In Junior and High School, I took French. Four years of French and I can get by in French speaking countries. I am by no means proficient, but I can order at a restaurant and get directions.
I was very fortunate in that my French teacher for all four years was a lovely woman from France. She had married a Navy man and moved to America.
She was the first to introduce me to the Buche de Noel. I still have the recipe – thirty years later! I made it every year for many, many years.
This recipe was completely different, but in a good way.
The biggest difference was all the eggs. 18 Eggs! That makes for a very rich cake and filling!
The cake is very light, almost like a sponge cake. This makes it very easy to roll, but you still have to be careful to not break the cake. It is essential that you roll it while the cake is still very hot or else it will fall apart.
Cooling the cake is also very important. This ensures that the cake will remain in the rolled shape.
The filling comes out delicious, but a little thin. The most important thing is to not stir it before spreading it on the cooled cake. Stirring the filling makes an already thing filling even thinner.
I cooled my filling in two separate bowls – one for each cake. This helped it get a little bit thicker than a large bowl would have in my opinion.
It is very important to chill the cake for at least several hours after putting the filling in the roll. I chilled mine overnight. This also helps the filling adhere to the cake so it doesn’t all ooze out when you are ready to ice the roll.
The icing was lovely. It is a very rich chocolate with just a hint of coffee. The one I made growing up had espresso instead of instant coffee. I really didn’t notice a huge different in the coffee flavor. I would decrease the amount of cream if using espresso though. You don’t want the frosting to be too thin.
Putting the cake together you want it to look like a log. I am not sure why the French choose a log for a cake, but it is what it is. You can embellish the cake with all sorts of things. I have seen everything from pinecones to marzipan animals.
Overall this is an amazingly rich and decadent cake. It takes time and attention to detail to put together, but it is very worth it!
BUCHE DE NOEL
Filling
10 Ounces Semisweet chocolate pieces
½ Cup Sugar
½ Cup Water
10 Eggs, Separated
1 ½ Tablespoons Vanilla
Roll
1 Cup Cake Flour
¾ Cup Cocoa Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
8 Eggs, Separated
1 ½ Cups Sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
Confectioners’ Sugar
Mocha Butter Icing
½ Pound Butter
1 Cup Confectioners’ Sugar
4 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
1 Tablespoon Instant Coffee
Pinch of Salt
3 Tablespoons Cream
For the filling – Melt chocolate with sugar and water in a double broiler. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and cool. Beat egg yolks until thick, add to sugar chocolate mixture, then add vanilla. Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into mixture. Chill to spreading consistency – about 3 to 4 hours. For the roll – Sift together three times the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder. Fold in sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat egg yolks until thick. Add Vanilla. Fold in egg whites. Fold in sifted dry ingredients. Grease two 15 ½” x 10 ½” x 1” pans, then line with wax paper. Spread batter evenly into pans then bake in a 400 degree oven for 13 minutes. Turn out onto a towel sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. Quickly cut off any crisp edges, and roll up. Cool. Once the rolls are cool, unroll and spread with filling, roll up again. Chill several hours or overnight. Frost with mocha butter icing to resemble a log. Once roll can be cut and attached to look like branches. For the icing – Cream butter, gradually add sugar, cocoa, instant coffee, salt and enough cream to required spreading consistency.
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