Christmas is here and Henrietta Balcon says its time to raid the freezer for homegrown raspberries – and the chicken coop for eggs – to make this festive treat.
Christmas comes but once a year, and while we often eat and drink far too much, we all have a wonderful time with our nearest and dearest, friends, family and pets.
Those of us doing the cooking panic shop at the supermarket and fill the fridge and deep freeze with far too much food.
What are our favourite things to eat at Christmas? Turkey, and the traditionally British roast goose or roast beef. But just as important are all the trimmings. Lots of them please.
BRING IN THE YULE LOG!
What about after the main course? Christmas pudding is a favourite for some but truly how many people really like it? You can always fry the leftovers on Boxing Day using the brandy butter. But this year why not also offer a Yule Log, also known as a Buche de Noel or Christmas Log, which is a favourite in our house. It can be made diary-free quite easily for those with allergies or preferences. If you are too full for pudding, this will keep until teatime or for another day of our festive season.
A clean sprig of bay leaf shows off they gorgeous colours of this cake
INGREDIENTS
The sponge:
- 6 free range eggs separated (lovely if they are from your own hens!)
- 150g golden castor sugar
- 250g dark cooking chocolate
- Oil for greasing
- Icing Sugar
Cream filling (dairy or dairy-free):
- 150g raspberries fresh or defrosted
- 400ml double cream/dairy-free double cream
- Brandy (optional)
Chocolate buttercream:
- 125g unsalted butter/dairy-free unsalted butter
- 225g golden castor sugar
- 25g cocoa powder
- Good quality dark chocolate
- 1tbsp milk/dairy-free milk
METHOD
- Heat your oven to 220C/200 fan/gas mark 7/Top right oven of the Aga
- Line a Swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and lightly oil the paper. You’ll need a tin 23cm x 33cm, ( 9 x 12 inches approx). In a mixer add the egg yolks and sugar and mix until they are pale in colour and have thickened up.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl with three or four tablespoons of water over a Bain Marie (a saucepan of simmering water)
- When melted, let the mixture cool for three minutes, then stir into the sugar and egg yolk mix.
- Now whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir a spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mix, then fold in the rest of the egg whites with a large metal spoon.
- Pour the mix into the tin and bake for 14 mins until risen and just firm. Leave it in the tin to cool.
- When cool, lay a sheet of baking parchment on a board, shake a bit of icing sugar onto it, just so it does not stick, and with one brave move, turn the cake out on to the paper, then remove the tin and the lining paper.
- When cool, spread the whipped cream over the cake and scatter with the berries and a little brandy if you want to use it.
- Now the tricky bit. Get your serving dish close by and take the long side of the baking paper and roll the cake into a sausage shape and place on the serving dish in one go. Now Breath!
Making the buttercream:
- Mix the butter, sugar and cocoa altogether and if a little thick, add a drop of milk.
- You can either leave your log as one long log or you can cut about four inches (10cms) off the end and place it on the side of the cake.
- Cover the whole thing in butter cream and use a fork to make the butter cream look rough like bark.
- Shake icing sugar gently over the top and decorate to your own personal tastes.
- Some people make marzipan mushrooms, others make a marzipan holly sprig but it’s yours to create what you like.
About Henrietta Balcon: Henrietta is an arable farmer’s wife from East Anglia, who is passionate about local food and eating seasonally. She was taught to cook by her mother, “who was a wonderful cook'”.
This article originally appeared in the December 2024 edition of The Country Smallholder. You can buy the issue here.
