Chocolate Hazelnut Bûche de Noël Recipe
A classic French dessert for Christmas. With a soft chocolate sponge filled and decorated with sweetened chocolate whipped cream and chocolate hazelnut spread, the wow factor comes from the bark effect chocolate around the cake. It's a show-stopper you'll love!
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 345kcal
Ingredients
Chocolate sponge
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 100 g caster sugar (super-fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 65 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 35 g cocoa powder plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
Sweetened Whipped Cream
- 480 ml double cream (heavy cream) cold
- 45 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- 10 g cocoa powder
- 210 g chocolate hazelnut spread
Chocolate Shards
- 100 g dark chocolate 70% finely chopped
To serve
- 35 g whole hazelnuts, toasted optional
Instructions
Chocolate Sponge
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F)Prepare your pan. Grease with butter or spray with non-stick spray the base and sides of a 25x38cm (10x15-inch) baking pan /swiss roll pan/jelly roll pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, ensuring the paper overhangs the pan's sides. This will help you later when trying to remove the sponge from the tin. Grease the parchment paper with butter, as this will help with peeling the paper off once the sponge has baked.
- Whisk egg whites. Using handheld electric beaters or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium to high speed until soft peaks form.
- Whip the egg yolks and sugar. In a separate bowl, whip the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract on medium-high for 5 minutes until the mixture is light and creamy. When lifting out the whisk, you want to see trails of the mixture on the surface of the batter for a few seconds.
- Sift dry ingredients. Into a separate bowl, sift in the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt and whisk together.Add dry ingredients and add egg whites in two parts. Add half the cocoa flour mixture directly to the egg yolk mixture in the bowl. Add in half the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture until the flour and egg whites are just incorporated. Then, add the remaining cocoa flour mixture and the remaining egg whites. Again, fold through until just a few flour streaks remain. This will ensure that you don't overmix. Fold them in with a light touch to maintain all the trapped air. This is one of the reasons why the sponge is so light and airy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake/wiggle the pan to help guide the batter into the pan's corners. Use an offset spatula if necessary to help smooth out the batter.Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean and springs back when pressed lightly.Cool: Remove the baking pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes until the sponge is warm and not steaming hot. It's important not to miss out on this step.
- Prepare your tea towel. Whilst the sponge is baking, lay a tea towel or piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust generously with cocoa powder. (Alternatively, sprinkle with caster sugar or dust with powdered icing sugar).
- Invert the sponge onto the tea towel. Once the sponge has baked, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool for ten minutes. Then, invert the sponge onto the tea towel. Peel off the parchment paper. Gently peel off the parchment paper on the bottom of the sponge. Roll sponge up. Starting from the sponge's short end, using your hands, roll the sponge up gently but firmly until it is totally rolled into the tea towel (or parchment paper). Set the roll aside with its seam side down to cool completely.
Whipped Cream
- Whilst the sponge roll is cooling, make the sweetened whipped cream.Whisk the cream. Add the cream into a bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until soft peaks form. Add the icing sugar, vanilla bean paste, and hazelnut liquor and whisk until firm peaks form.
- Make the chocolate cream. Remove half of the sweetened whipped cream from the bowl and set aside. This is the filling for the cake roll. Sift in the cocoa powder into the remaining whipped cream. Fold through with a spoon until combined. The chocolate cream is now ready for the outside of the roll. Cover and refrigerate both creams .
Fill and Roll the Cake
- Fill roll with chocolate hazelnut spread. If the hazelnut spread is quite solid due to it being cold- microwave it for ten seconds or so to loosen it up to a more spreadable consistency. Unroll the sponge and spread over evenly
- Spread over cream and re-roll. Dollop the firmly whipped cream over the chocolate spread and, with an offset spatula, spread to an even layer over the sponge. From the short end, re-roll the sponge back up taking care not to squeeze the filling out and wrap in baking paper and plastic wrap to keep the roll secure. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Longer if you have the time.
Make the Chocolate Bark
- Melt the chocolate and refrigerate. Melt the finely chopped chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water, stirring until fully melted. Then spread chocolate thinly and evenly over a piece of parchment paper the same width, or slightly bigger than the cake roll.Place another piece of parchment over the top and then roll the two tightly together into a tube. I wrapped this in plastic wrap so that it wouldn't un-roll. Refrigerate until the chocolate is solid.
- Make the chocolate shards. Once the chocolate is completely cool, unroll the baking paper. You'll hear the chocolate cracking as the paper unfurls and flattens. Remove the top layer of paper and you'll have loads of chocolate shards. If any are still too big then break them up further.
Decorate
- Decorate the cake roll. Unwrap the cake roll and place it on your serving platter. Smother the roll all over with the chocolate whipped cream. The cream must be at the firm peak stage otherwise, it won't hold its shape.Then, place the chocolate bark shards all over the top and sides. Leave the two ends free. The chocolate can overlap and be irregular- just like a real tree bark would be. Sprinkle the finely chopped nuts all over, making sure they get into all the cracks of the bark. Sprinkle the remainder around the base of the Bûche de Noël. Then dust simply with icing sugar add a sprig of holly and your Yule log is complete! Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Step-by-Step Photos: My blog post includes helpful step-by-step photos to help guide you through making this recipe.
To store: The Yule Log can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To freeze: The unfilled, rolled sponge can be wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and allow to come to room temperature before filling and continuing with the recipe instructions.
TIP 1: Weigh out the flour and cocoa powder with digital scales. It's far more accurate than my measuring with cups.
TIP 2: Don’t overbake the sponge. If you do, you’ll most likely develop cracks.
TIP 3: Let the sponge sit for ten minutes or so before rolling. Hot out of the oven cake creates steam which traps inside the tea towel when rolled. It'll stick all over the towel!
TIP 4: The cream has to be whisked until firm peaks. If it's under whipped it'll be too sloppy and squeeze out all over the place when you roll it.
TIP 5: Refrigerate the roll before topping with the ganache. This allows the cream to be set in place and keeps the roll together.
Nutrition
Serving: 0g | Calories: 345kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 125mg | Potassium: 179mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 671IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 2mg