Bûche de Noël/Buche de Noel/Yule Log

[DianaM]

Thank you for the recipe link, Annie.

I tend to fill and frost with ganache if I make the rolled variety, but I want to try something a bit more interesting this year. Something like this:

http://www.foodbeam....laisirs-sucres/

I've recently been to a demo where the pastry chef made a buche filled with praline pastry cream and chocolate mousse. The biscuit was very thin, he even flapped it around to show us how flexible it needs to be. The theory is that the thin biscuit is there only to provide some textural contrast (bite) to an otherwise soft buche. He used a mould sprayed with chocolate, and the buche looked fabulous unmoulded. If you don't want to go the sprayed route, you can mould in a silicone pan, and just glaze with ultra-shiny chocolate glaze after unmolding.

Edited October 18, 2012 by DianaM (log)

[AnnieWilliams]

Thank you Diana! I'm almost positive you can use that biscuit recipe for some cake origami (cakigami?). It's very durable and flexible.

That is a great link you posted. I really love the way those look when cut. I don't have a buche mold so I just roll mine. Where do you find your molds?

It's good to know that the buche is supposed to be "mostly soft." I was thinking I had too much buttercream in the filling. It was Italian meringue so it wasn't the typical crunchy buttercream made with butter and confectioner's sugar.

Have you made French buttercream? In that previous buche thread that Heidi linked to, it looks like one of the posters was mixing praline paste in with French buttercream and she said she liked the way it tasted. I'm not sure how close in texture French buttercream is to pastry cream, I imagine pastry cream is a bit thicker, but I think the richness of the yolks would add a lot to the flavor.

I liked using the ganache to ice. I thought it was nice and rich and I loved the deep color. I don't think I would like using buttercream as much for the icing.

[DianaM]

Love the cakigami idea! I will definitely try that biscuit.

No, I haven't made French buttercream. But I'm biased, I am a huge pastry cream fan, so for me, it would be either a variation thereupon, or a ganache. Mixing buttercream with praline paste would likely taste very good, but maybe just a touch too rich? Just my 2 pence. Pastry cream can be lightened with whipped cream, and then stabilized with gelatin (this is called a creme chiboust). A bit lighter after a huge meal.

This is what I use at home: http://www.dr.ca/small-u-log-9.html

You line it with cling wrap, then with the biscuit, and you go from there building upwards in the mould.

If I were rich and/or planning to make logs for many people and/or working as a baker/patissier, probably I would use this silicone mould:

http://www.dr.ca/christmas-logs-silicone-mould.html

Whatever you decide to do, please let us know, and maybe post some pics too in the Daily Sweets thread.

[AnnieWilliams]

I definitely agree with you about the richness factor. I actually saw several recipes where a mousseline was made by whipping butter into pastry cream. I guess I can always do some experimenting to see which tastes better.

Wow that one mold is neat! That is for some serious buche making. Thanks so much for posting the links to the molds. I am definitely going to look into those, as they seem to be more interesting than anything homely I could make.

[jmacnaughtan]

Thank you Diana! I'm almost positive you can use that biscuit recipe for some cake origami (cakigami?). It's very durable and flexible.

That is a great link you posted. I really love the way those look when cut. I don't have a buche mold so I just roll mine. Where do you find your molds?

It's good to know that the buche is supposed to be "mostly soft." I was thinking I had too much buttercream in the filling. It was Italian meringue so it wasn't the typical crunchy buttercream made with butter and confectioner's sugar.

Have you made French buttercream? In that previous buche thread that Heidi linked to, it looks like one of the posters was mixing praline paste in with French buttercream and she said she liked the way it tasted. I'm not sure how close in texture French buttercream is to pastry cream, I imagine pastry cream is a bit thicker, but I think the richness of the yolks would add a lot to the flavor.

I liked using the ganache to ice. I thought it was nice and rich and I loved the deep color. I don't think I would like using buttercream as much for the icing.

French buttercream is completely different from pastry cream- it's exactly like your italian meringue buttercream, but using whole eggs or yolks. Pastry cream is a custard cooked out with starch, and it doesn't hold or freeze well at all (though mousseline is more stable, I think the butter stabilizes it). Both are pretty rich and heavy, but for me it's a lot more enjoyable to eat a mouthful of pastry cream than buttercream.

Over here, most bûches aren't rolled at all though, so any cake base and mousse filling goes.

James

[AnnieWilliams]

Thank you James for your reply. I had a feeling that the French buttercream was the same, I was just thinking that it would have the same richness as the pastry cream and maybe more flavor from the yolks. I agree about eating pastry cream over buttercream, but then there are those strange people who hate pastry cream. My initial idea was to go with a pastry cream or mousseline, so thanks for that vote.

