Yule Log

I’m a sucker for tradition. I’ll admit it. When I see images of “classic” Christmas, I always think, “Why don’t I make that?!” So I did. This is a yule log, also called a buche de noel.
Essentially it’s a chocolate cake with a chocolate filling and coated in chocolate ganache. Dentist, anyone?
Some recipes include meringue mushrooms, marzipan animals and fruits, etc. I decided to go my own route. I liked the meringue mushrooms. (Those are made as two pieces: stem and cap.) But I also wanted a very “Christmas” iconic item: holly leaves.
Since the cake was so rich and chocolaty, I wanted a simple sugar cookie to balance the flavor. I found a yummy, albeit time consuming, cookie recipe. I added several turns of lemon zest to the dough. The lemon flavor helped cut through the rich chocolate of the cake.
It makes an impressive addition to any holiday party or social function. You have to commit some time to making and assembling all of the parts, but the taste is possibly even better than the appearance.