Do not adjust your screen, you did read it correctly! A very good friend of mine recently compiled a list of thirty things she’d like to do before she turns 30 next year – and for reasons unknown to the majority of us, Christmas in June made the list.
Not that I’m one to complain – Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year, the sparkles, the presents, the games, the friends, and of course the FOOD! The original plan was to have a Christmas barbecue – turkey burgers, full-sized pigs-in-blankets (forever more known as hogs-in-duvets), and of course some great festive desserts. But, the great British summer being what it is, we looked out of the window and had a bit of a rethink, so a full Christmas roast dinner was had instead.
Dessert was going to be the same either way – a big, sticky, chocolatey, Christmas yule log.
The recipe follows exactly the same method as the swiss roll recipe I posted earlier in the year – more pictures can be found over there if you’re struggling!
And when I saw this Tala swiss roll tin on offer in Hobbycraft earlier in the week, well, it was just fate and I just needed to have it in my kitchen…
Recipe
4 medium eggs
125g caster sugar
30g cocoa powder
95g self raising flour
To ice:
150g butter
75g cocoa powder
225g icing sugar
Method
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light, pale, fluffy, and about double their original volume (this can take up to 10 minutes, even with an electric mixer)
- Sieve the cocoa powder and flour, and gently fold into the egg mixture
- Take a swiss roll tin (or ordinary baking tray with ridged sides), line, grease, and coat with a layer of sugar and flour
- Pour in the batter, and smooth out very carefully using a spatula, making sure to get into all the corners, and flatten out
- Bake in a hot oven (220 degrees) for 7-8 minutes, until the sponge is light springy to the touch
- Whilst the cake is baking, prepare another sheet of greaseproof paper, a little bigger than your tray. Lay it on a damp tea towel, and cover all over with a good sprinkling of caster sugar
- As soon as the cake is cooked, run a knife lightly round the edges, and flip out onto the sugared greaseproof paper
- Keeping the original sheet of greaseproof paper on top (the one it was baked with), quickly but carefully, start at one end and roll the whole tea towel, cake and paper stack up tightly.
- Tuck the end underneath so the roll is held tightly, and allow to cool
- Once cool, beat together the butter, cocoa and icing sugar to form a smooth buttercream
- Gently unroll the cake, and spread all over with around 1/3 of the buttercream. Re-roll, and place on a plate, ensuring the loose ‘end’ is at the bottom, so it doesn’t come undone
- If desired, cut off a small piece from the end of the log, and place by the side to form a branch
- Cover the whole cake in the remaining buttercream, and decorate!
I decorated my cake with some tree bark effects in the buttercream – simply using a cocktail stick to create lines and knots.
And t0 finish, a little robin:
… and some leaves and a Christmas sign!
One last finishing touch – a sprinkling of festive ‘snow’ – well with the summer we’re having it wouldn’t be a surprise! This snow was actually a mixture of icing sugar, and some white edible glitter.
One very festive dessert! It’s amazing just how easy it is to get into Christmas in June…
One epic Christmas roast dinner later, and a table full of hungry revellers, the cake was quite quickly devoured!
So here it is – Merry Christmas everyone!
