Yule Log

There are 4 steps to making this cake. It IS an undertaking!! I would suggest making the Meringue Mushrooms first, as they take about 90 minutes to cook and then you have to prep them.

1. Yule Log Cake

2. Cake Filling

3. Icing

4. Meringue Mushrooms

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Yule Log Cake

Ingredients:

5 eggs, separated

1 cup brown sugar, divided in half

1/2 cup cake flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Separate the eggs and let them stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Grease a 15 inch by 10 inch by 1 inch baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper. I used one of my cookie pans for this - the cake needs to be very thin and flat. Pre-heat oven to 350.

3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until they are fluffy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until mixture thickens.

4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa and salt. Gradually add the cocoa mix into the egg yolk mix, as you continue beating the mixture. Make sure it's blended well, it will be quite thick.

5. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. 

(Note: I'm new at the soft peak/stiff peak thing, so I looked it up. Here is a great site that shows you pictures of all the differences so you know when it's ready: A Visual Guide To Soft, Firm and Stiff Peaks In Egg Whites )

6. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the egg white mixture, beating until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, slowly stir in about a fourth of the cocoa mix until it's well mixed. Gently fold the remaining cocoa mix into the egg whites and fold until you don't see anymore white streaks in the mix.

7. Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cake springs back after you lightly poke the top with the tip of your finger. (I did 15 minutes and that was the limit, it's important not to overcook it). Once ready, let it cool for no more than 5 minutes.

8. In the meanwhile, dust a clean dish towel with icing sugar. After the 5 minutes are up, gently turn the cake onto the towel and slowly peel off the parchment paper. Starting with the shortest (or thinnest) end of the cake, roll it up very gently in the towel. Let it cool a good hour on a wire rack.

(Note: Here is an amazing photo visual of how to make the cake: How To Make A Yule Log Cake )

9. When the cake is cooled, very gently unroll it and spread the cake filling (see recipe below) all over, leaving a good 1/2 inch around the entire cake so it doesn't ooze all out.

10. Roll the cake up again, don't squish it too much. Place it on your serving platter and chill in the fridge for an hour.

11. When the cake it chilled, spread it with your icing (see recipe below). "Rake" the icing with a fork to give it that log look. I decorated it with the mushrooms, nests and snowmen that look like ghosts, lol  (see recipe below), and some "holly"...it was raspberries and since I had no mint leaves, I cut up some green paper lol..also some of the little branches from our Christmas tree. It turned out great!

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Cake Filling:

Ingredients:

1 cup whipping cream
About 1 ounce Amaretto (to your taste, you can use 1/4 tsp almond extract)

Direction:

1. Beat it up!

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Cream Cheese Icing:

Ingredients:

2 packs of cream cheese, room temperature
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 tbsp brown sugar, use a fork to get the lumps out
2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:

1. When the butter has cooled, beat all ingredients except the maple syrup in a bowl. Beat until the icing starts to stiffen a bit.

2. Add the maple syrup and beat until frothy and all mixed together. (Apparently if you overbeat, the icing will collapse, this has never happened to me though so I have no clue what overbeating consists of!)

3. Use right away; or keep in the fridge and let it warm up a bit before using.

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Meringue Mushrooms:

I used this recipe:  Meringue Cookie Mushrooms.  Everything was cooked just over an hour.

I watched her video first though, for the technique:  How To Make Meringue Mushrooms on You Tube. She shows you how to make the mushrooms, make bird nests and also how to put them together and decorate them! Very helpful!

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Here is the link for the original recipe for the cake:  Mocha Yule Log . I only followed the cake part, but they have a different recipe for the filling and the icing.