One of the traditional Christmas desserts at my house when I was growing up was Chocolate Log. It was my brother’s favourite. Mum made a chocolate sponge roll filled with jam and mock cream, coated with chocolate icing. In other houses, it went by the name of yule log, or chocolate sponge roll. If you were being really posh, you might also call it chocolate roulade. Actually a chocolate roulade is not technically the same thing as a sponge roll. It is not a sponge mixture, but instead is a whipped egg and cocoa mixture, with no flour. This of course makes it deliciously gluten free. I prefer the chocolate roulade cake for dessert purposes because it is soft and unctuous, and melts in the mouth.

When Cakeophilia (not yet named) first got underway, I made a number of “chocolate logs” for friends at Christmas. While traditionally a Christmas chocolate log is frosted with chocolate icing and decorated with little meringue “mushrooms”, I was inspired by New Zealand’s native “Christmas Tree” the Pohutukawa, which blooms with fluffy scarlet flowers in December, to create a Chocolate Pohutukawa Log.  Since then, Cakeophilia’s Chocolate Logs have always been decorated with chocolate pohutukawa flowers and chocolate pohutukawa leaves. Pohutukawas have very rough, mottled bark, so rather than the traditional frosting, I use marbled dark and white chocolate curls for my Chocolate Pohutukawa Logs.

Chocolate curls take some practice, and the chocolate needs to be just the right temperature chocolate in order to create curls. There are tutorials all over the internet on making chocolate curls. In short, you melt your chocolate, spread it out (about 4mm thick) on an even surface like a glass board or marble slab, let it cool at room temperature until it has set to a waxy consistency – just a little less than completely hard, then scape a sharp, long bladed knife along the surface of the chocolate. Just give the surface of the chocolate a little scrape every few minutes to see when optimal curling occurs. Curls and ripples of chocolate should form if the chocolate is the right temperature. I find that Nestle chocolate melts are the easiest for the home cook to work with.

The good thing about chocolate bark for a Chocolate Log is that it doesn’t matter if it breaks up, it will still look great. For an easy way out, use crushed Cadbury flake bar or Lindt hot chocolate mix (which is just flaked chocolate). You could also spread melted chocolate thinly onto a sheet of baking paper, let set, and break or cut into long thin shards.

For chocolate leaves, spread melted chocolate onto shiny fresh leaves which are edible or non-toxic, completely intact, clean and dry, then peel the leaf away carefully when the chocolate has set.  I have made chocolate leaves using ivy leaves, flax leaves, rose leaves and bay leaves in the past. I *believe* (after some research) that pohutukawa leaves are non-toxic – certainly nobody who has eaten any of my pohutukawa leaves has gotten sick. If you want to try making chocolate pohutukawa leaves, be sure that the leaves you choose are the shiny kind, not the slightly velvety kind.

No matter which way you decorate it, a Chocolate Log looks spectacular and tastes just as good. You can also make your Chocolate Log as fancy or as simple as you like. It doesn’t need to be coated in ganache or chocolate curls, just a sprinkling of icing sugar over the plain chocolate roulade cake would be beautiful.

The filling needn’t be a drama either. At its simplest, the Chocolate Log could be filled with whipped cream, or a layer of jam and whipped cream, or some chopped fresh berries and whipped cream, or just chocolate ganache. I’ve done all of these, as well as berry curd and creme patissiere lightened with whipped cream, but my firm favourite these days is a layer of strawberry gel with whipped cream. The gel layer is so pretty and yields an even helping of fresh berry flavour with every spoonful, the perfect foil to all that creamy and chocolatey goodness.

In the recipe below, I have given instructions on how to create a Chocolate  Log on the one hand, and a Chocolate Roulade on the other. I think the Chocolate Log is most Christmassy, whereas the Chocolate Roulade can be served anytime. The key difference is the way the roll is formed. Because the Chocolate Log has a branched portion, you need to make the roll from the long edge of the chocolate roulade cake, so that there is extra length make the branch. The Chocolate Log turns out a little thinner than the Chocolate Roulade, with less turns of cake and cream inside. The Chocolate Roulade should be round and fat.

Don’t be daunted by all the fancy chocolate work either – Chocolate Logs and Chocolate Roulades alike look just wonderful decorated with fresh berries and a dusting of icing sugar.

Chocolate Roulade (Yule Log/ Chocolate Log) with Strawberry Gel and Ganache

serves 8-10

Chocolate Roulade cake

ingredients

5 eggs, separated
150g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt

mixing

Line a 25x35cm swiss roll pan with baking paper, folding the paper up at the sides.

Combine the egg yolks and 50g of the sugar. Beat on high speed until creamy. Beat in the cocoa powder and salt until just combined.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining sugar in a thin stream and beat until the meringue is glossy and smooth, about 3 minutes.

