Buche De Noel (British Baking Show

Buche De Noel (British Baking Show - Bake #2)

I have always wanted to make a Buche de Noel and this year I finally decided to jump in. It wasn't perfect but it looked pretty darn good and tasted great. And it was even gluten free so that everyone could enjoy it on Christmas Eve. Again, I did not find one recipe that fit the bill for what I was making so I used pieces of different recipes to make: A gluten free chocolate sponge, a french chocolate buttercream (so delicious) and meringue mushrooms as well as just regular whipped cream for the center.

The "ribbons"

Add the chocolate and in the oven. It is a very thin cake so make sure you watch the timing

Dust with cocoa powder and sugar to roll it up while it is still warm

Cool the cake completely while rolled up

Fille with cream and....

re-roll. This was tricky and the cake was sticky. I am not sure if that is related to the gluten free cake or if it is just tricky. Even if it looks messed up a bit, keep going as the french chocolate buttercream fixes everything.

Make meringue for the mushrooms. Don't skip the mushrooms - they really make the presentation of the cake.

Pipe mushrooms and stems and don't be perfect. Mushrooms in nature are not uniform and perfect and the more variations there are, the better they look. (Note: I did not end up using the light chocolate ones for decorating but they tasted good and I just add a bit of cocoa powder. )

Dust with cocoa powder - it gives the mushrooms a realistic look.

Voila - many hours and pans later...a Buche de Noel

It was worth it and I will make this again.

PS: I apparently forgot to photo the french chocolate buttercream as I must have been too busy sampling it. I also went the extra step and pasteurized the egg yolks for the buttercream by cooking to 140° F. The internet seemed inconclusive if putting hot syrup into yolks was sufficient to make it "safe" but just in case, I went ahead and did that and it only added a little extra time.

Comments

Don't Waffle about your favorite recipe (Down a Sourdough Rabbit Hole #3)

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Pate de Choux (British Baking Show - Bake #4)

I used the less fussy pate de choux recipe that I made growing up before I knew the correct french term for cream puff dough. I have made it the fussy way and the way I will describe below and I don't really notice much difference. Here is is: Put one stick of butter in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil; add 1 cup of flour and stir until combined; remove from heat and add 4 eggs one at time making sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. If you have never made these before, the dough gets slimy when you add the add and then you keep stirring and in a blink it incorporates into the dough. For this bake, I made chocolate eclairs with chocolate glaze and regular cream puffs with a cardamom cream filling. Pipe eclairs or puff onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment and cook until golden. Cook time depends on the size of the puff but make sure to not take them out too early so they are able to have the right crisp and not be doughty inside.

Your Guests Will Be Impressed (Sourdough Rabbit Hole Recipe #1)

I have made several sourdough recipes - breads, cakes, cookies, crepes, scones, waffles, biscuits, muffins, etc. There a millions of recipes out there for starter, unfed to ripe. I am not looking to retype a recipe for you and call it my own, but rather link you to ones that worked (and did not work) for me with some simple tips that I found helpful. I find it really annoying to have to scan pages of pictures in order to get to a recipe so I am adding a few photos here but not photo after photo. While some photos are helpful to see what dough looks like in a particular stage, I think you end up just getting a feel for it with the more recipes you try. My 1st suggestion four a sourdough starter recipe is a focaccia. It is not fussy to make and the finished product looks and tastes great. If we ever have dinner parties again, this is a good one to pull out and your guests will be impressed even though it is pretty easy to make. The photos below show the bubbly dough in the 1st ris

My Grandmother's Recipe Box

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