This Christmas make a traditional yule log cake (Bûche de Noël). A chocolate sponge cake is filled with creamy mascarpone, then covered with chocolate ganache for the bark.
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Chocolate Yule Log Cake (Bûche de Noël)
A Yule log cake is a traditional Christmas dessert that you’ll love as part of your Christmas dinner menu because it’s festive, impressive, and doubles as a table centerpiece!
This cake does take patience, however, if you can make a pumpkin roll, you can make a yule log, or buche de noel, as the French call it.
Why I Love This Recipe
- It’s a fun way to represent a real-life Yule log that is burned during Yule. Except you can eat this one :)
- A moist, tender cake with a creamy sweet filling and a rich chocolate ganache in every bite is worth the time it takes to make.
Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Baking staples: Large room temperature eggs, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla (also need some for the filling), baking powder, and salt.
- Cake flour: Spoon and level to ensure you’re not adding too much flour. Cake flour is lower in protein than all-purpose flour, so it results in a more tender texture in the cake.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Use natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Reserve some for dusting the cake and the filling.
- For the filling: Along with cocoa powder and vanilla, you’ll need mascarpone, which is a soft, spreadable cheese, and heavy whipping cream (keep it cold right up until you whip it).
- Ganache topping: Heavy cream and a good quality semisweet chocolate. Ghirardelli is the kind I use.
Substitutions and Variations
- Fill your cake roll with a different type of filling for a variation in flavor!
- Try a chocolate or hazelnut whipped cream filling, a cream cheese filling, or a buttercream frosting filling instead.
- You can also play around with the garnish. Keep it simple with just chocolate garnish, or add a dusting of powdered sugar or chocolate shavings.
- You could also add little meringue mushrooms around the Yule log cake.
How to Make a Yule Log Cake
Beat the egg whites and sugar in a medium bowl using an electric mixer on high until the egg whites have reached stiff peaks. Set them aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla until the mixture is light and it is light and airy. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined.
- Beat the egg whites and sugar in a medium bowl using an electric mixer on high until the egg whites have reached stiff peaks. Set them aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla until the mixture is light and it is light and airy. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined.
- Fold in the egg whites until fully incorporated.
- Then, spread the cake batter evenly into a prepared 12×17-inch rimmed baking pan and bake for 18 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven.
Decorating a Yule Log Cake
- Immediately out of the oven, turn the cake out onto a clean kitchen towel dusted with cocoa powder.
- Peel off the layer of parchment paper and gently roll the cake. Cool completely.
- Gently unroll the cake and spread the prepared mascarpone filling across the top. Leave about a 1/2-inch border so the filling has room to spread as it gets rolled back up slowly.
- Make a diagonal cut to take about 4 inches off of one end to be used as a branch. Set the logs on a serving platter, seam side down.
- Gently unroll the cake and spread the prepared mascarpone filling across the top. Leave about a 1/2-inch border so the filling has room to spread as it gets rolled back up slowly. Make a diagonal cut to take about 4 inches off of one end to be used as a branch.
- Set the logs on a serving platter, seam side down.
- Make the smooth chocolate ganache and chill it in the fridge until it thickens and cools. Then, slowly pour and spread it over the cooled cake, leaving the ends exposed.
- Use a fork to create lines to look like tree bark. Garnish your holiday Yule log dessert with sugared cranberries and rosemary if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- When separating the egg yolks from the egg whites, make sure there are no traces of the yolk in the whites; otherwise, they won’t stiffen properly.
- Chill the bowl and the beaters before beating the cold heavy cream. It’ll help stiffen up the whites faster.
- Make sure to spray your pan with nonstick spray, line it with parchment paper, and spray it again. The idea is to be able to take the entire cake out at once without breaking any pieces.
- Roll the cake up while it’s warm and pliable, but unroll it only once it has cooled. This way, it’ll still have a slight curve to it, making it easier to roll back up without cracking.
- Small cracks in the surface of your cake are ok! You can hide them with filling or ganache.
More Christmas desserts to make include gingerbread man cookies, a Christmas dessert board and Christmas Oreo balls.
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Yule Log Cake (Bûche de Noël)
This Christmas make a traditional yule log cake (bûche de noël). A chocolate sponge cake is filled with creamy mascarpone, then covered with chocolate ganache for the bark.
