Biscuit log. Chocolate-coffee roll "Christmas log". For filling and decoration

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Tradition oven Christmas log(or Yule log) came to us from France, where since pagan times there was a custom of burning a beautifully decorated log in the hearth on the day of the winter solstice. In modern houses with hearths and logs, we will make edible, biscuit-chocolate, there is no need to burn it, it is better to serve it for a festive tea party.

This version of the traditional dessert is very simple, with a minimum of ingredients and time. Essentially - sponge roll, with chocolate-butter or chocolate-butter cream. All you need is a lot of chocolate good quality and a little witchcraft in the kitchen, and that’s it, you are provided with a luxurious decoration for the festive table! The big plus of this roll is that it can be prepared in advance, there are no raw ingredients in it, and a thick layer of chocolate ganache protects the dough from drying out. If you expect a large number of guests, make two logs, you are guaranteed to be asked for more!

Total and active cooking time – 1 hour

Cost – 6.5 $
Calorie content per 100 g – 352 kcal
Number of servings – 8-10 servings

How to cook a Christmas log

Ingredients:

Flour – 105 g.
Sugar – 175 g.
Bitter chocolate – 330 g.
Egg – 3 pcs.
Cognac – 50 ml.
Cream – 330 ml.(35% fat)
Butter – 10 g.

Preparation:

For the dough, divide the eggs into yolks and whites. Beat the yolks with ninety-five grams of sugar until white.

Beat the whites into a thick foam.

Gently fold the white foam into the yolks with a spatula.

Sift the flour on top and mix, being careful not to crush the whites too much.

Grease a baking tray or baking dish measuring twenty by thirty centimeters with butter and sprinkle with flour. Pour out the dough and smooth it out. Bake at one hundred and eighty degrees for ten to twenty minutes, until golden brown. Drain the finished biscuit onto a clean kitchen towel.

Prepare syrup. To do this, pour eighty grams of sugar into a small saucepan, pour in one hundred milliliters of water and bring to a boil. Cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and pour in cognac. Let the syrup cool.

Using a spoon, carefully soak the biscuit layer completely with syrup.

Prepare chocolate ganache for filling. To do this, heat one hundred and fifty milliliters of cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add one hundred and fifty grams of dark chocolate broken into pieces into the cream. Stir until the chocolate is completely dissolved. When this happens, whisk the mixture until it cools completely. It is very convenient to do this with an electric mixer.

Spread the prepared cream in a thick layer onto the biscuit.

Carefully, lifting the towel, roll the roll. Place the roll in the refrigerator for about twenty minutes.

Just like the filling, prepare the ganache for the coating, taking one hundred and eighty grams of cream and dark chocolate. Only this ganache does not need to be whipped, it should remain dense and cool at room temperature. Now let's start assembling the log. I cut a long roll into two small ones, you can leave one large roll, whatever is more convenient for you. Cut a piece two centimeters wide from the roll diagonally. Spread the roll with a thick layer of ganache and attach the cut piece with two toothpicks, imitating a sawn branch. Once the chocolate has set, which it does very quickly, the toothpicks can be removed, so leave the ends sticking out.

Lubricate the placed piece with ganache, simulating tree bark, and use a fork to draw grooves. When serving, you can sprinkle the log with powdered sugar, decorate with mushroom cookies, fresh or decorative berries. Store the finished roll in the refrigerator, and before serving, keep it a little at room temperature, this will make it softer and tastier.

Culinary historians claim that the “Christmas log” dessert is a distant echo of pagan ideas about nature spirits living in trees. Folk magic, which migrated into Catholic rituals, connected the Christmas embers of a log burning on the holiday with the protection of the home and family hearth from misfortunes. Be that as it may, magic and folklore are a thing of the past, and the Christmas roll is here, on the table.

The traditional log cake is quite economical, consisting of a simple sponge roll with whipped cream cream. First, a sponge cake is baked, then it is rolled into a roll and finished with a thick layer of cream, imitating the bark of a tree with its roughness, knots, curls, etc. On top of the log is decorated with “snow” (powdered sugar), “mushrooms” (meringue), forest figurines flora and fauna from “berries” to “bunnies” (marzipan, chocolate, marshmallows). The cake is usually served at Christmas.

