Yule Log 2015: So it begins

I decided to make a Yule Log. I liked the idea of making edible foresty things and having a legitimate reason to bake. Christmas is my least favorite holiday for many reasons (shopping, ugh… traffic, ugh… lines, ugh…), and having this little project definitely perked me up.

As a traditional holiday cake modeled after a log people traditionally burnt during Christmas , I find great humor in this little dessert. It’s a cake that looks like a LOG. Decorated with mushrooms and foresty things. YES!!

For my Yule Log project, I chose to decorate with only things that are both edible and delicious. Many Yule Logs get decorated with actual sprigs of holly leaves, sugared fresh cranberries, or twigs of rosemary. No, thank you. Meringue mushrooms, yes! I also searched and found adorable edible acorns made out of cookies and candy and pinecones made out of fudge and cereal. I now had a plan.

For the cake part of the design, I chose to do a chocolate cake roll filled with sweetened whipped cream and frosted with chocolate buttercream. I took great joy in making the frosting look like tree bark.

The “acorns” are mini Nutter Butter cookies with a chocolate chip on top and a Hershey’s Kiss on the bottom, both attached to the cookie with melted chocolate.

The “pinecones” are made from a thick mixture of peanut butter, Nutella, and powdered sugar molded around a pretzel stick. Then I stuck pieces of chocolate Chex cereal into the mixture to mimic the petals of the pinecone. (Petals? Leaves? You know what I mean.)

I have to say, meringue mushrooms are incredibly delicious. Sweetened meringue, piped into little mounds and stubby stems, baked at a low temperature until dry and crisp. I attached the stems to the caps by drilling a small 1/4” hole hole into the bottom of the cap with a paring knife, then dipping the top of the stem into melted chocolate and inserting it securely into the cap.

Every element of this cake turned out so well, was fun to make, and was a delightful dessert… that looked like it had been found on a chilly, snow-sprinkled forest floor.