Christmas dessert recipe: Bûche de Noël yule log

Christmas is "not complete" without a Bûche de Noël on the table, said French chef Cyril Lignac. It's the "perfect treat" to share with friends and family. This chocolate and amarena cherry log recipe is "simple to make at home", creating a "delicious dessert to enjoy for the festive season".

Ingredients: serves four people

For the chocolate rolled biscuit

• 3 organic whole eggs
• 4 organic egg whites
• 2 organic egg yolks
• 85g and 135g caster sugar
• 85g flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• Butter for the plate

For the mascarpone whipped cream

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• 125g mascarpone
• 25cl of very cold 35% full-fat liquid cream
• 65g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod

For the decor

• 3 tbsp. cherry jam
• 2 tbsp. tablespoon amarena cherry in syrup
• 40g dark chocolate shavings

Method

• Preheat the oven to 210°C.
• In a salad bowl, whisk the egg whites with 85g of the caster sugar so that they form a bird’s beak. Then in a second bowl, beat the yolks with the whole eggs and 135g of sugar, and add the flour and the cocoa powder with a spatula. Gently mix the content of the two bowls together. Pour into a buttered silicone-rimmed baking sheet or onto a silicone sheet placed on a baking sheet. Spread lightly to even out the biscuit using an angled spatula. Bake for seven minutes.
• At the end of cooking, gently unmold the biscuit upside down on a damp cloth, trim the edges to obtain a neat rectangle, roll in the cloth and leave to cool.
• Split the vanilla pod in half and collect the vanilla pulp, then place it in a ramekin. Use the pod to make vanilla sugar. In a very cold salad bowl, pour the mascarpone, beat it lightly using a hand mixer, pour the very cold liquid cream and continue to whip and pour the sugar with the vanilla pulp and whipped cream. Set aside one half in a bowl and the other half in a plastic bag fitted with a size ten plain nozzle. Chill for one hour.
• Coat the biscuit with cherry jam, then with mascarpone whipped cream, and add a few amarena cherries. Roll the biscuit without crushing it and place it in the dish.
• Place the rest of the mascarpone whipped cream on the log and create some lines on top. Sprinkle with dark chocolate shavings and add four amarena cherries. Keep the log in the fridge up until serving.

Cyril Lignac is the owner and chef of Bar des Prés restaurants in London and Paris; cyrillignac.com 

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