To celebrate the holidays this year, why not make a traditional “Bûche de Noël”? This delicious roll cake will make your Christmas spirits soar.

We asked our culinary associate, Chef Françoise, to contribute the following recipe. We then prepared the cake in our kitchen at Discover Paris. The results were scrumptious and quickly consumed by our staff!

Françoise gives cooking classes on French cuisine in her specially equipped kitchen in Paris.  Her classes are designed to encourage student participation, and they are always lively.  Participants come from all over of the world – in a class that we recently attended, an Italian, a Filipino, a Finn, a Mauritian, four Americans and a Vietnamese joined four French participants in the kitchen.

After each lesson, the convivial group sits down to enjoy the three-course meal that it has prepared together. Hearty conversation develops around the shared experience and everybody has a good time.

What you will need to prepare a
Bûche de Noël:

For the cake:

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 3 whole eggs

• ½ cup sugar

• salt (a pinch)

• ½ tsp baking powder

For the syrup:

• 3 tbsp rum

• 2 tbsp water

• 3 tbsp sugar

For the butter cream:

• 1-½ cups unsalted butter

• ½ cup sliced almonds

• 1 tbsp instant coffee

• 1 tbsp water

• 3 egg yolks

• 1 cup powdered sugar

To prepare the cake: 

1. Heat the oven to 400° F
2. With a portable mixer, mix the eggs with the sugar. Add the flour, the salt and the baking powder. Mix well.
3. Line a baking pan (10” x 15”) with non-stick baking paper. Spread the cake mix onto the baking pan, using a spatula, until the mix covers the entire surface.
4. Bake 8 minutes on the lower oven rack.
5. Remove the cake from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, roll it into a cylinder (rolling the baking paper with the cake); secure the cylinder to keep it from unrolling and set aside.

To prepare the syrup:

In a saucepan, heat the rum, the water and the sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. 

To prepare the butter cream: 

1. In a mixing bowl, stir the butter with a fork until it is smooth like pomade.
2. Heat the sliced almonds in a skillet until they are lightly toasted. Use two wooden spatulas to toss the almonds while they are heating to keep them from burning.
3. When the almonds have cooled, add them to the butter and mix them in.
4. Add the powdered sugar and egg yolks. Mix well.
5. Dissolve the instant coffee in a tablespoon of water and stir it into the butter cream.
6. Heat the butter cream mixture for five seconds in the microwave to soften it. Remove from the microwave and stir until the butter cream is smooth.

To prepare the Yule log: 

1. Unroll the cake cylinder and remove the baking paper
2. With a baking brush, spread the syrup on the cake. Saturate the cake completely, using all of the syrup.
3. With a spatula, spread 1/3 of the butter cream on the open cake.
4. Roll the cake into a tight cylinder, this time without the baking paper.
5. Place the cake on a serving platter.
6. Trim the ends of the cylinder, then spread the remaining butter cream over the cake. 
7. Decorate the cake with a sprig of holly and enjoy!