Bûche de Noël recipe – Hungarian version
The Bûche de Noël – trunk cake – is a traditional cake that is served as a dessert at Christmas, especially in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and many former French colonies such as Canada, Vietnam and Lebanon. The flat sponge cake is filled with chocolate or coffee cream and rolled up, covered with cream and decorated to resemble a twig as much as possible. To make the creation even more realistic, marzipan decorations, leaves and mushrooms are often used. This version is somewhat Hungarian, with the sponge cake being lighter and the cream darker.
The history of the Bûche de Noël
The history of the Bûche de Noël, i.e. the Christmas tree trunk cake, goes back to a pagan ritual from the 12th century. During the winter, on the longest night of December, a large log was placed on the fire and then sprinkled with salt, wine or other things in the hope of a rich harvest the following year. After the large piece of wood was burnt to ashes, the ashes were also kept as they were believed to have a healing effect.
A log was turned into a cake
Over the centuries, however, the real ovens in which you could light a large log disappeared from homes, and in the cities this was no longer possible at all, so a creative Parisian confectioner invented the edible log, which almost anyone can make at home. Bakers and confectioners from Paris and Lyon helped popularize and spread the cake in the 19th century. Although the demand for fruitcake is increasing, the French are sticking to tradition: the Bûche de Noël still accounts for 50 percent of the delicacies sold.
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 100 g all purpose flour
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp starch
- 6 g baking powder
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 4 tbsp dark cocoa powder
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 150 g butter
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 50 ml heavy cream
Steps:
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture turns white and creamy.
- Whip the egg whites to a firm foam. Carefully mix it into the egg yolk mixture, alternating with the starchy baking powder mixed flour.
- Pour the mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper (size: 30×40 cm/ 12×16″) and spread evenly in a thin layer. Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 350°F (180°C) for 13-14 minutes. Turn the baked sponge out onto a wet towel, remove the parchment paper and roll up the sponge together with the kitchen towel. Leave to cool.
- Melt the diced chocolate in a bowl over steam. Leave from heat, and add the cream, cocoa powder and softened butter and mix with a whip until creamy. Add the icing sugar and vanilla sugar and mix for a further 1-2 minutes.
- Roll out the sponge cake and spread it evenly with 2/3 of the chocolate cream. Roll up the cake from the longer edge. Cut off the ends that are not straight. We now have a nice roll. Cut out a smaller piece diagonally and stick it to the side of the “main log” with some chocolate paste.
- Spread and garnish the cake with the remaining chocolate cream. Finally, scratch lines lengthwise into the surface of the cake with a fork to make it look like a real tree trunk.
- Put into fridge for 3 hours, cut, and enjoy your Bûche de Noël!
Watch our video about this recipe: