Yule Log Cake from Frogmorton

Here is a traditional Yule cake from Frogmorton! I amended it a bit though – no frog legs in this one. Basically, it is just a sweet roll that has been formed in a way that it looks like a log. There are many ways to make this one. I tried this recipe a week ago and it worked – the log was eaten in 24 hours!

I suppose you can use many things here as the filling (your favourite jam, buttercream, whipped cream, chocolate mousse…). In my area, we have flavoured quarks that make the filling a bit lighter than for example the buttercream.

For the dough
4 eggs
1½ dl sugar
¾ dl wheat flour
¾ dl potato starch
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

For the filling
1 dl raspberry jam
2 dl whipping cream
200 g flavoured quark (I used quark flavoured with chocolate & mint)
1 tsp vanilla sugar

For the frosting
100 g dark chocolate
200 g flavoured quark (I used quark flavoured with chocolate & mint)
1 dl whipping cream
cocoa powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 225 °C. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar into a hard, light-coloured foam. Mix the dry ingredients together and add them into the egg–sugar foam carefully.

Pour the dough evenly onto a baking pan covered with baking paper, smoothen it if necessary. Bake the dough in the preheated oven for approx. 7 minutes.

Take another baking paper sheet and sprinkle it with sugar. Place the baked dough on the paper and let it cool down. Spread the raspberry jam on the dough.

For the filling, whip the cream and add the quark and vanilla sugar. Spread the filling on the dough. Leave an area of 5 cm free at the front edge. Roll the dough. Place the roll with the seam side facing down. Cut the both ends “clean”, and then cut a piece off from both ends. Place the long remaining piece onto a serving tray. Form the two cut pieces into “branch stumps” and attach them onto the log or on its sides.

Make the frosting: Melt the chocolate and mix it with the quark. Whip the cream and add it to the chocolate mix. Spread the frosting over the cake. Take a fork and run it down the length of the cake to make the surface look like bark. You can sprinkle some cocoa powder (through a sieve) on the cake to make the surface darker.