I do work full time and ideally I would like to freeze as much as possible (only for a week or so) so I would have to work some things out logistically if I decided to make the pastry cream. Really I don't even know how many buches I'm going to make yet, so it could be very doable.

Thanks again for your help, James!

[jmacnaughtan]

Thank you James for your reply. I had a feeling that the French buttercream was the same, I was just thinking that it would have the same richness as the pastry cream and maybe more flavor from the yolks. I agree about eating pastry cream over buttercream, but then there are those strange people who hate pastry cream. My initial idea was to go with a pastry cream or mousseline, so thanks for that vote.

I do work full time and ideally I would like to freeze as much as possible (only for a week or so) so I would have to work some things out logistically if I decided to make the pastry cream. Really I don't even know how many buches I'm going to make yet, so it could be very doable.

Thanks again for your help, James!

No problem. Honestly, the easiest ones to make in advance are mousse based- most pâtisseries around here start making them in September/October. You just need to wrap it well. You get a more modern look, but they're less rich and heavy.

If you're doing a lot of rolled buttercream bûches though and you have the workspace, make them as one long line, finish the buttercream coating and then cut each to whichever size you want. It's pretty spectacular- last Christmas the team put 5 tables together and did a couple of 25-footers.

[AnnieWilliams]

Wow that's impressive! I would love to see how everyone works on such a large project. I envision total mayhem but then again to get so much accomplished there is probably some semblance of organization!

Thanks again for the tips!

[TeakettleSlim]

Made a buche de Noel this year-- only my aecond time, and I encountered a problem I don't remember from last time I made it. Perhaps it was my filling (orange white chocolate cream cheese frosting)-- too soft? But I got that sucker rolled up and then had a bit of a crisis trying to get it in rolled-up form from parchment to serving tray where I was going to finish decorating it. I tried to slide it-- no go. then tried to roll it on over-- no. It sort of unrolled, filling came squishing out, and the roll transformed into a sort of inelegant fold. I managed to pull it all together, it ended up looking more like a half-decomposed log covered in snow. But it was reasonably delicious so no one minded. But for next time-- how do you get it transferred from one surface to another? Was it just my icing that messed me up?

[AnnieWilliams]

Bummer! I am sorry that happened to you. I think it was definitely the filling. I made four over the weekend and I used a French buttercream to fill. For one, I did a vanilla bean rum version, and I ended up putting too much rum in (oops) so it was a little softer than I would have liked. Anyway, the best thing I have found is to fill it, then refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes to let things firm up again. Your white chocolate cream cheese icing should have firmed up in the fridge with no problem. Then it's really easy to move it and ice it. It sounds delicious though!

[patrickamory]

My mom and my brother collaborated on the bûche de Noël this year. I have to say they did a fantastic job:

(There was also a chocolate hazelnut pie that was to die for - chocolate crust. I'm not even a dessert person.)

[AnnieWilliams]

That looks wonderful!

[CookBot]

Is anybody making a Bûche de Noël for the holidays this year, 2022?  I'd love to hear about any plans you have.

 

(I wasn't sure whether the protocol would be to resurrect this ten-year-old thread or start a new one.)

 

I'm making my cake roll this weekend (dacquoise) and the coffee flavored French buttercream filling, so that I can just assemble later this week.  Pretty much like this one I made last year:

 

 

...except rather than just the ganache frosting, I think I'll create shards of chocolate "bark" for the final covering.

 

I went a little overboard with the meringue mushrooms last year, because I was so pleased to finally get them looking appropriately brownish (just dust with a pastry brush and a little cocoa).

 

Anyone else going the buche route for Christmas sweets?

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by CookBot (log)

[RWood]

On 12/17/2022 at 12:18 AM, CookBot said:

Is anybody making a Bûche de Noël for the holidays this year, 2022?  I'd love to hear about any plans you have.

 

(I wasn't sure whether the protocol would be to resurrect this ten-year-old thread or start a new one.)

 

I'm making my cake roll this weekend (dacquoise) and the coffee flavored French buttercream filling, so that I can just assemble later this week.  Pretty much like this one I made last year:

 

 

...except rather than just the ganache frosting, I think I'll create shards of chocolate "bark" for the final covering.

 

I went a little overboard with the meringue mushrooms last year, because I was so pleased to finally get them looking appropriately brownish (just dust with a pastry brush and a little cocoa).

 

Anyone else going the buche route for Christmas sweets?

