Classic Buche de Noel Yule Log Cake with Cherry
Fluffy roll, cherry syrup and Swiss meringue buttercream
Hello fellow foodies,
A Christmas dinner without a bûche for dessert? Unthinkable in France! Today they come in all kinds of variations: as a mousse bûche, an ice cream bûche, with mirror glaze or velvet spray. This time we go back to the roots, with a classic sponge roll with buttercream.
The heart of the cake is an especially soft and fluffy roll made from choux pastry, based on a recipe by the famous pastry chef Christophe Michalak. It is soaked in cherry syrup and filled and spread with Swiss meringue buttercream flavoured with Kirsch. Drag a fork through it to create the bark, draw the annual rings with dark chocolate, and there you have a proper little tree trunk on the table.
The bûche serves 8 to 10 people. And if you're not a Kirsch fan: we'll show you how to replace it in the frequently asked questions.
Ingredients
Choux pastry roulade
Cherry syrup
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Finishing and decoration
Step by Step
Choux roll
Bring liquid and butter to the boil
This roulade is different from the sponges you know: it is especially soft and fluffy, because its base is a choux pastry, as in cream puffs. The recipe comes from the famous pâtissier Christophe Michalak, and you may already know it from our Apricot roll. Let's get started: put 75 g water, 75 g milk, 2 g salt, 3 g sugar and 35 g butter into a saucepan.
Stir in the flour
Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium and add 70 g flour all at once.
Dry out the dough
Stir the mixture vigorously for about 2 minutes, without a break. A dough ball will form. Once the dough no longer sticks to the wooden spoon, it is dried out enough. Transfer it to a mixing bowl and beat it with the K-beater for 2 minutes, so it cools down a little.
Work in the eggs
Meanwhile, whisk 3 eggs (150 g) with a fork. Add the eggs to the choux pastry in three portions and beat well with the K-beater after each addition. At first the dough will look grainy, which is completely normal. It takes a while until it becomes smooth and glossy.
Add rapeseed oil
Add 50 g rapeseed oil and keep beating with the K-beater until it is fully absorbed. Now preheat the oven to 180 °C fan-assisted and put 90 g egg white into a clean mixing bowl. You don't need the yolks for this recipe, so you can also use ready-made egg white from a carton.
Fold in the meringue
Whisk the 90 g egg white with 80 g sugar to a firm, thick meringue. Fold it into the choux pastry in three portions with the dough scraper and mix until the mixture is even and smooth.
Spread and bake
Place a silicone mat on a perforated baking tray. Pour the entire mixture onto it and spread it as evenly as possible with a large angled spatula. If you like, sprinkle 60 g hazelnut brittle over the top. Bake the roulade for 20 minutes in the preheated oven at 180 °C fan-assisted.
Silicone mat 40 x 30 cm
Aluminium perforated baking sheet 40 x 30 cm
Large angled spatula
Roasted hazelnut brittle, 200 g
Turn out and cool
Once baked, lift the roll off the perforated baking sheet, turn it out onto baking paper and let it cool. Only once it is cold do you carefully peel off the silicone mat. Keep the roll at room temperature until you are ready to fill it.
Cherry syrup
Mix the syrup
To keep the Bûche nice and moist with a cherry flavour, you soak it with a syrup. It's very quick to make: put 100 g Kirsch, 2 tbsp water and 3 tbsp icing sugar in a bowl and stir everything briefly with a baking brush until the icing sugar has dissolved. Set the syrup aside.
Baking brush 20 mm with plastic handle
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Egg whites, sugar and salt into the pot
Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a lighter variant of the classic buttercream. It's also perfect for fondant cakes or cupcakes. Put 125 g egg whites (approx. 4 eggs), 150 g sugar and a pinch of salt in a pot.
Heat to 70 °C and whip
Heat everything to 70 °C while stirring constantly. Be careful, the mixture can thicken very quickly or even scorch. If you want to be on the safe side, warm it in a water bath. The whisk with thermometer is ideal for this: you stir and measure at the same time. Then pour the mixture into a very clean, grease-free mixing bowl and whip it on the highest setting until the meringue is stiff and has cooled to room temperature (no more than 30 °C).
Whisk Thermometer 2 in 1
Work in the butter
Set the stand mixer to the lowest speed and add 250 g soft butter piece by piece. At first the mixture looks liquid and lumpy, as in the third picture. Don't worry, just keep whisking slowly! Once the butter and meringue have combined, switch to the highest setting and whip the buttercream for 3 to 5 minutes. After a while it emulsifies into a smooth, creamy buttercream.
Flavour with Kirsch
Swiss Meringue Buttercream can be wonderfully refined with gel colour, liquid aroma, fruit puree, or even with schnapps and liqueur. For our Kirsch Bûche, add 100 g Kirsch and keep whipping the buttercream until it is smooth and glossy.
Finishing
Soaking and filling
Soak the roulade with the cherry syrup using a baking brush. You will need the rest of the syrup later. Then spread 3/4 of the buttercream evenly over the roulade with an angled spatula.
Baking brush 20 mm with plastic handle
Medium angled spatula
Rolling up and chilling
If you like, sprinkle some hazelnut brittle over the buttercream as well. Make a 2 to 3 cm cut along the long side of the sponge and then roll it up carefully and evenly. Wrap the roulade in baking paper and press it firmly with a rolling pin so it becomes nice and compact. Then place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour so the buttercream sets.
