The “Buche de Noel” is a typical French dessert from the late 19th century. In France there exists a quarrel about the invention: some say it belongs to a Leones pastry chef, some say it belongs to a Parisian.
The dessert recalls the common tradition across all northern European countries of burning a log in the fireplace at home throughout the Christmas period. This would bring luck in the form of greater fertility of the land, greater wealth and success in farming.
Traditionally, this dessert is composed of a biscuit dough filled with jam and covered with chocolate, mimicking the appearance of bark.
I learned this version from the talented French pastry chef Stephane Betmon.

Christmas log with chocolate and black cherries

  • Preparation time: 60 minutes
  • Cake for 6-8 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficult recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the biscuit:
  • 180g or 6 oz of egg whites (roughly 5 egg whites)
  • 80 g or 1/3 cup of sugar
  • 140g or 5 oz of yolks (roughly 7 egg yolks)
  • 80 g or 1/3 cup sugar
  • 150 g or 1 cup of dark chocolate
  • For the chocolate ganache:
  • 250 g or 2 cups of dark chocolate
  • 250 g or 1 cup of heavy cream
  • Peel of 1 orange
  • Sour cherries in syrup to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. The night before, prepare the ganache as follows.
  3. Chop the chocolate. Boil the cream with the orange peel. After a few minutes, remove the orange peel and add the chopped chocolate to the cream.
  4. The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F.
  5. For the biscuit, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Let it cool down.
  6. In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks with the sugar. Separately in another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar.
  7. Combine the two egg compounds and then the warm melted chocolate, stirring gently with a spatula so as to not deflate the mixture.
  8. Spread the mixture into a 10×15-inch pan cm pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in an oven for about fifteen minutes.
  9. Remove the cake from the oven and, while still hot, roll it up in a cloth.
  10. Unroll the cake out of the cloth, when is at room temperature, and spread 1/3 of the ganache on the biscuit, placing the cherries in syrup on top. Close the biscuit and form the log. Cover it with the rest of the ganache. Using a fork. make twirls to make it look like a bark of wood.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The eggs must be at room temperature, meaning they should be removed from the refrigerator at least two hours beforehand.
  • If you love strong tastes, it’s better to use 70% dark chocolate. If you like a log with a sweeter taste, you can use a chocolate at 50-60%.
  • The cooking time is indicative because each oven cooks differently.
  • As soon as it’s out of the oven, the parchment paper should be removed. The trick is to roll the cake up with a clean kitchen towel or piece of parchment paper. Why? Otherwise the warm cake will be sticky and stick to itself. The biscuit should then be rolled up in a slightly damp cloth. This allows you to give it the desired shape without breaking it.