Christmas is here and it’s time to start thinking about special desserts to impress your loved ones – this yule log cake is one of them!

This soft and fluffy yule log cake with dulce de leche is a Christmas dessert that will become the star of your holiday meals!

What is a Yule Log or Bûche De Noël?

This dessert has its origin in France and evokes the ancient tradition of bringing a tree into homes and burning it to welcome the winter solstice at the end of December. Over time, people have adapted the tradition to create a log-shaped cake to celebrate the holidays.

The yule log, or Bûche De Noël, consists of a chocolate sponge cake rolled and filled with cream and then topped with a chocolate ganache. The purpose of this dessert is to resemble a log. However, in this case we will make a snowy yule log, we´ll top the sponge cake with homemade whipped cream, and we´ll fill it with dulce de leche.

Although it may seem a difficult dessert to make, it is composed of three parts that must then be assembled: sponge cake, dulce de leche and whipped cream.

How to Make Snowy Yule Log

Sponge Cake

1. In a large bowl, add 5 egg yolks and beat with a hand held mixer for one minute. Then, add 4 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Continue beating for one more minute until foamy and pale yellow.

2. Preheat the oven to 356ºF (180ºC) .

3. In a separate bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1 pinch of salt; and then sprinkle into the yolk mixture. Stir gently with folding movements until combined.

4. Zest an orange, with a microplane or a box grater, and add the orange zest into the yolk mixture. Keep mixing with folding movements until integrated. Tip: Make sure to remove the orange part of the skin only as the white part bitters.

5. Clean the beaters so that no yolk remains. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed for one minute until soft peaks form. Slowly add 4 tablespoons of granutaled sugar and keep beating on high speed for 4 minutes until stiff peaks form. A trick to know that the meringue is done is when you turn the bowl upside down and it doesn’t fall out.

6. With the help of a spatula, fold the meringue into the egg yolks in three batches. Gently mix with slow folding movements, a bottom-to-top and top-to-bottom motion, until combined.

7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the batter evenly (its texture is like a mousse) forming a rectangle of approximately 12×14 inches.

8. Bake for 15 minutes.

9. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool at room temperature for half an hour.

Filling

10. Once the sponge cake has cooled to room temperature, flip it over onto a new parchment paper, or a clean kitchen towel, and carefully peel off the parchment paper. 

11. Spread the dulce de leche over the cake, leaving the edges free. Roll up the cake, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for two hours.

Topping

12. In a large bowl, pour 1 cup of whipping cream and beat on medium speed until thickened. Then, add in 5 tablespoons of granulated sugar and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form.

13. Remove the cake roll from the refrigerator and trim the two ends of the log, one diagonally and the other straight. Place the diagonal cut on one side of the cake.

14. Pour and spread whipped cream all over the top, leaving the ends exposed. If desired, run a fork through the whipped cream to make lines so that it resembles a tree bark, even if it has snow on top! Feel free to spread whipped cream on the ends as well, and present it as a log completely buried in snow. As you wish! Et voilà… you now have a snowy yule log ready to serve!

Before serving, decorate the log with some blueberries, raspberry and mint leaves, lightly sprinkled with icing sugar.