A yule log is a light and fluffy chocolate sponge filled with fresh whipped cream and rolled tightly before being covered in ganache.
They can seem hard to make from scratch so I wanted to follow Mary’s recipe to see how easy it was to bake and follow.
The recipe notes said: “Mary Berry shows you how to make a foolproof chocolate yule log. It’s utterly delicious and a perfect alternative to Christmas pudding.”
It also claimed to take less than 20 minutes of preparation time and just 10 minutes of cooking time, with an additional chill time for the ganache.
For this recipe, you’ll need to make sure you have the correct size tin otherwise it may not work, but a Swiss roll tin should do the trick.
Ingredients:
For the chocolate sponge:
Four large free-range eggs
100g caster sugar
65g self-raising flour
40g cocoa powder
For the chocolate ganache:
300ml double cream
300g dark chocolate
For the cream filling:
300ml double cream, whipped cream
Method:
Start by preheating the oven to 200C before lining a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, and pushing it into the corners.
For the sponge, whisk the eggs and sugar together using an electric whisk until the mixture is super pale, light and frothy, mine took around five minutes on a stand mixer at medium speed. This is a crucial step otherwise the sponge will end up breaking, like it did when I first attempted this recipe.
Next, sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and very carefully fold it into the egg mixture. This step will take some time but again it is super important to not knock any of the air out.
Pour this mixture into the lined tin and bake for eight to 10 minutes, until well risen and shrinking away from the edge of the tin.
Place a large piece of baking parchment onto the work surface, dusting it with icing sugar generously. Once cooked, take the cake and invert it onto the paper and remove the bottom lining piece of paper.
Cut a core mark 2.5cm in along one of the long edges and starting here, tightly roll the sponge using the paper as a guide, letting it cool completely once it has been rolled up.
While the cake is cooking, make the ganache topping by heating the cream in a pan and adding the chocolate, stirring until melted. This needs to then be cooled to room temperature before putting into the fridge to firm up for piping.
Uncurl the cold Swiss roll and remove the paper before spreading the whipped cream on top and re-rolling tightly.
Once the chocolate ganache has set, put it into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, I used a Wilton 2D piping tip to create the bark effect on the outside.
Alternatively, just use a knife to spread the icing and create a rough bark texture with a fork. I then garnished it with holly and a little robin to serve.
The cake tasted amazing and was surprisingly easy to make. However, I wish the recipe had said to make the chocolate ganache a day beforehand to give it time to set and also said how long to whisk the eggs.
