Continuing with the seasonal Cakes & Bakes recipes, this week I made a Christmas Yule log. It’s the perfect sweet course alternative for people that don’t like dried fruit-filled Christmas pudding, Christmas cake or mince pies.
This cake is basically a chocolate Swiss roll with chocolate filling and chocolate icing on the outside. Apparently, a Yule log can trace its history back to the time of the Druids. It was later taken up by Christians: “As the fire grew brighter and burned hotter, and as the log turned into ashes, it symbolized Christ’s final and ultimate triumph over sin.”
I still don’t have a proper Swiss roll tin, so I used a rectangular, loose-bottomed tart tin. So that the sponge didn’t turn out too thin and biscuity, I didn’t allow the batter to spread all the way into the corners.
The trickiest part of the process was rolling up the still warm sponge with a clean, damp tea towel. It helps stop the sponge from cracking when rolling it up after filling. Don’t worry if it does though – it will be getting covered up with buttercream… which can hide a multitude of mistakes!
Serve it sliced with whipped or brandy cream. Save the recipe to Pinterest here.
- 3 eggs
- 75g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 50g plain flour
- 50g butter, softened
- 75g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa
- 75g butter, softened
- 75g icing sugar
- 75g dark chocolate
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, 180°C (fan), 400°F, Gas mark 6
- Line a 23x32cm/9x13" Swiss roll tin with parchment
- Separate the eggs into two bowls and beat the whites until stiff
- Add the sugar to the yolks and beat until thickened
- Sieve the cocoa powder over the yolks and beat again
- Gently fold the egg whites into the yolks with a metal spoon, using a cutting and turning action
- Sieve the flour into the bowl and gently combine by cutting and folding with the spoon
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it out to the edges
- Bake for 10-12 minutes
- Slightly dampen a clean tea towel
- Slide the hot cake, still on its parchment, onto the tea towel
- Roll up the sponge, on the parchment, in the tea towel and leave to cool
- Put the filling butter into a bowl and beat it until it is light and fluffy
- Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa powder into the bowl and beat until combined and soft
- Gently unroll the cold sponge and loosen it from the parchment paper
- Spread the filling evenly over the inside of the sponge
- Roll up the filled sponge
- Put the topping butter into a bowl and beat it until it is light and fluffy
- Sieve the icing sugar into the bowl and beat until combined
- Gently melt the chocolate and mix this into the bowl
- Spread the topping over the rolled up sponge
- Drag a fork or skewer through the icing to create a log texture effect
Cakes & Bakes: Trinidad black cake
Last week, I began preparing food for Christmas Day. A bit too early, you say? No way, Trinidad black cake needs to be started now!
Along with pastelles and sorrel, black cake is a Christmas Day staple in Trinidad. The mixed dried fruit in for the cake needs to be soaked in alcohol for at least two days. Some people think it needs to be a month-long process.
I made a few tweaks to the recipe in my Naparima Girls cookbook. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t like mixed peel. Added to that, my local supermarket was out of glacé cherries. I simply upped the quantity of raisins, currants and sultanas. Some of the other Trinidad black cake recipes I found online pureé the soaked fruit & nuts, but I like the look of them whole.
If you plan on making two cakes like I have, ensure you have a HUGE mixing bowl so you can distribute the fruit evenly throughout. Notice in my image below, one of the cakes has visibly more fruit than the the other – the large bowl I used just wasn’t big enough. Also, I should have doubled the quantity of browning that I made, it’s called ‘black’ cake for a reason!
Once baked, the cake needs to be ‘fed’ with a rum and brandy mixture. Again, depending on personal preference, this process can take anywhere from an hour to a number of days.
Now do you see why Trinidad black cake preparations may need at least a month?
Trinidad black cake
Ingredients
- 225 g/8oz prunes pitted and chopped
- 225 g/8oz raisins
- 225 g/8oz currants
- 225 g/8oz sultanas
- 160 g/5⅔oz mixed peel
- 115 g/4oz glacé cherries halved
- 60 g/2oz chopped almonds
- 175 ml/6fl oz dark rum
- 240 ml/8½fl oz cherry brandy
- 225 g/8oz soft brown sugar
- 225 g/8oz butter
- 5 eggs
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 225 g/8oz plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 50 ml/1¾ fl oz browning
- 120 ml/4fl oz ½ & ½ dark rum & cherry brandy mixture to finish
Instructions
- In large mixing bowl, combine all the dried fruit, chopped almonds, rum and cherry brandy
- Cover and allow to soak for at least 2 days, stirring occasionally so that all the fruit comes into contact with the liquid
- Preheat the oven to 120ºC/250ºF/Gas mark ½
- Grease a pair of 23cm/9" cake tins and line the bottom and sides of each with parchment paper
- In an extra-large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar
- In a measuring jug, whisk the eggs and pour into the butter/sugar mixture in three batches, stirring well between each addition
- Mix in the lime zest and vanilla extract
- Stir in the browning until the colour is evenly distributed
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon
- Fold the flour mixture into the batter
- Add the well-soaked fruit & nut mixture and stir through the batter until well distributed
- Divide the mixture equally between the two prepared cake tins
- Bake for an hour before reducing the oven temperature to 105ºC/225ºF/Gas mark ¼ and cooking for a further 1½ hours or until a skewer inserted into the middle of each cake comes away clean
- Transfer the cakes, still in their tins, to wire racks
- While still warm, prick the top of each cake with a skewer and pour over a little of the rum/cherry brandy mixture every few minutes until cakes can no longer absorb the liquid
- When they've completely cooled, invert the cakes onto plates
- The cakes are ready to slice & serve, however, they'll improve if they're set aside for at least a few days
- Wrap each in cling film and store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a month... or Christmas Day!
Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest
Wednesday Wish: Village cake tin
Village cake tin: £40.00, Culture Vulture
Christmas isn’t far around the corner – less than 3 months away. I came across this village cake tin on the Culture Vulture website and thought that it would be perfect for making special festive cupcakes. Something like the lovely ginger cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook… with white glitter icing dribbled down the roofs to look like snow! Mmmm… I can taste them now!
If I’ve whetted your appetite, here’s the recipe! (Makes 12)
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter at room temp
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
120ml whole milk
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla essence
200g stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/325°F
- Lightly grease the cake tin with butter or vegetable oil
- Combine the dry ingredients and butter into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk (or free-standing mixer) on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined
- Slowly pour half the milk into the mixture, beating until all the ingredients are well mixed. Beat the egg, vanilla essence and rest of the milk together and add to the batter
- Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side with a spatula and mix until everything is well combined
- Add the chopped ginger to the batter and stir through
- Spoon the mixture into the paper moulds until ⅔ full and bake for 20 minutes
- While the cakes are cooking, add an equal amount of water to the ginger syrup, then boil down to half quantity. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, turn out of the moulds and spoon some of the ginger syrup on top of the still hot cupcakes (you could pierce the cupcakes a few times with a toothpick to aid absorption!)