Scoop about half a cup of meringue into the cocoa mixture and mix to lighten the mixture. Tip the cocoa mixture over the meringue and fold in gently.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake the chocolate roulade cake at 150 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Transfer the chocolate roulade cake to a wire rack to cool, but do not peel the paper away from the chocolate roulade cake. The chocolate roulade cake will deflate somewhat as it cools.

As soon as you have transferred the chocolate roulade cake to the wire rack, you can use the same swiss roll pan for the strawberry gel layer. You can also make the chocolate ganache at this point, as it will need time to cool.

Strawberry Gel Layer

ingredients

300g strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
12 g leaf gelatine

mixing

Soak the gelatin leaves in ice cold water for about 10 minutes, to bloom.

In the meantime, place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan, and heat on medium heat until the mixture just starts to bubble. Set aside to cool slightly. Puree the mixture.

While the pureed mixture is still hot (ideally about 60 degrees Celsius), squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and add to the pureed mixture. Stir until completely combined. Let cool.

Line a 25×35 swiss roll pan with cling wrap and spray with canola spray. Smear the spray evenly over the cling wrap. Pour the cooled strawberry puree into the pan and spread evenly. Refrigerate until completely set, at least two hours.

Assembling the Chocolate Roulade

components

chocolate roulade cake
strawberry gel (or 1/2 cup good quality jam, or 100g sliced strawberries)
150 mL cream (at least 35% milkfat), whipped and chilled (or 150g chocolate ganache, whipped)
chocolate ganache, cooled to room temperature (400g for a branched yule log, 300g for a chocolate roulade)
chocolate bark if desired (about 150g), if desired, to decorate
chocolate flowers, leaves, fresh berries, as desired, to decorate

assemblage

When the chocolate roulade cake has completely cooled, gently peel the paper away from the sides. Gently press the surface of the chocolate roulade cake with your fingers – it should be dry and not sticky. If the surface is dry, flip the chocolate roulade cake, still stuck to its original baking paper, onto a clean sheet of baking paper. If the chocolate roulade cake surface is sticky, liberally dust the clean sheet of baking paper with icing sugar before flipping. Carefully peel the original baking paper away from the chocolate roulade cake.

Lift the strawberry gel layer from its mould, and flip this, face down onto the surface of the chocolate roulade cake. Peel back the cling wrap very gently to avoid breaking the gel (alternatively spread the chocolate roulade cake with jam or chocolate ganache, or scatter with berries).

Spread the whipped cream over the strawberry gel to a thickness of no more than 1cm, leaving a gap of about 3cm at one short edge. If you are making a Yule Log, leave the 3cm gap on the LONG edge.

Now it’s time to roll. Lift the cream covered short edge of the cake (or, if making a Yule Log, start with the long edge), and, using the baking paper below, encourage the edge of the cake to curl in on itself.

This is a gentle process of persuasion: if you press the roll too hard or curl too tightly, the cream layer will be pushed around. The idea is to get the roll to happen in a way that the cream layer is not disturbed – that will result in a nice even roll. Continue rolling until you reach the end.

The Chocolate Roulade should be fat and round in cross-section. Scrape away any excess cream that has oozed out of the sides of the roll.

Gently place the Chocolate Roulade, seam side down, on a serving plate. If you are making a Lule Log, cut the roll on an angle about 3/4 along its length, and place the short portion along the length of theroll, cut side facing in, so that it resembles a forked tree branch. Chill the Chocolate Roulade or Yule Log while you whip the ganache.

To whip the ganache, beat the cool mixture on high speed for about 4 minutes or until the mixture starts to lighten and thicken. Take care not to over-beat, as the mixture will seize completely. The mixture is ready when it can hold peaks, but is spreadable.

Spread the chilled Chocolate Roulade with the ganache, remembering to coat the undersides of the roulade down to where it sits on the serving plate.  If you are using chocolate bark, press the chocolate bark gently onto the ganache to cover all of the Chocolate Roulade, but leaving a gap at the top if you intend to decorate the top of the Chocolate Roulade. Otherwise, make a rough iced pattern in the ganache with a knife, or run a fork through the ganache along the length of the Chocolate Roulade to resemble the bark of a tree.

Spoon any left over ganache into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. If you are making a Yule Log, pipe a spiral pattern on the three exposed ends of the roll, to represent a cut tree branch.

Use the leftover ganache to decorate the top of the Chocolate Roulade, for example by piping star shapes on top. Decorate the top of the Chocolate Roulade as desired with chocolate flowers and leaves, berries, etc.

Use a little ganache to help the decorations stick to the chocolate bark. Refrigerate until needed if possible. Dust the Chocolate Roulade with icing sugar just prior to serving.

Enjoy!xxx