However, although the basic recipe is simple, “Log” requires artistic taste and flair from the performer, so there are as many variations of the dessert as there are artists, and the culinary process always turns into inspired magic and a real master class. I suggest you see this by making a complex, time-consuming, but luxurious Christmas cake with me.

Our work will consist of 6 stages:

It will take a little over 3 hours of active time. Plus the time of waiting until something cools down, and something reaches the condition in the refrigerator, “and in general.” It's a lot of time, I agree. But you will finally receive pleasure, joy from creativity and hitting a “high note”, a festive mood, blissful fatigue from an amazing result, a miracle in such quantities that time will simply cease to exist.

Ingredients for the Christmas Log

Shu

water 70 g
flour 40 g
butter 30 g
1 egg (large)
a pinch of salt and sugar

Filling

water 120 g
lemon juice 1 tbsp. spoon
sugar 2 teaspoons

Walnut sponge cake

egg 1 piece
protein 2 pieces
powdered sugar 65 g
walnuts 35 g
flour 30 g
baking powder 3 g
pinch of salt

Mousse

milk chocolate 200 g
milk 150 g
gelatin 7 g

Ganache and moss

heavy cream 250 g
black bitter chocolate 200 g
egg 1 piece
glucose syrup or invert 30 g
flour 25 g
sugar 12 g
baking powder 5 g
green food coloring
powdered sugar
cocoa powder

Cooking time: active work about 3 hours + time for cooling, cooling, etc.
Output of the finished product: log 20-22 cm long and 8-9 in diameter

Making shu for the cake

water 70 g
flour 40 g
butter 30 g
egg 1 pc. (large)
a pinch of salt and sugar

Of this amount choux pastry you will get more shu than you need for the cake, but it will be very inconvenient to prepare a smaller portion of dough. There is no need to worry, because the amount of raspberry shu filling (see below) is calculated in such a way that you can fill them all and serve them as a small addition to the main dessert. Start preparing the choux pastry. Pour water into a small ladle and add butter. Add salt and sugar there. Place the ladle on the fire.

While the mixture is heating, sift the flour. As soon as the water and oil reach a boil, pour the sifted flour into the liquid, continuously and thoroughly mixing the dough.

At first the mass will be lumpy.

Keep the dough on the fire a little longer, continuing to knead it. This will create a thin crust at the bottom of the ladle and the dough will become smooth. Thanks to this drying of the dough, it will absorb more eggs and the shu will rise better.

Remove the dough from the heat and let cool to such a temperature that you can touch it with your hand.

Meanwhile, whisk and strain the egg through a sieve.

When the dough has cooled, start adding the egg little by little, kneading the mixture thoroughly. Don't rush to add the whole egg at once - add until the dough becomes plastic. Its “stretchy” texture is clearly visible in the photo.

Transfer the dough into a pastry bag or stationery file. If you have pastry cutters, use a round hole or French star tip with a diameter of 10-12 mm. If there are no attachments, simply cut off the tip of the bag or file in such a way as to obtain a hole of the desired size.

Place small shu on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Be sure to leave space between the shu as they will expand during baking.

Bake the shu at a temperature of 220 degrees for the first 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180 and bake until golden brown. Remember that you cannot open the oven, otherwise the shu will settle. This is especially true for the first baking period, while the shu are growing.

Cool the finished shu.

Filling for shu

Ingredients needed to make raspberry filling:

water 120 g
raspberry puree 100 g (or 125-130 g raspberries, punched with a blender and rubbed through a sieve)
corn starch 2 tbsp. spoons
lemon juice 1 tbsp. spoon
sugar 2 teaspoons

Mix raspberry puree with sugar and starch. Pour water and lemon juice into the mixture.

Brew the filling over low heat, stirring it continuously with a whisk. It should turn into a thick custard-like cream.

Transfer the filling to a small bowl and cover with cling film to prevent a crust from forming on the surface.

Let the filling cool and then transfer it to a piping bag.

Fill raspberry filling previously baked shu for “Log”.

