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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.   
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