Yule log

• 70 g Wheat flour
  Swaps (2)
• 20 g Butter (softened, to give the covering a shine)
  Swaps (2)
• 4 u Egg (large, at room temperature)
  Swaps (2)
• 1 pinch Salt
• 200 g Sugar (100 g for the sponge, 40 g for the syrup and 60 g for the meringue)
• 1 tablespoon Icing Sugar (for the snow)
  Swaps (1)
• 1 u Egg White (for the meringue mushrooms) (optional)
  Swaps (1)
• 300 g Dark Chocolate (55-70% cocoa solids, chopped, 200 g for covering and 100 g for the filling)
• 30 g Cocoa Powder (unsweetened, 20 g for the sponge and the rest for dusting)
• 350 ml Whipping Cream (at least 35% fat, 200 ml for covering and 150 ml for the filling)
  Swaps (1)
• 60 ml Water (for the syrup)

Instructions

1. 1

   If you are making meringue mushrooms, start with them: heat the oven to 100 °C, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks and add the 60 g of sugar a little at a time until the meringue is firm and glossy. Using a piping bag, pipe domes for the caps and small cones for the stalks onto a lined tray. Dust them with a little cocoa.

   15 min

2. 2

   Dry them in the oven until they lift off the paper easily and are dry inside, then leave them to cool with the oven door ajar.

   75 min

3. 3

   For the sponge, turn the oven up to 200 °C conventional (180 °C fan) and line a tray of about 30 × 40 cm with baking paper. Whisk the eggs with the 100 g of sugar at high speed until tripled in volume and almost white, and the mixture falls from the whisk in a ribbon that holds its shape for a few seconds.

   10 min

4. 4

   Sift the flour, 20 g of the cocoa and the salt over the top and fold in with a spatula in two batches, using gentle sweeping movements from the bottom up, without beating, so the foam does not collapse.

   3 min

5. 5

   Spread the mixture evenly over the tray about 1 cm thick and bake until it springs back when pressed with a finger and the edges come away from the paper. Do not overbake it or it will crack when rolled.

   9 min

6. 6

   Turn the hot sponge out onto a clean tea towel dusted with sugar, peel off the paper and roll it up straight away in the towel, starting from a long side. Leave it to cool rolled up.

   30 min

7. 7

   While it cools, make the syrup by boiling the water with the 40 g of sugar for a minute. For the filling, heat 150 ml of the cream until it just comes to the boil, pour it over 100 g of the chocolate, wait two minutes and stir from the centre until smooth. Let it cool, then chill until very cold.

   60 min

8. 8

   For the covering, do the same with the remaining 200 ml of cream and 200 g of chocolate, stir in the butter and leave the ganache at room temperature, stirring now and then, until it has the texture of a spreadable cream; this can take one to two hours.

   10 min

9. 9

   Whisk the cold filling ganache just until it lightens in colour and holds soft peaks; if you overwhip it, it will split.

   3 min

10. 10

    Carefully unroll the sponge, brush it with the syrup and spread over the filling, leaving a couple of centimetres clear along the far edge. Roll it up again tightly, this time without the towel, and place it seam side down on the serving plate. Chill for half an hour to firm up.

    40 min

11. 11

    Cut a piece about 6 cm long on the diagonal from one end and stick it to the side of the log as a branch. Cover everything with the covering ganache and drag a fork along the length to draw the bark, with rings on the ends and on the branch.

    15 min

12. 12

    Chill the log for at least two hours, preferably overnight. Before serving, dust it with the icing sugar like snow, add the meringue mushrooms, sticking each cap to its stalk with a dot of ganache, and dust them with a little cocoa.