Buche de Noel and Baked Alaska

Literally, “Yule Log,” this is a traditional Christmas cake from France. Essentially, it is a sponge cake made in a jelly roll pan, filled with a fluffy filling such as mousse, meringue, or pastry cream, rolled up into a log. It may be a chocolate cake, or a white or yellow cake, and it may be a white filling, chocolate filling, or other flavor—there is lots of flexibility in how you might like to combine the elements. The ends are cut off at a slant and the cut ends are fixed to the log to look like cut branches. The whole is frosted with buttercream or other frosting, then the frosting is scumbled with a fork to resemble bark. Decorations are meringue mushrooms dusted with cocoa, fresh holiday greens, and a dusting of confectioner’s sugar at the last minute to look like snow. This recipe used a chocolate sponge cake recipe from a Martha Stewart magazine holiday baking issue; the filling is Italian meringue (stabilized by being made with hot sugar syrup beaten into the egg whites) flavored with bittersweet chocolate, and the frosting is more Italian meringue with chocolate and extra cocoa added to make it stiff enough to spread. Both filling and frosting are Julia Child recipes. If you would like the entire group of recipes, let me know.

Baked Alaska
Base: pound cake from a mix, baked in an 8” springform pan and split horizontally, or two 8” cake pans (freeze the unused half in each case for use another time).

Ice cream: Find a bowl with an 8”-wide top, spray very well with non-stick pan spray, line well with plastic wrap, and pack with two or three of your favorite varieties of ice cream, in successive layers. Cover and freeze til hard. Invert the ice cream onto the cake and put back in the freezer.

Meringue: Spread on, or pipe on with a large pastry bag and large star tip, Swiss meringue made with 8 egg whites (adjust the other ingredients from your recipe accordingly). Swiss meringue, like Italian meringue, is more stable than plain uncooked meringue, but unlike Italian meringue is not made with hot sugar syrup, rather the eggs and sugar are beaten in a double boiler over hot water until warm, then beaten to stiffness.

If making ahead, put the completed dessert in the freezer, it will keep for a few hours, perhaps longer.

When ready to serve, put broiler on 500 degrees and place Baked Alaska under it for a minute or two, until meringue begins to color. Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of brandy or cognac in the microwave until hot (30 seconds) and pour over Baked Alaska while touching with a match.