Buche De Noel

I did not find this recipe on my own. Nor was it my idea. Actually my little brother (who isn't so little anymore) brought it home from his French class and asked if we could make it together. It was so much fun cooking with him and trying out this new--and slightly odd (I thought)--recipe. It was a cinch to make and turned out great! I decided to fill it with a basic cream cheese frosting and coat it with chocolate frosting, which balanced each other nicely, but there are so many different things you can fill/cover this with. Possibilities are literally endless!

1 C Flour

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 C Brown Sugar, divided in half
4 Eggs, separated
1 tsp Vanilla

1. Combine flour, salt, powder, and half of sugar. Sift together with a fork until there are no clumps.

2. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Beat in remaining half of sugar by adding a little at a time.

3. In a small bowl beat egg yolks and vanilla until thick and frothy. Gently fold into the egg white mixture. Then lightly fold in flour mixture, 4-5 T at a time.

4. Pour batter into a wax paper-lined jelly roll pan (15x10x1 in) and bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes until light brown and firm to the touch.

5. Loosen cake with spatula and turn out onto a clean dish towel lightly dusted with flour. Pull off waxed paper and trim off crusty edges (my edges were fine so I skipped the trimming). Starting from the narrow end, roll up cake and towel together. Cool for at least 15 minutes.

6. Carefully unroll cake and remove towel. Fill with frosting, re-roll, wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours.

7. When filling is firm, frost so as to look like a log. Chill until ready to serve.


Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pkg Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 C Butter, softened
2 C Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Cream together cheese and butter. Mix in vanilla then slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.

Chocolate Frosting:

1/4 C Butter, softened
1 C Powdered Sugar (may need a little more)
1/4 C Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
1 T Milk

Cream butter. Slowly beat in powdered sugar, cocoa, then vanilla. Add enough milk to reach spreading consistency.

Mahlzeit!
-Coriaunty