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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nEven though I now own a still-unused candy thermometer, I’ve been content to forever swear off<\/a> my Christmas fantasy of making Buche de Noel. <\/em>But when I went to my weekly consulting gig at a mental health agency on December 20, they had an incredible dense chocolate version from Sweet Adeline<\/a>, the kind of bakery cafe I would want to open if I still harbored fantasies about opening a bakery cafe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This Buche<\/em> was a rich swirl of buttercream and chocolate smothered in chocolate ganache. By the time I got there, the staff had pretty much eaten away it’s log-like appearance, which is probably just as well, since its pristine form might have intimidated me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “How hard could this be?” I asked myself, noting that it was not a delicate spongecake (which doesn’t taste very good anyway). It also had no ridiculous handmade brittle like the recipe that defeated me years before. And since just three weeks before I had made for a friend’s 70th birthday the super easy and delicious Chocolate Amazon Cake<\/a> with Mocha Buttercream Frosting<\/a> from the Cafe Beaujolais Cookbook<\/a>, I thought, “Why not pour the same batter into a jelly roll pan, then smear it with buttercream, roll it up, pour chocolate glaze on it, and see what happens?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened is pictured above. If I were auditioning for Cook’s Illustrated<\/a><\/em>, I could tell you the science and recount in obsessive detail the five attempts I made to get everything perfect. But I only made one attempt, because it was the holiday season after all, and I had menus to plan and presents to wrap. Besides, I only subscribed to the magazine so I could cut out the pretty cover art and frame it for my daughter’s new kitchen (she didn’t like it, but luckily the subscription was only $5.00 for the year). <\/p>\n\n\n\n “If the Buche<\/em> is a major fail,” I told my family, “I’ll just cut up the frosted cake chunks and layer it with whipped cream and hot fudge sauce and call it a day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once trimmed horizontally with a serrated knife (it was a little too thick; I should have made cupcakes with some of the batter) and frosted with the mocha buttercream, the cake rolled up quite nicely, thanks to a nifty parchment paper cradle that kept everything properly aligned and tight. My daughter, a devotee of The Great British Baking Show, <\/em> was impressed that I knew about parchment paper despite having lived my entire life without once watching TGBBS<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another thing–it is perfectly fine to decorate one’s Buche de Noel<\/em> with real mushrooms (and pine cones and mossy twigs and holly, as long as one does not ingest these latter items). Pomegranate seeds or cranberries with mint leaves make a nice garnish that won’t actually poison anyone. Plus, my daughter sauteed the mushrooms for her breakfast the next day, which you couldn’t do with the meringue kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t yet know if this dessert will become a Christmas tradition, or if I will go back to my longer-standing tradition of dreaming without doing. One thing is certain, however: I will NEVER make good on my fantasy of opening a bakery-cafe!! Although couldn’t you just imagine this picture on Yelp?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though I now own a still-unused candy thermometer, I’ve been content to forever swear off my Christmas fantasy of making Buche de Noel. But when I went to my weekly consulting gig at a mental health agency on December 20, … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shrinkrapped.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christmas-2018-Lorries-masterpiece-Buche-de-Noel-e1545960421733.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1\")
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