French Log Cake (Buche de Noel)

Make your holiday season more luscious with this traditional French log cake, Bûche de Noël, or simply Yule Log, made with sponge cake and buttercream and decorated with meringue mushrooms.

Have you ever made a classic French Christmas dessert Buche de Noel? If not, you should try to experiment with French Christmas desserts by making a chocolate Yule log cake first. Don't you agree that life is full of firsts?

Reading the recipe, a Christmas Yule log might seem intimidating and overwhelming.

But if you space the baking and decorating over two days, you will complete this holiday project effortlessly.

Make meringue mushrooms a few days before and store them in an airtight container. These cuties make a great edible gift during holidays.

What is a Bûche de Noël?

Bûche de Noël is the French name of a traditional Christmas rolled cake shaped and decorated like an actual yule log.

It symbolizes the yule log families burn on Christmas Eve. This tradition means the new year will bring the family good luck.

A Yule log, called in English, is mainly served around Christmas time in Europe, primarily France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and French Canada.

But over the years, the Yule Log also became a "quintessential Christmas dessert" in the United States.

Why you should try this recipe

• This simple rolled cake filled and covered with buttercream is upgraded to a classic Christmas dessert.
• Making meringue decorations in advance saves time during a busy holiday season.
• Adding dark chocolate to the buttercream makes variations of Yule Log.
• Using store-bought edible or non-edible decorations facilitates the decoration of the cake.

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for exact amounts and instructions. I recommend making the recipe as written for the best results.

Eggs: The recipe calls for large eggs at room temperature. Use an egg separator to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.

Sugar: Use granulated sugar or replace it with caster sugar.

Flour: All-purpose flour, the same as plain flour, is used to make the recipe.

Cocoa powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder to make a chocolate biscuit.

Oil: Grapeseed oil, being flavorless, is a go-to choice. Replace it with vegetable oil if desired.

Milk: Use whole milk or replace it with low-fat milk if preferred.

Dark chocolate is the star of the chocolate buttercream. Use high-quality dark chocolate such as Valrhona dark chocolate or Scharffen Berger dark chocolate.

Butter: The recipe calls for high-quality unsalted butter. Make sure to bring it to room temperature 1-2 hours before you start.

How to make French log cake (Bûche de Noël)

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F (180 degrees C). Next, prepare a non-spill baking sheet (make sure to read about baking with silicone molds).

If you use another baking tray, calculate the amount of baking ingredients using this simple cake pan calculator.

Make the cake batter

Place egg yolks and 20 g of sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk with a hand whisk for 1-2 minutes.

In a separate bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks. Then add 55 g of sugar in two parts and beat the meringue until stiff peaks.

Add the yolk mixture to the meringue and gently mix with a rubber spatula. Mix in the sifted dry ingredients (all-purpose flour and cocoa powder) until combined.

Pour oil and milk and gently mix, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Spread the batter over the silicone baking sheet using a long bent spatula. Bake the biscuit for 12 minutes.

Bake and roll

Take the cake from the oven and let it cool for about 3 minutes. Then, flip the biscuit on a damp kitchen towel or parchment paper, detach the silicon mat, or peel off the parchment.

Roll the biscuit into the towel or parchment while it is still warm, starting from the short side. Let it cool down completely, being rolled and covered with parchment paper.

Make buttercream

Place sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook the sugar syrup to 250F/121C (use a cooking thermometer).

Meanwhile, start beating egg yolks in a separate bowl with a stand mixer or electric mixer.

Once the syrup is ready, add the hot sugar syrup into egg yolks, pouring the syrup against the inner side of the bowl without ceasing to stir. Continue to whisk till the preparation cools down completely.

Add the softened butter cut into cubes, and whisk to get the smooth buttercream. Divide the cream into two equal parts.

To make chocolate buttercream, chop the chocolate into small cubes. Then, melt it in a double boiler and let it cool down.

Once it is warm to the touch, add melted chocolate to one part of the buttercream and whisk.

Fill the cake roll

To fill the French log cake, unroll the biscuit and transfer it over parchment paper to fill and decorate.

Spread the light part of the buttercream over the biscuit, using the rubber or bent spatula, and even the cream surface.

Roll the biscuit with the use of parchment paper as tight as possible. Transfer the rolled log to a serving board, seam side down.

Decorate French log cake

Spread the chocolate buttercream over the cake using the back of a tablespoon. Decorate the top with meringue mushrooms and toasted flaked almonds. Refrigerate the Yule log to allow the buttercream to set.

Expert Tips

1. Make meringue mushrooms several days before and store them in an airtight container. 
2. Cut the ends of the log at a diagonal angle and leave them exposed if you prefer.
3. Take the log cake from the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

How to decorate Bûche de Noël

The recipe calls for a simple spreading of the buttercream out with the back of a tablespoon, but you can use a special basketweave tip if desired.

This simple technique is also used to decorate Nutella Swiss Roll and Raspberry Pistachio Roulade.

Another way to make your French log cake resemble a yule log is to run a serrated bread knife or the tines of a fork along the cake to make patterns in the buttercream.

Meringue mushrooms are a classic idea for decorating Buche de Noel. But you can decorate the Yule log cake with homemade or store-bought meringues or macarons.

You can also try to make chocolate Christmas trees or chocolate pieces from tempered dark chocolate to top the Yule log. Or use the almond paste for creating green trees, red stars, snowmen, etc.

To add texture to your Yule log, try sprinkling it with toasted flaked almonds or crushed Pink Praline that go perfectly with the chocolate flavor.

Shredded coconut resembling snow is another excellent idea. Alternatively, use gold or silver-colored sprinkles for a festive effect.

Or use store-bought Christmas ornaments such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees, plastic elves, or other small objects to decorate the top of the log, but remove them if serving the cake to kids.

Storage instructions

Store Bûche de Noël in the refrigerator until serving. You can keep the leftover cake refrigerated for up to 3-4 days.

Can you freeze Bûche de Noël? You can freeze the undecorated Yule log cake rolled with buttercream inside. Cover it with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and bring it to the freezer for up to three months.

To thaw, bring the log cake to the fridge overnight. Then make the chocolate buttercream to decorate the Yule log as desired.

Recipe FAQ

Love Christmas desserts? Try these next!

• French Gingerbread Loaf
• Nutella Swiss Roll
• Christmas Cookie Ornaments
• Or browse all the Christmas Recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was originally published on November 19, 2018. It has been revised to include the improved recipe card, post content, and photos. All the posted pictures are mine.