Black Forest Christmas Yule Log

A yule log made with chocolate, cherries, and fresh cream… what’s not to love about all of that? My husband’s favourite cake is the black forest cake. Every once in a while he’ll be sitting on the couch and will say, “Ah, I think I could go for a slice of black forest cake!” So, making him a Christmas treat that he loves made total sense.

The Ingredients for the Christmas Yule Log

A few ingredients for the cake, some for the filling, and some for the icing, will get you an amazing dessert to die for.

The Ingredients List for Christmas Yule Log

• Cake:
• 4 eggs (yolks and whites separated)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons sour cream (or plain yogurt)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 3/4 cup cake and pastry flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons icing sugar
• Filling:
• 1 tin bing cherries
• 2 tablespoons brandy or sherry
• 1 cup fresh whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Ganache:
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup whipping cream

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The Cake:

Let’s start with the cake. Making this cake is pretty easy and the baking time is so short, that it makes up for the rest of the process. Let’s start with separating the egg yolks and whites. Place the whites in a bowl and set them aside. Add sugar to the bowl with the yolks and using a hand blender or a whisk, whip them till the sugar gets dissolved into the yolks and you get a yellowish ribbon like consistency.

Now we can add the sour cream (or yogurt if that’s what you are using) and the softened butter. Mix well for a further 1 or so minutes until everything is well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Add to the bowl containing the egg yellow mix and combine everything to get a chocolatey mixture. Cover and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Now we can get to the egg whites. Using the hand blender, whip them till you get stiff peaks. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Remember to wash off and completely dry the hand blender attachments before you use them in the egg whites or else the egg whites will get destroyed.

Gently lift some of the whites and add them to the bowl containing the chocolatey mix. Fold the egg whites in until there are no white bits visible. Once that is done, we can add the remaining egg whites to the bowl and fold them in. You now have your cake batter and can bake it off.

Baking the Christmas Yule Log

Pour the batter onto the parchment lined baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Do not overbake the cake or else it will break when we roll it. The best way to check for readiness is to gently touch the center of the cake. If it bounces back, it’s ready to be removed from the oven.

Once the cake is ready, allow it to cool down for about 5 minutes – be sure to turn the timer on. Quickly sprinkle the icing sugar onto the cake. I place the icing sugar onto a sieve and gently shake it so I can evenly sprinkle it onto the cake. The idea is to do this quickly so the cake doesn’t start to cool down anymore. Place a clean dishcloth over the icing sugar and flip the cake over onto the dishcloth.

Gently pull the parchment paper off the cake and starting from the short side of the cake, roll it into the dishcloth. This will form a roll of cake with the dishcloth in between the layers. Let it sit like that until it completely cools down. Once it’s cooled down, you can unroll it and the cake will “remember” the shape.

The Filling:

Now we can get the filling ready. Place the whipping cream and the sugar in a bowl and whip until you have a soft but firm whipping cream. Unroll the cake and remove the dishcloth. Lay the cake down on a chopping board or a clean counter space. Using a baking brush, brush the brandy all over the unrolled cake. Then liberally spread the whipping cream all over the cake.

Drain the cherries from the juice and spread the cherries around on top of the whipping cream. Do not discard the juice. It can be used for other things. Now we can roll the cake back up the same way it was rolled in the dishcloth. Only this time, we are just rolling the cake – with the cherries and cream in the center.

The Whipped Ganache Icing:

Now we are ready to make the ganache. We are almost ready to enjoy our yule log. Bring the cream to a boil in a pan. Add the chocolate chips to a bowl and pour the hot cream onto the chips. Allow them to sit in the bowl for about 3-4 minutes then using a spoon mix the cream into the chips. By now the chocolate should have melted. You have your ganache ready to use. You can pour it onto the log as is or do what I do.

Using a hand blender whip the ganache until you have a fluffy and slightly lighter brown version of the ganache. Slather it onto the log and allow it to cool down for a few minutes. Then using a fork, form the “bark” design and top them with a few cherries. Enjoy your Christmas yule log with a cup of coffee.

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