Yule Log Cake

Yule Log Cake

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Ingredients

5 eggs, separated at room temperature
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
1 cup whipping cream
1 ounce raspberry liqueur
Seedless raspberry jam
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (make twice this recipe)
Meringue Mushrooms

Directions

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

2. Line a 15x10 inch pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper with melted butter. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

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.

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 minutes until the cake springs back after you lightly poke the top with the tip of your finger. Don't overbake. 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.

9. In a large bowl, whip the whipping cream with the liqueur and refrigerate until ready to use.

10. When the cake is cooled, very gently unroll it and spread it with raspberry jam. Spread the whipped cream all over, leaving 1/2 inch around the entire cake so it doesn't ooze all out.

11. 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.

12. When the cake is chilled, spread it with cream cheese icing and decorate with meringue mushrooms.

Note: You can vary the filling. I've used whipped cream and Amaretto with no jam. I've also mixed vanilla and some chocolate syrup into the whipped cream with cocoa liqueur.