One of the best times of the year for those with a sweet tooth is Christmas, without a doubt. We can find a very wide and varied assortment, so it is totally impossible not to feel satisfied. I include myself, because I have a sweet tooth.

When it comes to presenting desserts during these days, there is a classic that never fails and with which we will always look good, the famous Christmas log or Yule Log . This dessert has many advantages, starting from the fact that it is a very simple preparation to carry out, which allows us to prepare it in advance and, in addition, it is very versatile. Without forgetting that we can transport it to friends or family knowing that it will arrive in perfect condition.

In my case I leave you a mascarpone and cherry cream filling, but you can change it for another if you wish; Pastry cream, Chantilly, cream with cocoa, coffee, caramel, nougat... The option that you like best. The decoration is very simple and showy, it will give us little work. Something that is very important during these days, especially if we have to prepare dinners or meals at home.

Origin of the Christmas Trunk

The origin of this elaboration goes back to the pre-Christian tradition in which they burned a large log of wood, preferably from fruit trees, to celebrate the winter solstice. The fire fueled the energy to start the new year, thus driving away the darkness that could haunt our lives.

To do this ritual, some specific steps had to be followed. The trunk had to be lit by the oldest or youngest member of the family and, on some occasions, it is carried out with ashes from the burned trunk of the previous year. This must burn for at least 3 days and during that period it must be watered with wine, oil or water.

This peculiar custom was recovered by the Catholic Church and incorporated into Christmas rituals.

In the S. XIX, with the arrival of stoves in homes, caused the tradition to be modified and this log of firewood was replaced by a dessert that simulated it, thus emerging the Christmas log

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 120 g loose pastry flour
  • 20 g cornstarch
  • 5 L eggs (whites and yolks separated)
  • 150g of sugar
  • 60g whole milk
  • 80g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 5 g of chemical yeast or impeller
  • a pinch of salt

For the mascarpone and cherry cream:

  • 200 g of mascarpone cheese
  • 200 g of liquid cream to mount
  • 90 g cherry jam
  • A few drops of cherry or morello extract (optional)
  • 4-5 chopped candied cherries

For the Chocolate Ganache:

  • 200 g of pure dark chocolate
  • 135 g of liquid cream to mount

To decorate:

  • fresh currants
  • Rosemary sprigs, dill, fresh carrot stems/leaves…
  • Pine cones and candles (optional)
  • Golden sprinkles with Christmas motifs

Preparation

FIRST DAY:

We prepare the cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC with heat up and down.
  2. Line the KitchenAid 25 x 38 x 2.5 cm rectangular tray with baking paper, reserve. To help the paper adhere, we will spread the tray with a little butter or release spray .
  3. Sift the flour together with the cornstarch, the chemical yeast and the salt. We booked.
  4. We separate the yolks from the whites. We booked.
  5. In a bowl , beat the egg yolks together with the milk and the melted and cooled butter.
  6. Add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture. Mix until homogeneous and reserve.
  7. We assemble the whites, at the moment they begin to foam, we begin to integrate the sugar little by little until we add it completely. We will beat, increasing the speed gradually without reaching the maximum, until obtaining a meringue with soft peaks. We should not mount the whites to obtain a firm and dry meringue.
  8. Once we have the meringue ready, we begin to incorporate it into the mixture of yolks and flour that we prepared previously. We will do it in batches and with soft and enveloping movements.

Pour into the mold and bake

  1. Pour the mixture onto the baking tray and smooth the surface with a spatula or scraper .
  2. Place in the oven at medium height and bake for 17-18 minutes.
  3. Remove, unmold and let cool on a wire rack.

Set of 5 KitchenAid metal ramekins , KitchenAid floral white ceramic bowl and set of 3 Küchenprofi scrapers .

Prepare the mascarpone and cherry cream

* The cream must be at least 24 hours in the cold.

* The bowl where we mount the cream must be cold. I recommend you use an aluminum one and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes before preparing to mount the cream.

