January. Month of nationwide depression and post-festive bloat. The beginning of a New Year where gym memberships soar, where everyone looks grey, wears grey, and is weighed upon by wintry grey skies. Back to the office blues where even the secret snaffling of some silky chocolate buttons can’t get you through the day..and don’t even start pretending that bunch of grapes has the same chocolatey satisfaction. GOSH, isn’t it all so miserable.
Chocolate Yule Log
NO. It is not. Yes, yes, yes, we are all very sad that Christmas is over. It is by far my favorite time of year. BUT, this does not mean that we should trudge dismally though the streets, our mouths dramatically down-turned in a caricaturesque frown, as if nothing in the world could EVER bring us that same festive joy. Although the heady scent of pine is gone, the glittery Christmas baubles have disappeared, and the feasting, oh the merry, merry feasting, is over, 2012 brings a wealth of goodies to look forward to.
The Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Beyonce’s baby, the opening of the Harry Potter studio: these are all things that are VERY exciting in 2012. Oh, and the world ending. But we don’t talk about that. A New Year is a great time to look forward, to actually keep those resolutions (this year, I WILL become a toned and tanned Amazonian goddess), and to appreciate our extremely lucky lives – it could be much, much worse.
So, on that cheerful note, and despite all the forward-looking and thinking, I vote we are allowed one, last Yuletide indulgence. Christmas lives on.
Perfect chocolate swirl
Chocolate Yule Log
By Nigella Lawson
Serves 12
Ingredients
For the cake
- 6 eggs, separated
- 150g caster sugar
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3–5 teaspoons icing sugar to decorate
For the icing
- 175g dark chocolate, chopped
- 250g icing sugar
- 225g soft butter
- 1 x 15ml tablespoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until thick and peaking, then, still whisking, sprinkle in 50g of the caster sugar and continue whisking until the whites are holding their peaks but not dry. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining caster sugar until the mixture is moussy, pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract, sieve the cocoa powder over, then fold both in. Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of the egg whites, folding them in robustly. Then add the remaining whites in thirds, folding them in carefully to avoid losing the air.
Line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, leaving a generous overhang at the ends and sides, and folding the parchment into the corners to help the paper stay anchored. Pour in the cake mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking parchment. If you dust this piece of parchment with a little icing sugar it may help with preventing stickage, but don’t worry too much as any tears or dents will be covered by icing later. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel.
To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water and let it cool. Put the icing sugar into a processor and blitz to remove lumps, add the butter and process until smooth. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and the tablespoon of vanilla extract and pulse again to make a smooth icing. You can do this by hand, but it does mean you will have to sieve the sugar before creaming it with the butter and stirring in the chocolate and vanilla.
Sit the flat chocolate cake on a large piece of baking parchment. Trim the edges of the Swiss roll. Spread some of the icing thinly over the sponge, going right out to the edges. Start rolling from the long side facing you, taking care to get a tight roll from the beginning, and roll up to the other side. Pressing against the parchment, rather than the tender cake, makes this easier. Cut one or both ends slightly at a gentle angle, reserving the remnants, and place the Swiss roll on a board or long dish. The remnants are to make a branch or two; you get the effect by placing a piece of cake at an angle to look like a branch coming off the big log. Spread the yule log with the remaining icing, covering the cut-off ends as well as any branches. Create a wood-like texture by marking along the length of the log with a skewer, remembering to do wibbly circles, as in tree rings, on each end. Dust with icing sugar to give the effect of freshly fallen snow.
P.S.
Just look what my sister brought me back from Toulouse!
Christmas Chocolate Tableau
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