 

 

I’m gonna try. I haven’t made one for a few years. I usually make a hazelnut orange sponge and fill with chocolate mousse. But I have made a couple of big batches of buttercream ahead of time, so may just go with what’s already done. 
I have a modern mold for it, so I’m not sure if I’ll use that or go more traditional. 

[CookBot]

52 minutes ago, RWood said:

I’m gonna try. I haven’t made one for a few years. I usually make a hazelnut orange sponge and fill with chocolate mousse. But I have made a couple of big batches of buttercream ahead of time, so may just go with what’s already done. 
I have a modern mold for it, so I’m not sure if I’ll use that or go more traditional. 

 

Good for you!  I was beginning to think they were passé and that I was alone in my efforts.  I made my sponge layer yesterday, and making the coffee buttercream today.  Then I can just do mushrooms and assembly in one day later this week.

 

@Anna N mentioned in another thread that she thought people were mostly buying them nowadays, and I suspect she has a point.  They are a royal pain in the arse to make.

 

The combination of orange/chocolate/hazelnut sounds divine to me.  I've never made one using a mold.  Do you prefer that method?  What kind of mold do you use?

 

[RWood]

1 hour ago, CookBot said:

 

Good for you!  I was beginning to think they were passé and that I was alone in my efforts.  I made my sponge layer yesterday, and making the coffee buttercream today.  Then I can just do mushrooms and assembly in one day later this week.

 

@Anna N mentioned in another thread that she thought people were mostly buying them nowadays, and I suspect she has a point.  They are a royal pain in the arse to make.

 

The combination of orange/chocolate/hazelnut sounds divine to me.  I've never made one using a mold.  Do you prefer that method?  What kind of mold do you use?

 

I think a lot of them are made more like an entremet these days, not the traditional log. I have a silicone mold that is like a rectangle, but a rounded on the top. And I have an insert that looks like a bark imprint. It’s for the entremet style, with a mousse or cremeux insert, a cake layer, whatever. So, I was thinking of trying it instead of a jelly roll style. Haven’t used it yet, so we’ll see. 

[CookBot]

3 hours ago, RWood said:

And I have an insert that looks like a bark imprint.

 

So your cake roll would be embossed with a bark imprint?  Like those elaborate Bundt pans that NordicWare makes?

 

Come to think of it, I'm surprised NordicWare hasn't come up with buche-style pan.  God knows they've made every other shape imaginable, from Roman coliseums to animal forms.

 

Edit:  OMG, I just looked at your website link.  You're an actual pro!  Now I'm embarrassed to even show my  buche.      😒   

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by CookBot
typos! (log)

[RWood]

7 hours ago, CookBot said:

 

So your cake roll would be embossed with a bark imprint?  Like those elaborate Bundt pans that NordicWare makes?

 

Come to think of it, I'm surprised NordicWare hasn't come up with buche-style pan.  God knows they've made every other shape imaginable, from Roman coliseums to animal forms.

 

Edit:  OMG, I just looked at your website link.  You're an actual pro!  Now I'm embarrassed to even show my  buche.      😒   

 

 

Your cake looks nice, don’t be embarrassed.

 Actually, I found there is a yule log pan by Nordic Ware. 
And then the silicone pan I have is similar to the other photo.

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by RWood (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Like forest detritus, I prefer the more organic looks of a simple rolled cake.    I don't want my creation to look like I bought it but rather than I put love and effort into it.

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Like forest detritus, I prefer the more organic looks of a simple rolled cake.    I don't want my creation to look like I bought it but rather than I put love and effort into it.

And like those mushrooms just popped up from the damp forest floor -randomly

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Like forest detritus, I prefer the more organic looks of a simple rolled cake.    I don't want my creation to look like I bought it but rather than I put love and effort into it.

I suspect that those of us with a Yule log tradition in our background, have one particular one in mind and all others simply fail to measure up. I am sure the one that lives in my imagination was purchased. Nobody I can think of in my family would’ve had the time or the talent to make it from scratch. Furthermore, I suspect the same model was purchased year after year. It was always a rolled chocolate sponge with a white filling. It was iced, with some sort of chocolate concoction made to look like bark and there was always that one thick branch. There would be some icing to represent snow. There would be at the very least a sprig of artificial holly and before it got lost,  a tiny red-breasted English robin.  No more than three mushrooms accompanied it. It always lay on a sparkly “snow covered” forest floor. 

[CookBot]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

It always lay on a sparkly “snow covered” forest floor. 

 

Do you have a clear recollection of its taste, Anna?

[Anna N]

6 hours ago, CookBot said:

 

Do you have a clear recollection of its taste, Anna?

I don’t think it tasted any different than a chocolate Swiss roll covered in lots of chocolate icing.  I think its appearance rather than its taste accounted for the attraction.