Chocolate yule log.

I can't believe it's already the last day of Blogmas and Christmas is tomorrow! For this last post I'm sharing the recipe for the chocolate yule log I've made for Christmas this year. I literally just finished it so I'm sorry that the chocolate isn't quite cooled yet and it looks a bit of a mess in these pictures! Also, I can't actually tell you whether it's any good or not because, again, I literally just finished it. But I tested all of the elements and they tasted good so I'm pretty confident!

I actually took a sort of a mix and match approach this year, using a Mary Berry recipe for the sponge and one from Primrose Bakery for the cream, and just adding the chocolate around the outside because mum requested it.

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 4 large eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• 65g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder

For the cream

• 80g white chocolate
• 300ml whipping or double cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

and 1 bar of dark chocolate 

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200C for fan ovens and grease a 33 x 23 cm swiss roll tin (I just used a regular baking tin around the size) and line with baking parchment.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is light and frothy and the whisk leaves a trail when lifted out.
• Sift the cocoa powder and flour into the mixture, carefully folding in at the same time.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and give it a gentle shake to make sure it spreads evenly into the corners.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until the sponge starts to shrink away from the edge of the tin.
• While the sponge is in the oven, place a piece of baking parchment a little large than the tin onto a work surface and sprinkle it with caster sugar.
• Turn the sponge out onto the sugared parchment and then quickly peel off the parchment on the bottom of the sponge.
• Trim the edge of the sponge with a sharp knife and make a score mark about an inch in from one of the shorter edges, careful not to cut right the way through.
• Roll the sponge up firmly from the cut end, with the parchment inside, and leave to cool.
• Once the sponge is cooled, melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water or in the microwave, then set aside to cool.
• In a clean bowl, whip the cream and vanilla extract until it forms medium peaks.
• Fold a couple of spoonfuls of the cream into the cooled chocolate before adding the rest of the cream and folding until well combined. The cream should hold its shape, if it doesn't continue whisking until it reaches the right consistency but be careful not to over-whisk (like I think I might have done...)
• Unroll the cooled sponge and spread the cream all over, right to the edges, then roll the sponge back up again.
• Finally, if you want to, melt a bar of dark chocolate and pour and spread it all over the outside of the cake.

And that's it! For both this recipe and Blogmas! I hope you've enjoyed it and I hope you have a lovely Christmas tomorrow if you celebrate it and a lovely day if you don't!

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