I’m late. Time does get away from you during this Holiday season rush. I can’t believe its Christmas Eve already. Was it not too long ago that it was the first of December? I’ve lost my perception of time and mailed the last Christmas packages this Saturday. There were still some long lines at the post office so I was glad I was not alone in my tardiness.
This month’s challenge was one I have wanted to try for the longest time: Buche de Noel. First time I have seen this made was in one of Julia Child’s French Chef DVDs.
Part of the recipe we used was from Nick Malgieri who I had the opportunity to watch in action 2 years ago at a Sur la Table Chocolate class. He was the consummate teacher and was a hoot to watch. In fact he demoed a Praline roll and taught us how to handle and roll it. Wish I took notes…that time he made it look so easy which was not the case when I made mine.
First, I was not sure what side I was supposed to put my pastry cream filling on – and the printout of the instructions mysteriously disappeared. So I picked one side, rolled it using parchment paper and was horrified to see my log crack on both sides. Okaay! Guess I need that buttercream to cover this snafu.
I finally found my instructions and it said to refrigerate the cake for several hours. I already made my coffee buttercream which was so damn tasty – even the hubby who never liked this type of icing thought it was delicious. I had him brew me a concentrated espresso which I mixed with Jamaican rum and that combination gave the buttercream a true coffee taste – almost like espresso ice cream. Since I was afraid that the buttercream was going to melt while I waited for the roll to be ready, I refrigerated it and figured I would just beat it up if it gets too hard.
Well time came to use it. I let it warm up a little and beat it with the Kitchen Aid. I couldn’t believe my eyes as the buttercream curdled and the espresso-rum puddled in the bottom of the bowl.
WTF?!
Frustration was etched on my face as I stomped off to the refrigerator to check if I had any butter left to make the buttercream again. The “Hungry” Hubby said maybe it was too cold and needed to warm up as he surveyed the ugly mess in the mixer bowl. Hmm… he might be on to something. As hopeless as my mixture looked I do recall that when I made Sherry Yard’s Swiss buttercream sometime ago she mentioned that if it curdled to just continue whisking it and it would eventually smoothen out. She used the whisk attachment of the KA in her recipe though, so I decided to use that to see if I could rescue my frosting.
With nothing to lose, I gave it a try. At first it looked like the buttercream was a lost cause spinning around with the puddle of espresso-rum slapping against the bowl. After about 10 minutes, I saw the buttercream begin to come together and in like 15 minutes it was back to form although a bit greasier than its original incarnation. Yipee! We were back in business! What would I do without the HH in his infinite wisdom?
I had the most fun making the meringue mushrooms. It definitely is better to attach the caps to the stems as soon as possible. I left some of them to attach after dinner and the caps cracked too easily – I lost a lot of those sugar fungi.
And of course I had to decorate my Yule log with some Christmas macarons – it would never be complete without my new found obsession!
Thank you Lis and Ivonne for choosing this wonderful challenge! And to Helen who is the pastry guru of the group, you did an amazing job keeping everyone sane by providing such timely answers to our baking questions.
And most of all have a Merry Christmas everyone and feast your eyes on more Yule Logs here.
Simply fantastic! I love those green and red macaroons. For your first YUle log you did an awesome job!
Glad everything worked out in the end for you. The log looks great and I love the colorful cookies you added.
Beautiful! Love the macaroons Great job!!
Wonderful job!! And I'm so glad to hear that the buttercream came together. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
OMG! those lovely christmas macaroons mushrooming on your lyule log are so gorgeous!
Happy New Year babe, 2008 will be great year to forward to.
Simply gorgeous, Sis! I love the lil Xmas macarons on top too! =)
I'm glad the HH was there to save the day concerning the buttercream.. PHEW!
I hope you had the Merriest of Christmases!
Love you!
xoxo
A gorgeous Yule Log worth waiting for! I love your use of Christmas macaroons too… beautiful and very festive
Happy, happy holidays Veron! What a lovely yule log you've got there…and all fancy with macarons to boot!