  1. Pour the jam together with the mascarpone cheese in the KitchenAid bowl and mix with the whisk.
  2. Add the cream and mix again with the rod, we will do it at medium high speed.
  3. We beat until we obtain a cream with a lot of body. Be careful not to over beat or we will make butter.
  4. We transfer the cream to a bowl, cover the bowl with film and refrigerate until the moment we are going to use it.

Prepare the cake to roll

  1. Carefully remove the baking paper and prepare a new one.
  2. We cut the ends of the cake to obtain a neat result.
  3. Spread the mascarpone and cherry cream over the surface with the help of a spatula. We must have a greater amount of filling in the part of the cake that we will begin to roll. And, as we move forward arranging the filling towards the part that will be the final part of the roll, we will reduce the thickness of the filling. In this way we will avoid that when rolling it, we have a surplus of cream in the final area.
  4. Arrange the chopped candied cherries on the cherry and mascarpone cream.
  5. We carefully roll up on itself. Once it is rolled up, we stretch the paper and use the scraper to adjust and tighten the roll.
  6. Roll up in the baking paper, cover with film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until the next day.


SECOND DAY:

Prepare the chocolate ganache

  1. Chop the dark chocolate, reserve.
  2. In a saucepan add the liquid cream, place over medium heat and let it come to a gentle boil.
  3. Remove from heat, add the chopped chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes.
  4. With the help of some rods we mix until we achieve a homogeneous and silky texture.
  5. Pour into a bowl, cover with film and let cool.
  6. Once it has cooled, store it in the fridge for 1-2 hours. We must achieve a spreadable consistency, but it does not last. If we let it cool too much, it will take too much consistency and we won't be able to spread it on the Christmas log.

Cover with the chocolate ganache

  1. We cut the ends of the roscón to give it a “cleaner” finish. In my case I cut a little more to be able to adjust it to the tray that I was going to use to present it. De Buyer Baking Mat
  2. With the help of a spatula, we cover the entire Christmas log with the chocolate ganache.
  3. We will try to be careful when covering the lower part trying to do it as best as possible.
  4. As you have the ganache on the surface, it will solidify. If you wish, you can grate the surface with the help of a fork to give the trunk more texture. In my case I gave texture with the help of the spatula.

De Buyer Baking Mat

We decorate the Christmas log

  1. We place on the trunk fresh currants, dill leaves and carrot stalks (to simulate the leaves). You can use rosemary if you wish.
  2. We can place some pineapple if we wish as well and some golden sprinkles with Christmas motifs.
  3. We puncture some candles on the surface and light them.
  4. We serve.

GRADES:

  • We must be very careful when integrating the meringue into the dough to avoid lowering it and obtaining a very fluid dough that, moreover, will not have such a spongy result.
  • If this baking tray is not available, we can pipe the dough with the help of a pastry bag on a perforated tray, previously lined with baking paper.
  • It is not necessary to roll the cake once baked. The result is a very elastic cake that will allow us to roll it up without fear of it cracking.
  • If we wish, we can soak the cake with a little syrup, even with a slight touch of rum.
  • The filling is totally optional, you can adapt it to your tastes.
  • Keep an eye on the ganache when you refrigerate it to achieve the right consistency to coat the log. If we leave it too long, it can harden too much.
  • Chocolate coating will help preserve the juiciness and tenderness of the cake.
  • We can keep it, refrigerated, for 2-3 days.

A dessert with which you will undoubtedly surprise your friends and family, this Christmas log is a great option to end a lunch, dinner or even to enjoy in the middle of the afternoon.

If you dare to prepare it, we would love to know how it went!

Recipe Author: Eva from Bake Street

Comments

Rosa said:

A mi familia no le va el queso en los rellenos, se nota mucho al mezclar con más ingredientes?

Elena said:

Me encanta la receta. La voy a hacer en formato tronquitos individuales. Crees que podría congelarlos una vez montados y rellenos? Es que somos muchos y así adelanto trabajo
Un cordial saludo

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