snow.
A cake quite similar to Buche de Noel is jelly. This is made with a white genoise and filled with whipped cream and strawberry or raspberry jam. It is usually not satin-finished on the outside, so it requires extra care during the lamination process. Some lucky families have talented cooks who make both Buche de Noel and jellyroll as part of a Christmas dessert. These cakes are excellent paired together and are sure to delight your guests.
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