Bûche de Noël is a traditional Christmas cake that originated in France in the 19th century and spread not only to nearby countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland), but also to further away countries (Vietnam being one of them!) due to colonization.

A traditional bûche is made of a sponge cake and resembles a Yule log. The sponge cake is iced, rolled to form a cylinder, then iced again on the outside. The most common flavors of icing are chocolate, vanilla, and coffee, but you will find MANY variations for all tastes and preferences.

In my family (similar to most French families), we would always have one bûche de Noël for our Christmas Eve dinner. Sometimes we would even have two: a traditional chocolate bûche, and another one with a flavor we haven’t tried yet.

One year, my parents and I were in charge of buying and bringing the bûche to my grandparents’ house- which is more than an hour away – for our Christmas Eve dinner. It was the only bûche that we planned on having that year. Well, the bûche never made it to their house because we forgot it in our fridge, and we had no other dessert… To this day, my family will call each other in the afternoon before the dinner to make sure that the bûche will make it to the party.

INGREDIENTS FOR BÛCHE DE NOËL

• Sugar
• Corn flour
• Lemons
• Eggs
• Butter
• Flour

DIRECTIONS FOR BÛCHE DE NOËL

There are 3 main steps in this recipe.

We will first make the lemon cream, which will sit aside while we make and bake the sponge cake. Once we have spread the lemon cream onto the cake and rolled it, we will make and spread the meringue. We will finally torch it just before serving.

Make the lemon cream

1. Add the sugar and corn flour in a large bowl. Mix in about a quarter of the lemon juice and stir.
2. Beat the 3 eggs in another bowl.
3. Add the eggs and the remaining lemon juice in the first bowl. Stir well.
4. Transfer to a pot and heat up on medium-high. Stir continuously until the mixture starts boiling.
5. As soon as it is boiling, remove from heat and add the butter. Stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula until the butter has fully melted.
6. Transfer the cream back to the first bowl and set aside in the fridge.

Make the sponge cake

1. Separate the yolks and whites of the first 2 eggs in two bowls. Set aside the bowl with the egg whites.
2. Add the 2 whole eggs to the bowl with the yolks.
3. Add 70 g of sugar and stir well until the mixture is foamy. Set this bowl aside.
4. Get the bowl with the 2 egg whites and transfer to a stand-up mixer.
5. Whip up the egg whites on high speed for 30 seconds, then add 15 g of sugar.
6. Whip up for another minutes and add the remaining 15 g of sugar.
7. Whip up until stiff peaks form.
8. At this moment, pre-heat your oven to 220°C / 410°C.
9. Fold the egg whites into the yolk-sugar bowl using a spatula. Start with two spoonfuls of whipped egg whites and keep adding as you fold them into.
10. Add the flour into the mix using a metal sieve. Stir until well-combined.
11. Pour the mix onto a rectangular silicone mold (like the “cookie sheet” of this set) or onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. The mold or baking sheet will ideally be 1.5 cm to 2 cm thick.
12. Spread the mix evenly using an icing spatula.
13. Bake for 8 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and flip the sponge cake. Then gently remove the parchment paper.

Assemble the bûche

1. Lay the sponge cake flat.
2. Cut off the end of all sides.
3. Spread the lemon cream evenly on the cake, leaving 3 cm on a long end uncovered- the filling will get pushed on this part when we roll it.
4. Gently roll the sponge cake and place it on a serving plate.
5. Set aside in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Make and spread the meringue

1. Add the 2 egg whites to the bowl of your stand-up mixer.
2. Whip up the whites for 30 seconds, then add half of the sugar.
3. Whip up for another minute and add the remaining sugar.
4. Whip up until stiff peaks form.
5. Take the bûche out of the fridge and spread the meringue evenly using the icing spatula. Set the bûche in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Serve the bûche

Torch the bûche just before serving. For decoration, you can garnish with a few branches of sugared rosemary.