home cooking recipes – chocolate yule log recipe

The perfect sweet treat to end your festive roast! One bite of this chocolatey yule log and you’ll be coming back for more!

Prep time: 50 mins
Cooking time :10 mins

INGREDIENTS
Buttercream Filling
1 ⅔ cups powdered sugar
½ cup butter, at room temperature
1 ½ tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
2 tbs coffee-flavored liqueur, for a non-alcoholic version use a single shot of espresso with ½ tsp of cocoa
powder and brown sugar and taste test.
⅓ cup mascarpone cheese

METHOD
Whip powdered sugar, butter, cocoa powder, salt, coffee liqueur together in mixer on high speed. Transfer to a separate bowl and add mascarpone cheese. Mix until combined; set aside. Clean and dry bowl.

Sponge Cake
INGREDIENTS
2 tbs melted butter
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tbs all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature
⅔ cup white sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 tbs powdered sugar, or as needed

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Prepare medium sized rimmed sheet pan for sponge cake: Brush a little melted butter over sheet pan, line pan with parchment paper, and brush remaining melted butter on top.
Combine cocoa powder, salt, flour together in a bowl; whisk or sift to break up clumps.
Whisk eggs in clean bowl of your mixer, add sugar and whip until fluffy, thick, and very light in color. Add cocoa powder mixture and vanilla extract slowly to mixture. Switch to high speed; stop once mixture is moistened and blended. Pull off whisk attachment.
Pour batter onto prepared sheet pan and spread out with a spatula, leaving some room around edges. Tap pan on counter to knock out large bubbles.
Bake in preheated oven until top is dry and edges start to pull away from sides, 8 to10 minutes. Dust a clean kitchen towel with enough powdered sugar to cover an area slightly larger than the sponge cake.
Remove cake from the oven. Run a knife around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top. Run a spatula under the parchment paper to make sure it’s not stuck to the pan.

Flip pan on top of sugared area to invert the cake. Remove parchment paper and dust cake with more powdered sugar. Gently roll cake up inside towel; allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Unroll cake and dollop buttercream filling on top, reserving some for later; spread to the edges. Roll cake up over the filling, using towel to lift it if needed. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top. Wrap log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Ganache Frosting:
INGREDIENTS
1 cup heavy cream, boiling-hot
1 (8 ounce) package dark chocolate chips

METHOD
Pour hot cream over chocolate chips in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate melts to form ganache.
Make an angled cut 3 inches from one end of the log. Place log on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Apply some filling to the angled slice and attach it to one side. Spread a layer of ganache all over the cake, except for the swirls on the ends. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up ganache.
Carve lines into the ganache using the tip of a knife to create the appearance of tree bark. Refrigerate until completely chilled before serving. Dust with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.