Bake a Yule Log Cake!

When I was a little girl, I pointed to a picture one day in my mother's Sunset magazine cookbook and said, "Mommy, I want you to make THAT!" And I pointed to a picture of the yule log cake. It was a roll cake made to look like a fallen log in the woods, with little mushrooms growing off of it (meringue) and a light dusting of snow (powdered sugar) across its bark (chocolate frosting).

Doesn't that sound just great? If you're not convinced, try staring at the picture here for a little bit.... (you're getting hungry.... for yule log cake...)

Here are some great recipes and variations for baking your own delicious Yule Log Cake!

Here are some suggestions to help you with the frosting effects found on a yule log cake. Some variations can be extremely realistic looking, while others are more cake-like in appearance. How elaborate a cake you bake is up to you.

Tree Bark - The rough texture of tree bark is often simulated by dragging a fork or a knife over the frosted cake. You can also pipe darker brown grain onto a frosted log roll. Don't try to do perfectly straight lines or markings. You get a better effect by having them be slightly crooked and wavy.

Smalls bits of extra cake can be frosted over to make little branches that stick out from the main trunk. If your branch knobs won't stay in place, try using some toothpicks to anchor them and then frost over everything. You can even carve a heart and initials in your log cake frosting if you use the tip of a bamboo skewer.

Leaves - These can be made from frosting, or they can be very thin jelly candies with a little frosting piped on to make veins, or you can go all out and craft them from marzipan.

Ivy - Carefully washing a piece of dwarf ivy, you can then lay this on top of the finished cake. As this is a non-edible decoration, be sure to remove this before serving. You can also make ivy by piping frosting on the log. Use a circular tip for the vine part, and then switch to a wider, flat nozzle for leaves.

Snow - A light dusting of snow can be easily added by sprinkling powdered sugar over the frosting at the very end. If you don't have a powdered sugar sprinkler, you can put some into a small strainer and gently tap it with a spoon to create the same effect. Shake out just enough so that where the sugar lands naturally on the top of the log forms a thin solid layer.

Mushrooms - these are often a fun addition to a Yule Log cake, and they are crafted from meringue and baked separately. These often get cocoa dusted over them to make them look more like fungi.