Video
Ingredients
Cake:
- 6 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar , divided
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup cake flour , spooned and leveled
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder , plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 4 ounces marscapone
- 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream , cold and divided
- ½ cup confectioners sugar , divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Ganache Topping:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces good semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
Optional: Cranberries and rosemary for decorating (See notes for sugared cranberries and rosemary)
Instructions
Cake:
- Prepare: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12×17 inch rimmed baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and then spray the top of the parchment paper as well.
- Separate the eggs: Separate the 6 eggs, putting the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the egg whites into a medium bowl. Set the large bowl with the egg yolks aside.
- Beat egg whites and sugar: To the egg whites, add ½ cup of sugar and beat with a hand-held mixer on high for 4-5 minutes, until stiff. Set aside.
- Make cake batter: To the egg yolks, add the remaining ½ cup sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Beat until the mixture is light in color and the volume has increased. Sift in the 1 cup cake flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until just combined, being carefully to not overmix.
- Fold in the egg whites: Add the egg whites to the batter by gently folding them in until fully incorporated.
- Spread into pan: Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 18 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pushed with your finger.
- Invert cake and roll: While the cake is baking, lay out a clean tea towel on your countertop and dust it generously with cocoa powder. After the cake is removed from the oven, invert it immediately onto the tea towel. Peel off the parchment paper and dust the top lightly with additional cocoa powder. Begin rolling the cake from one narrow side to the other. The trick is to roll slowly so that the warm cake does not break. Allow the cake to fully cool in the rolled position, about an hour.
Filling:
- Beat mascarpone mixture: In a small mixing bowl beat together the 4 ounces mascarpone, ¼ cup cold heavy whipping cream, and ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Set aside.
- Beat chocolate mixture: In a medium mixing bowl add the remaining 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream, ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder. Beat together on high until it holds peaks.
- Fold the two mixtures together: Fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream mixture and refrigerate until ready to use.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Microwave the cream: Place 1 cup heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1-2 minutes, or until simmering.
- Add chocolate: Add 8 ounces chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth.
- Cool the chocolate: Place the ganache in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes until it cools and slightly thickens.
Assemble the cake:
- Unroll the cake and fill: Gently unroll the cake and spread the filling across the top, leaving about a ½ inch border because the filling will spread out further as it is rerolled.
- Reroll the cake: Slowly reroll the cake with the filling inside.
- Slice off one end: Carefully place the log onto a cutting board and cut a 4 inch section off of one end, making the cut at a diagonal.
- Transfer to platter: On a serving platter, add the large log and then place the diagonally cut section to the side of it, creating a branch.
- Pour ganache on top: Slowly pour and spread the thickened ganache over the top of the cake, leaving the ends exposed. Use a fork to create lines resembling tree bark
- Decorate: Decorate with sugared cranberries and rosemary before serving, if you choose.
Notes
Notes:
Don’t let a small crack in the cake as you roll discourage you. You can easily hide any cracks with the filling and/or ganache.
Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary:
1 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and dried
4-5 rosemary sprigs
½ cup water
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary:
- In a medium saucepan, combine ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer on low for 3-4 minutes, until it slightly thickens.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding the cranberries and rosemary sprigs. Stir to coat, then using a slotted spoon remove to parchment paper. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar to a shallow dish and roll the coated cranberries and rosemary in the sugar.
Nutrition
Calories: 506kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 143mg | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 269mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 917IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
How long will this cake stay fresh?
When kept in an airtight container in the fridge, leftovers can be enjoyed for up to 3 days.
Can I make the cake in advance?
To get a head start on the process, you can make the cake, roll it up, and keep it in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, you can fill the cake and keep the filled roll refrigerated for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
How to make sugared cranberries and rosemary?
Bring water and sugar to a boil and let simmer until slightly thickened. Let it cool before adding the cranberries and rosemary sprigs. Stir to coat and use a slotted spoon to remove them from the sugar mixture to a piece of parchment paper and let them sit for 15 minutes before rolling them in granulated sugar.
Categorized as: American, Cake + Cupcakes, Christmas, Desserts
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Beautiful and festive! The ganache on top makes it so elegant. – Alisha, recipe tester
So glad you enjoyed it!