Making nut biscuit

egg 1 piece
protein 2 pieces
powdered sugar 65 g
walnuts 35 g
flour 30 g
baking powder 3 g
pinch of salt

Prepare a mixture of dry ingredients: in a blender, combine flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, salt and nuts. Beat everything together until the nuts are thoroughly chopped. Grinding the nuts separately can cause them to release oil and clump together, but this method will leave the mixture dry.

Add dry ingredients to beaten eggs. Gently stir the dough until smooth with a silicone spatula, keeping it as fluffy as possible.

Spread the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake the biscuit at 200 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

In the meantime, you can prepare your roll cake pan. If there is no suitable form, make it yourself from plastic bottle, cutting off the bottom and neck. Cover one end with foil. Secure the foil with tape.

By this time the biscuit will be ready. It will just start to turn rosy. It is very important not to overcook it in the oven., otherwise it will become brittle.

Cut out a layer of biscuit that matches the size of your log mold. Do not remove the parchment from the biscuit.

Place the sponge cake inside the mold, rolling it into a tube while it is still warm and elastic. If the cake cools down, it will start to break apart.

Preparing chocolate mousse

milk chocolate 200 g
heavy cream (homemade or 33% for whipping) 200 g
milk 150 g
gelatin 7 g

First of all, pour 40 grams of cold water into the gelatin and let it swell.

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a deep bowl. Add milk to chocolate and microwave or water bath. The chocolate should be completely melted, but be careful not to overheat it or it will curdle. The mass will be smooth.

Melt in microwave oven or swollen gelatin in a water bath. Pour the gelatin into the chocolate and stir the mixture. Let the mass cool slightly (to about 32-34 degrees).

Separately, whip the chilled cream into a fluffy mass. Carefully mix the cream with the chocolate mixture. You will get a delicate mousse.

Assembling the Christmas log

Start filling the cake. Pour 2 tbsp into the bottom. spoons chocolate mousse and place the Christmas log preparation in the freezer for 5 minutes so that the mousse hardens a little.

Then carefully place the shu with raspberry filling inside. Pour a little more mousse on top and place the cake in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.

Repeat these steps until the entire cake is filled with mousse and raspberry choux.

Hold the completely filled cake in freezer 1 hour The cake itself is already ready, and all that remains is to complete the preparation with finishing.

Decorate the “Log” with ganache and “moss”

Ganache for the “bark” of the Christmas log

Prepare chocolate ganache for coating the cake. To do this, break the chocolate into pieces. Add cream to it and melt in a microwave oven or in a water bath, stirring the mixture.

The ganache should be smooth and shiny. Let the ganache cool until room temperature. This will thicken it and make it easy to work with.

Remove the cake log from the mold and remove the parchment from the sponge cake.

Coat the log with a thin layer of ganache and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

The log in this form is ready for finishing with the remaining ganache.

Using a small spoon, knife or pastry bag, apply the ganache until it looks like tree bark. Place the finished log in the refrigerator so that the ganache hardens completely. Mobilize your artistic abilities, make grooves and curls - how it can look “at the end” is clearly visible in the final photographs of the Christmas log.

Moss biscuit for decoration

To decorate this traditional cake Moss sponge cake is perfect. It is prepared using a siphon, but at home you can do without it. So, mix the egg, sugar and glucose syrup () in a deep bowl.

Beat the mixture until fluffy. Add coloring to the dough. Then add the sifted flour and baking powder.

Gently stir the dough until smooth.

Place the dough in a plastic cup, filling it one third full.

Bake the sponge cake in the microwave for 2 minutes. The biscuit will grow a lot, reaching the top of the cup.

Divide the biscuit into small pieces and decorate the log with them, imitating moss thickets.

In some places, sprinkle the log with cocoa powder to give it a matte finish, and use powdered sugar to create snowy deposits.

Well, that's all. Admire, cook, enjoy.

I really love wonderful new year holidays... The sparkle of Christmas tree garlands, many, many bright toys on the Christmas tree, a bouquet of aromas in the kitchen, the smell of tangerines, familiar melodies of New Year and Christmas songs... Menu I plan these amazing holidays in advance. After preparing the most deliciousAfter holiday baking, it's time to start making a magical delicacy - the chocolate-coffee Christmas log roll.

