...so i made a bûche de Noël for the creative feast event on iro warp portal forum <3
this was how i started.. and i chose "bûche de Noël" :>
i. meringue, (to fold into batter)
ii. cake(yule log) batter,
30g unsweetened cocoa powder
3 drops pure vanilla extract
b. 75g chocolate cubes/slices
v. rolled marshmallow fondant, (for snowman & mistletoe)
a small bowl of marshmallows (good quality brand preferably)
a big bowl of sifted icing sugar
red and green food coloring
*amount of water/icing sugar depends on how many marshmallows you used
reference used: http://www.wilton.co...hmallow-Fondant
i. prepare & measure all ingredients ; eggs must be cold from refrigerator
ii. prepare the filling part before starting the batter. refrigerate.
iii. separate the egg whites and egg yolks. (clean egg whites - no water/oil/yolk)
iv. sift the cake flour & unsweetened cocoa powder together. set aside.
v. grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper.
vi. preheat the oven to 170 degree celsius.
place the sugar into the mixing bowl then add the whipping cream and 3 drops of pure vanilla extract.
whip it at a low-to-med speed until the cream reaches stiff peaks. refrigerate.
ii. cake(yule log) batter,
- whisk the yolks and sugar until combined.
- add in the olive oil and mix well
- add in half of the sifted cake flour & cocoa powder to the mixture, stir for a bit and add in the other half. stir well. (do not stir too long)
- proceed to the meringue part.
- use an electric mixer or whisk the egg whites manually until bubbles appear
- add in half of the lemon juice and caster sugar (twice)
- beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.
- gently fold ⅓ of whites mixture into the batter(yolks mixture). now, fold the ⅔ of whites mixture into the batter
- * the folding part is important! :3
* how to fold egg whites into batter: http://video.about.com/gourmetfood/Fold-Egg-Whites-Into-Batter.htm
iv. combined batter,
spread the ready batter into the baking pan. tilt the pan to spread the batter around evenly then either slightly drop or tap the pan several times to burst the uneven air bubbles.
bake in the middle rack for 12~15 minutes in the preheated oven until the cake springs back when touch gently.
filling and cake rolling time!
remove the cake from the oven, peel the parchment paper off the sides of the cake to let the cake cool down. after it cools down a little bit, discard the parchment paper and place it on a new one(dusted with icing sugar).
make sure the cake is still warm(helps to maintain its shape when rolled), at the edge of the cake, use a small knife to cut 1~3 lines about half its depth right the way along one long side(to prevent the cake from cracking when rolling).
before rolling the cake, take the filling out from the fridge and spread it evenly over the cake.
roll the cake up with filling inside. place seam side down onto a cake board and refrigerate for ~30mins to let the cake cool down completely. now, proceed to the chocolate icing part.
- use an electric mixer or manually whisk 150ml of whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. refrigerate.
- use double boil method to melt the chocolate cubes. meanwhile, boil 20ml of whipping cream separately and add in 2g of cocoa powder, stir well.
- pour the melted chocolate mixture into the boiled whipping cream mixture and again, stir well.
- take the whipped cream out of the fridge and pour the chocolate mixture into it immediately and mix together quickly while still warm to form the chocolate icing.
(if you let the chocolate cool down, it will be impossible to mix.)
- cut a slice off the edge of the cake and place the flat side on top of the yule log(swiss roll).
- finally!! ah~ discard the parchment paper and then it’s time to spread the chocolate icing over the cake and around the stump. leave the ends of the cake and the top of the stump exposed.
- use a fork to create decorative parallel lines and swirls to imitate a tree (yule) bark.
vi. rolled marshmallow fondant, (for snowman & mistletoe)
- place marshmallows and water in a microwavable bowl. microwave for 30 seconds and stir well then continue again in the microwave for 1 minute (or until melted) and stir well again.
- place the sifted icing sugar(reasonable amount) on top of the melted marshmallows and fold together.
- place the marshmallow mixture onto a pan. start kneading it a little bit and constantly adding icing sugar into it (because it’s really sticky) till it slowly becomes like a dough.
make sure to regrease your hands and counter with icing sugar generously.
continue kneading and adding icing sugar till the marshmallow fondant becomes firm and smooth, also stretchable without tearing.
* if any tears appear, it is too dry and you need to add water.
- use the ready marshmallow fondant to make the snowman (lower body, upper body, nose, scarf & hat * I used two small pieces of coffee for the eyes).
- after the snowman, use the remaining fondant to make the mistletoe (leaves and berries).
- use the food coloring to decorate the fondants, red for the snowman’s scarf & hat and mistletoe berries, green for the mistletoe leaves.
- sift the icing sugar all over the cake to simulate snow.
voilà! the bûche de Noël is ready to be served!~ but first lemme take a selfie! <3
