Yule log: history and original recipe

Il Christmas log it is a sweet symbol of the holiday season. It is made with a biscuit dough rolled up and filled with hazelnut cream. It recalls a millenary tradition of northern countries and the original log of wood has been transformed into an excellent dessert by French pastry chefs.

How the Yule Log was born

The origins of the Yule log go back more than a millennium ago with the tradition of Yule log, widespread throughout Europe, particularly in the countries of central, northern and eastern Europe. On Christmas evening we gathered around the fireplace and burned a large log of wood, a symbol of good luck for the arrival of the new year.

The tradition of the yule log has been turned into a dolce in recent times, more precisely in the [1945 dai french who invented the famous Christmas log. The lucky log then became a roll of biscuit dough, filled with jam and covered with a chocolate glaze that simulates the bark.

The term “bûche” in French means just a sprig or wooden stump, the one that according to tradition the head of the family would have blessed for the Christmas vigil. For this reason it was given this name to Christmas log.

Initially the Yule log was decorated with some figurine plastificate which depicted the typical Christmas decorations, then over time the pastry chefs of Paris transformed it into what it is today.

Yule log: original recipe

To prepare the Yule log we start from pasta biscuit: you have to separate the yolks from the whites, beat the yolks with the sugar until you get a frothy mixture. At that point, flour and starch are added while mixing, then the egg whites are whipped and incorporated into the mixture to mix until a soft and smooth dough is obtained.

Once the dough is ready, you need to line a pan, pour the mixture and obtain a rectangle as large as the pan. After leveling the surface, you need to cook a 180 °C for about 10 minwhen cooked, let it cool out of the oven and turn the biscuit dough upside down on another sheet of parchment paper, then removing the sheet used for cooking.

Once the biscuit dough is ready, roll it up with the help of the sheet of parchment paper, starting from the long side and after half an hour unroll the biscuit dough gently and stuff it with Nutella. Once the trunk has been closed and the two ends have been cut diagonally, the two slices cut on the sides are positioned to simulate the branches.

At this point you can proceed with the ganache for the cover by heating the cream. The dark chocolate must be broken into pieces so as to pour the hot cream over it and mix until it has melted. Once cooled, the ganache is poured over the log.

To simulate wood grain, that’s enough scratch the surface of the log with a fork. Before consuming it, it is advisable to leave the log to cool in the fridge for at least one night.

The secrets for an excellent Christmas Log

The cookie dough of which the Yule log is made must be soft to the point of roll up without breaking. To prevent it from falling apart, you have to beat the eggs well with the help of a whisk, so as to obtain a very airy mixture, which will rise during cooking despite the absence of yeast.

The mixture should be spread evenly in the pan and the thickness of the mixture obtained should be approximately 1 cm. However, the baking paper could move preventing you from leveling the log precisely, for this reason a trick can be to position it after having greased the corners of the pan with a little burro.

The baking of the Yule log may require different times depending on the oven and how much has been preheated before; therefore, one must not lose sight of the sweet: it just becomes golden on the surface it must be removed from the oven, otherwise it could harden too much once it has cooled.

The variants of the Christmas log

The Christmas log is a delicious dessert that offers the possibility of customization of all kinds. One of the tastiest variants is the Christmas Tronchetto with coffee, a dessert that combines the taste of chocolate with the charge of coffee.

If you can’t resist the taste of biscotti he was born in chocolatea dessert with a taste similar to the log is the chocolate biscuit, a very particular dessert made with biscuit dough and chocolate mousse.