Culinary Art: Christmas Log

Recette de Christmas
Making the traditional Yule log yourself is easily accessible to everyone, and far from being as complicated as you might think. The recipe below will take you about an hour and a half, but it's worth it. You'll wow your guests with this essential Christmas Eve dessert, the Yule log. Those who have tried it say it's the best Yule log they've ever eaten in their lives. Your guests will be asking for more.

Cake ingredients:

100 grams of sugar
100 grams of flour
5 eggs
1 sachet of vanilla sugar (If you don't have a sachet of vanilla sugar, you can substitute it by mixing 30 grams of sugar with 5 ml of vanilla).

Icing Ingredients:

20 sugar cubes
125 ml of water
3 egg yolks
250 grams of unsalted butter
100 grams of dark chocolate
2 ml of boiled coffee

Preparation of the cake:

Beat the 4 egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla sugar until creamy.
Add a whole egg and work for a few minutes using a spatula.
Gradually add the flour to the mixture.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and add to the flour mixture.
Place lightly buttered parchment paper (or wax paper) on a rectangular baking sheet and spread the dough evenly.
Preheat the oven and cook at 200°C (Gas Mark 3) for 10 minutes.
Remove the cake and let it cool without removing the paper, then cover it with a damp cloth.

Preparation of the icing:

Melt the sugar in the water over low heat until you get a thick syrup.
Slowly pour this hot syrup over the egg yolks, stirring constantly with a whisk until completely cooled.
Add the softened butter and mix to obtain a smooth cream.
Divide the mixture in two. Flavor one half with coffee, the other with chocolate melted in a little water.

Finishing the log:

Remove the wax paper from the cake.
Spread with coffee cream and roll everything up lengthwise.
Even out the ends, which will be used to make the knots.
Cover with chocolate cream, and add the knots on top of the log.
Decorate as you wish.