Yule Log 2018: Dueling Logs
In seeking inspiration for this year’s Yule Log, I looked at wintry forest scenes. I asked my friends on Facebook to vote on the following two images, and there was no clear winner.
The answer was clear to me, though. Make two Yule Logs!
If that sounds crazy, that is because it was. Two cakes, two different fillings, frostings, and sets of decorations. Let the battle royale begin…
Yule Log #1: “Birch Forest”
Chocolate sponge roll
Vanilla mascarpone filling
Vanilla buttercream frosting
Almond praline dust “forest floor”
Chocolate birch markings
Nonpareil chocolate mushrooms
Chocolate sprinkle coated “truffles”
Yule Log #2: “Conifer Forest”
Vanilla sponge roll
Bittersweet chocolate ganache & caramel filling
Chocolate German buttercream frosting
Meringue mushrooms
Chocolate & cereal pinecones
Candy melt “pine needles” forest floor
This was so much fun. After my guests viewed and sampled each log, the results were mixed. The Birch Log won on aesthetics – “Best Looking Yule Log.” And the Conifer Log won on taste – “Most Delicious Yule Log.” My opinion, however…I can’t choose between my precious delicious babies!
My favorite part was making the forest floor for each log. The Birch forest floor was an almond brittle that I crushed into a praline bed for the Birch Log. The Conifer forest was a bed of pine needles I made with candy melts. I drizzled it back and forth onto a parchment sheet, let it dry, then cut pine needle-sized sticks. I am pretty happy with the color I got on those pine needles.
The Conifer Log pinecones were made using a store-bought cereal that I’ve already forgotten the name of – they are cornflakes coated in a sweet chocolate glaze. I mixed peanut butter and powdered sugar into a sticky dough, shaped it into a fat cone, then inserted the flakes. They look okay but don’t taste great. My past pinecones using chocolate Chex cereal were more delicious.
The frosting, though…SO GOOD. It was my first time making German buttercream, which is basically a thick pudding that gets whipped with butter. It tasted like chocolate ice cream!
The Birch log featured mushrooms made from a chocolate nonpareil candy glued to a Rolo with a dab of melted chocolate. I also used the same peanut butter dough from the pinecones and rolled them in chocolate sprinkles to make faux “truffles” in the Birch forest. I smeared dark chocolate onto parchment and used those to make the famous dark Birch tree markings. To mimic the stripey texture of birch bark, I piped it using a basketweave piping tip.
I rolled the Birch Log along the longer side of the cake, making for a narrower log that was long enough for me to cut off one end and make a side branch. I rolled the Conifer Log on the short side to make a wider log, as I wanted to make the two cakes quite different from each other.
These were both exciting Yule Logs to make and eat. I feel I’ve definitely stepped up my game. How do I beat this next year? ;)