Saturday, December 22, 2007

Yule Log Challenge

Happy Holidays, all... Joey here, announcing our membership in the Daring Bakers group!!! We received our logo yesterday (as you can see on the left) and are very excited about our Yule log, which is our first challenge as members of the group... Steven began yesterday by making mushrooms from meringue... See?









Don't they look real?

This morning I made the genoise...









the sugar and eggs










heating the sugar and eggs










whisking the heated sugar and eggs to triple the volume and cool them, too










I missed the opportunity to photograph the batter going in to the pan, but this is the result when it comes out of the oven about 10 minutes later... There was a bit of a bubble, but that's okay










spreading the orange-flavored buttercream, and then (drum roll)...










the big roll and chill!!!!


And now that the roll is chilled, and the buttercream is finished, we start building our log...









So, the texturing begins, too...





Steven adds snow...






...and the meringue mushrooms...










And it's finished!!! Complete with little forest resident!!!











This was really fun!!!! This ended up being the plain genoise, with a buttercream filling flavored with Grand Marnier, and bittersweet chocolate buttercream for the bark... We will be tasting this Monday night in South Orange, NJ for Christmas Eve... more photos when we return to the big city!

22 comments:

Gigi said...

Wonderful yule log! I love the tiny snowflakes.

Anonymous said...

Ummmmmmmm.....that looks wonderful guys

Anonymous said...

It looks great--congrats! I can't wait to hear the report on how your friends like it.

michelle said...

Looks wonderful! The snowflakes are a great touch!

Anonymous said...

Looks gorgeous!

Ann

Beth G. @SweetLifeKitchen said...

Fabulous!! Great job- your log looks brilliant!

Brilynn said...

Love your texturing! Well done!

LizG said...

Beautifully done, Joey! It looks ab fab! Welcome to DB

steph- whisk/spoon said...

looks fantastic! the snow is a great touch!

test it comm said...

Great bark on the Yule Log! And the snow around the bottom.

Julius said...

OMG, that squirrel is just sooo cute.

Your bûche de Noël is fantastic.

Looking forward to your next challenges!

Feel free to read about my yule log here.

Julius from Occasional Baker

Helene said...

Grand Marnier was indeed awesome with it! Wonderful job on your firat challenge! I love the squirrel addition,that made my day!!

Anonymous said...

The texturing on the bark is just great! Welcome to the Daring Bakers.

Katie B. said...

Great job & welcome to the DBers!! Your log looks amazing!!!

marias23 said...

Wow, you guys! I love your yule log! Very nice step-by-step too and great job piping the buttercream! Hmmm, I wish I could have a slice of your cake :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Lis said...

Looks fantastic! You guys did a most excellent job! =)

Welcome to the Daring Bakers and Happy Holidays!

xoxo

Jenny said...

I have those same little snowflakes in my pantry right now!
Nice work - welcome to the Daring Bakers!

Andrea said...

Congrats on your first challenge, the cake looks great! I love how you did the bark. Welcome to the Daring Bakers!

Dolores said...

Congratulations, and welcome! The squirrel really makes your log scene real. You did a GREAT job with your first challenge... it's going to be fun to watch how you conquer the challenges to come.

I hope your holiday celebrations were full of peace and joy, and that 2008 brings you nothing but good things!

Deborah said...

Wonderful job on your first challenge! It looks great!

Wendy said...

What a great idea to pipe on the texture. Your mushrooms do look like they were gathered in the forest. Great step-by-step photos. Lovely log. Wendy

Jen Yu said...

What an absolutely fun and lovely yule log you made! I love it - the snowflakes are a delightful touch and I dig that squirrel :) Great job, it's fantastic.


jen at use real butter