The Christmas log is traditional french dessert, for which there are a lot of recipes - from simple homemade rolls decorated with melted chocolate to magnificent multi-layer desserts with various decorations from the great French confectioners. And for me it’s a chocolate-coffee roll. The combination of the most delicate creamy curd cream and coffee and chocolate sponge cake creates unique taste. My children cannot imagine Christmas without this amazing delicacy. They help me decorate it...

Ingredients

To prepare the chocolate and coffee roll "Christmas Log" you will need:

4 eggs;
100 g flour;
4 tbsp. l. cocoa;
180 g sugar;
1 tsp. baking powder;
1 g vanillin;
2 tsp. instant coffee;

1 tbsp. l. starch.

For the curd cream:

100 ml cream (33%);

150 g cottage cheese;

3 tbsp. l. Sahara;

For the chocolate buttercream:

200 g dark chocolate;

100 g butter at room temperature;

powdered sugar for sprinkling.

Cooking steps

In a separate bowl, mix starch, baking powder, vanillin, and cocoa thoroughly.

Add sifted flour. Mix everything.

Mix carefully. Add coffee. Separately, beat the egg whites and gently fold into the dough, mixing everything from top to bottom.

Place the finished dough on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for about 10-15 minutes until a toothpick is dry. Focus on your oven!

Melt the chocolate in a water bath, add room temperature butter. Mix well.

Apply the cream to the roll while still warm. Using a fork, make patterns on the log, sprinkle powdered sugar on top and decorate as desired. I decorated it with red viburnum.

Before serving, store the chocolate-coffee roll “Christmas Log” in the refrigerator.

Have a nice tea party and wonderful holidays!

Christmas is undoubtedly the most wonderful holiday. These are gifts, family comfort, the light crackling of logs in the fireplace... The main holiday dessert in France is called Bûche de Noël- Christmas log

Along with baked goose and turkey, a sponge roll soaked in butter cream and doused with chocolate icing and decorated with confectionery mushrooms and candied fruits, it is sure to decorate the French festive table on Christmas night. In our country, an approximate analogue of this dessert can be considered soviet cake"Fairy tale".

The sweet log was invented by confectioners not so long ago, in the mid-19th century, but the tradition of putting a decorated log on the table at Christmas is quite ancient. In medieval France, there was a custom after the festive mass to gather with the whole family by the fireplace. The head of the family read a prayer, after which it was supposed to light the Christmas log, usually the largest one. So it’s a stretch to call a huge trunk a log; it’s more like a log - it didn’t always fit entirely into the fireplace. In the south of France, fruit trees were more often used - plums, apples, and cherries. In other regions of the country - beech or oak; these plants were revered by the Celts and ancient Germans. The doors of houses were often left open on Christmas night so that the poor could come in and warm themselves by the fireplace.

The size of the trunk and the quality of the wood were of great importance: the tree had to smolder in the fireplace for at least three days, otherwise expect a fire. Often, before the start of the Christmas service, the fire in all hearths was specially extinguished in order to light it from a torch or candle brought from the church.

Each region of France had its own traditions of handling the Christmas log. In Poitou-Charentes, they sprinkled it with salt before lighting it, in Provence they poured wine over it, in other regions they sprinkled it with holy water and coated it with vegetable oil or honey. And sometimes they put bread and cheese on the log. In the 18th century, a tradition arose of placing a log on the table, decorating it with ribbons, dried fruits, and nuts as a gift to the baby Jesus.

The ashes from the “blessed” log were considered a panacea for troubles and illnesses. For fertility, it was scattered in gardens and fields. To protect livestock from diseases, they scattered it in the barn. According to some beliefs, ashes saved chicken coops from foxes, and people from the evil eye. Throwed into a well, it helped against snakes and gossip. It facilitated the transition to another world for the dying, and ensured salvation in the afterlife for the deceased. Stepping over an unlit log or sitting in front of it before it was lit in the fireplace was considered a bad omen and promised illness.

The folk custom of decorating a Christmas log survived several French revolutions, but gave way under the pressure of technological progress. In the middle of the 19th century, the first gas stoves appeared. By the middle of the 20th century, the tradition of lighting a Christmas log had practically disappeared. And it was at this time that a dessert appeared on the tables of the French, pieces of which looked like wood cuts.

Interview

Regis Trigel

A native of Paris, the chef of the Moscow brasserie “Most” talks about the Christmas traditions of France.

What do the French eat for Christmas?

In Paris on festive table there must be foie gras and turkey with chestnuts. And in Alsace they bake kouglof - a brioche-like bun. In the Alps, a capon, a specially fattened rooster, is fried. In Provence, it is customary to serve 13 different desserts - in honor of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. But baked goose or turkey and a log for dessert are a must everywhere.

Is it customary to make this dessert yourself or buy it?

If the housewife has time, she will cook it herself. My mother, for example, only bakes logs herself. Even if I come home for Christmas, he won’t let me do it. It is better to prepare the log on the eve of the holiday so that the biscuit is well soaked in cream. Well, those who don’t want to or don’t know how to bake buy dessert.

Where is the best Christmas log sold in Paris?

They are all good, you can buy them literally on every corner, in any bakery or pastry shop. But I would especially recommend a small family store - bakery Stohrer. It has existed in Paris since 1730 and is still popular today. They try not to change anything traditional recipes, nor the interior, so they always have queues. Take a look there, you won't regret it.

History has not preserved either the exact date of the sweet invention or the name of the author. According to one version, it was a Parisian pastry chef from Saint-Germain-des-Prés who invented the dessert in 1834. According to another, the birthplace of the Christmas log is Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France, and the date of birth is 1860. There is also an opinion that the dessert was invented in 1898 by Pierre Lacam, who was once the pastry chef of Charles III, Prince of Monaco. All we can say for sure is that this happened no earlier than the middle of the 19th century, when the usual sponge roll filled with fruit jam. It was he who became the prototype of the Christmas dessert, in which jam replaced the more expensive one as a filling. butter cream. To contrast with the biscuit, cocoa is usually added to it; in Corsica, chestnuts are added. The top of the roll is generously poured with chocolate glaze, and everyone chooses their own decoration - from simple candied fruits to figurines of Santa, elves or gnomes.

Few people now remember about the ancient tradition and folk beliefs. But this doesn’t stop you from making a wish after receiving your portion of dessert. Any miracles are possible at Christmas!

Recipe

Christmas log

Servings: 6–8

Cooking time: 30 minutes

For the biscuit

Eggs - 3 pcs.; granulated sugar- 300 g; flour - 50 g; water - 50 ml;
sugar syrup - 100 ml (for 50 ml of water 50 g of sugar)

For cream

Eggs - 3 pcs.; sugar - 70 g; vanilla sugar- 1 g; butter - 250 g; vanilla - 1 pod;
lemon zest - 10 g; lime zest - 10 g; orange zest - 10 g;
cocoa - 6 g; praline - 50 g

For pralines

Hazelnuts - 50 g; powdered sugar - 20 g

For decoration

Small meringues - 5 pcs.; strawberries - 3 pcs.; biscuit - 20 g; food flowers

1 For the biscuit beat eggs and sugar until fluffy white mass, add flour and water, mix with hands. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and roll out the dough onto it in an even layer. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 9 minutes. Place the biscuit on a waffle towel and cool for 2-3 minutes. Lubricate sugar syrup and roll into a roll using a towel, cool at room temperature.

2 For cream Whisk the yolks, heat the sugar and water and pour into the yolks, continuing to whisk. Add butter at room temperature and beat until smooth. Remove the vanilla seeds from the pod and add them to the cream. Divide the cream into three parts, add citrus zest to one, and praline and cocoa to the other two, respectively. For the praline, fry the hazelnuts in a dry, heated frying pan. Place in a blender, add powdered sugar, and puree until smooth.

3 Unwrap the biscuit cling film, lubricate citrus cream. Roll again using film, secure the edges. Place in the refrigerator for a day or two. Cut the edge at an oblique angle, decorate with praline and cocoa cream.

4 Decorate with green sponge cake, strawberries, meringues and edible flowers.

Photos: Grigory Polyakovsky

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