Cutting the branches
Remember to take the remaining buttercream out of the fridge 30 minutes before decorating, so it is easier to work with. After an hour in the fridge the roulade will be nice and firm. Cut a piece about 6 cm long from both ends, at an angle: this makes it easier to attach the branches later.
Attaching and coating the branches
Place the two pieces on the roulade, one on the side and one on top. Once you are happy with the arrangement, brush the bûche again with the remaining cherry syrup and spread the rest of the buttercream on with a small angled spatula.
Drawing the bark
The buttercream does not have to be perfectly smooth, because now comes the wood texture: Drag a fork through it to create grooves in the trunk and branches. Do not touch the cut surfaces on top of the branches and at the ends. Then place the bûche in the fridge briefly.
Melting the chocolate
For the growth rings, melt 50 g dark chocolate gently in the microwave for 30 seconds at 600 watts. Once it is liquid, fill it into a piping bag.
Dark chocolate 56%, 350 g
10 Disposable piping bags S 30 cm
Draw the growth rings
Snip a small tip off the piping bag and pipe a spiral onto the cut surfaces of the branches. Then drag a wooden skewer or toothpick from the centre outwards through the chocolate to create a pretty pattern. Do the same at both ends of the bûche.
Decorate
Place the buche de noel yule log cake on a nice plate or board, and then it's time to decorate! We've used sweet powdered snow, small sugar mushrooms and sugar holly leaves, plus classic yule log figures. Your traditional yule log with kirsch is ready!
Snow sugar 150 g
Small sugar mushrooms
Classic sponge roll with kirsch
Ingredients
Choux pastry roll
Kirsch syrup
Swiss meringue buttercream
Finishing and decoration
Preparation
- Roll: Bring water, milk, salt, sugar and butter to the boil, stir in flour, toast for 2 min, beat for 2 min with the K beater, incorporate eggs in 3 portions and rapeseed oil, fold in meringue made from 90 g egg white and 80 g sugar, spread on the silicone mat, bake for 20 min at 180 °C convection, turn out, cool.
- Syrup: Mix kirsch, water and icing sugar.
- Buttercream: Heat egg white, sugar and salt to 70 °C, whisk until stiff and cold (max. 30 °C), gradually beat in soft butter, whisk for 3 to 5 min on the highest setting, stir in kirsch.
- Rolling: Soak the roll, spread with 3/4 of the buttercream, roll up, wrap tightly in baking paper, chill for at least 1 hr.
- Finishing: Attach two diagonal pieces of 6 cm as branches, soak again, coat with the remaining buttercream, drag a fork through it to create bark texture, draw tree rings with dark chocolate, decorate.
Nutritional values per 100 g
Storage & shelf life
Everything for this recipe
Recommended from our bakery, in exactly the sizes this recipe was tested with.
Ingredients
Roasted hazelnut brittle, 200 g
Dark chocolate 56%, 350 g
Icing sugar 150 g
Small sugar mushrooms
Sugar decoration holly & berries
Accessories
Silicone mat 40 x 30 cm
Perforated aluminium baking sheet 40 x 30 cm
Large angled spatula
Medium angled spatula
20 mm baking brush with plastic handle
Whisk thermometer 2 in 1
10 disposable piping bags S 30 cm
Delivery in 1 to 2 working days · Free shipping from CHF 100
To make sure it works every time
The meringue may be at most 30 °C before the butter is added, otherwise it will melt. And take the remaining buttercream out of the fridge 30 minutes before spreading it, as cold buttercream is hard to work with.
You can also bake the roulade on a roulade mat, which works just as well. You can leave out the hazelnut brittle, but it adds a pleasant crunch.
You'll find everything about shapes, fillings and decorations in our Christmas buche tips & tricks.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! Simply make the syrup without cherry schnapps. For the buttercream, use 2 tsp cocoa instead of cherry schnapps. If it becomes too stiff afterwards, loosen it with a little raspberry syrup, water or another alcohol. Chocolate and mocha are also classic buche flavours.
Yes, that works well. Roll it up once it has cooled, wrap it in cling film and leave it at room temperature.
That's not ideal: the sponge becomes dense after freezing and thawing. It's better to prepare the buche the day before and store it in the fridge.
Print recipe
Choose what should appear on the printout.
Related posts
Juicy Matcha Muffins with Pecan Nuts & White Chocolate
Matcha Iced Latte & Coconut Variant
Pull-apart bread with fresh wild garlic pesto
Mini Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
Leave a comment
Comments
Réponse à Esqzon
By: Sandra R. On 2023-12-17pourrait utiliser un tapis genoise au lieu de mettre sur un simple tapis silicone?
Merci
Replied by: Laura On 2023-12-18
Question de Aurélie
By: Aurélie T. On 2023-11-13bonjour
Je prévois de la faire pour Noël, est-ce que je peux faire le biscuit la veille? Ou c'est mieux le jour J pour le soir?
Replied by: Karin On 2023-11-13
Question de Aline
By: Aline F. On 2021-12-22Bonjour!
Est ce que cette bûche peut se congeler?
Replied by: Karin On 2021-12-22
Question de Christelle
By: Christelle M. On 2021-12-12Bonjour,
Merci pour cette chouette recette.
Ici personne n est fan du kirsch. Comment remplacer par du cacao ou du chocolat ? Par quel proportion et à quel moment incorporer dans la crème au beurre? Merci pour vos conseils
Replied by: Karin On 2021-12-13