Glad you whipped that buttercream into shape…although I had no doubt that you could 
Congrats on your completing your all important first task!
Beautiful, Veronica! Happy Holidays!
So pretty! Love the festive macarons!
Glad your buttercream ended up being okay. Good job! Merry Christmas!
As if the yule log weren't challenge enough, you went ahead and made macaroons too!!! Wow!
Glad your buttercream ended up being okay. Good job! Merry Christmas!
You put the macarons! Yeah!! They make it look so festive! Beautiful job! I am sure it tastes as exquisite as it looks!
Merry Christmas!
Veron the macarons are getting to be a signature for you. It is wonderful. Boy I know what you mean about that buttercream. I could almost forget it was 99% butter, so good! And the mushrooms were fun!
Delighted you brought this one on!
Veronica, I don't know how you've found the time to do all the complicated baking/cooking that you've posted! It's impressive!
BTW, I saw Tyler Florence crack his yule log, too on an Iron Chef challenge this week! (it was Tyler Florence & Robert Irvine v. Cat Cora & Paula Deen)…
Have great Holidays!
Merry Christmas, Veron! Your Yule Log is an Art Deco Masterpiece!
Beautiful yule log, and only you would think to add beautiful macarons! Happy holidays, Veron, and best wishes for the new year.
With a yule log as lovely as that, I think you could get away with being a couple weeks late! Despite your struggles, it really looks incredible and quite delicious, too.
It is hard to believe that it is already Christmas Eve.
A lovely log and I am glad you rescued your buttercream.
Have a Merry Christmas Veron.
I love your log and the macarons as accents! Merry Christmas.
isn't the coffee buttercream delightful? I love it a lot too. Love your Christmas macarons!
That's just what happens these days… Time is nothing. I simply love the macarons, such a nice addition! Have a very Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Veronica! I love the macaroons on the side of your log!
Looks wonderful. The one time I tried making it I used a Malgieri recipe, too. I had to ditch the cake and used a recipe from the Cake Bible. We christened it the fallen log. It has become a legend. Anyway, I'd love to see a pic of it sliced.
Have a very fabulous Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Veron. I hope that you and your family will have a wonderful day and also best wishes for 2008.
x Nora
Looks great! I am so glad you were able to save your buttercream. Mine was a lost cause, but if everything went well all the time, it wouldn't be a challenge, right?!
So glad you were able to salvage your buttercream. I encountered the same issue and had to whip it for a while. Your Yule log turned out great!
Lovely Yule Log and I love the addition (or do I mean addiction
of the Macarons!
Happy Holidays!
xoxo
Gabi
Woot to you and your beautiful log! I especially like the festive macaroons.
Good job on your log. It looks lovely! And good save on the buttercream. I, too, found it a bit greasy in texture.
wow fantastic job!! i love the festive macaron decorations
Your Yule log looks great. I like the addition of the macaron even though I don't know what they are? I totally understand – I don't know where December went. Christmas Eve, I had so much to do. Well it got done or didn't. Great cake. Wendy
that's beautiful, veron.
have a great 2008!
Oh, I absolutely adore those Christmas macarons! Your yule log is beautiful. You did a terrific job, as always
Oh, I absolutely adore those Christmas macarons! Your yule log is beautiful. You did a terrific job, as always
Such a festive yule log with the red and green macarons and lovely mushrooms. It was a fun challenge wasn't it? The buttercream was not easy, but delicious when finally done. Happy New Year!
I love the macaroons! I'm so glad you were able to save the buttercream.
Yay! Happy New Year Veron!
Great save with the frosting, and adding the macarons was a wonderful idea!
Your cake came out beautiful, and I love the colorful macarons you made.! Happy New Year!
Your cake is gorgeous, and your story has me pining for more of that luscious buttercream. I hope you found joy and peace in the holiday season, and that 2008 brings health and happiness, laughter and love.