This week: Yule log recipes, hot chocolate bombs, cookbook and product giveaways, and more

As I was scrolling through social media on Wednesday, an article at Vogue featuring stunning Parisian yule logs stopped me in my tracks. I fully admit I am an odd duck and while the other cakes blew me away I was most taken with the modern design below by La bûche Jardin sous la Neige du Shangri-La. While I drooled over all of them, my second favorite interpretation was the Sinner Log near the bottom of the article. That being said, I would not turn away any of those gorgeous creations should they show up in my kitchen.

A Yule log cake (online recipes) (or bûche de Noël – online recipes) is a traditional Christmas cake, served near the holiday, made of sponge cake to resemble a Yule log* in the form of sweet roulade. (*The actual burning of a yule log began as a custom meant to cleanse the air of the previous year’s events and to usher in the spring, families would burn logs, not cake, decorated with holly, pinecones, or ivy. Wine and salt were also often used to anoint the logs. Once burned, the ashes were treasures said to have medicinal benefits and could guard against evil.)

Historians aren’t exactly sure who made the first Yule log cake but judging from the individual ingredients it could have been as early as the 1600s. Parisian bakers popularized the cake in the 19th century, and different bakeries became known for their more elaborate decorations. The above photo collage shows two of Darcie’s yule log creations. Aren’t they beautiful?

The original Yule log cake is traditionally made from a genoise, most often baked in a large, shallow Swiss roll pan, filled with frosting, rolled into a cylinder, and frosted on the outside. The most common combination is a sponge cake and chocolate buttercream, though many variations include chocolate cake, ganache, and icings flavored with espresso or liqueurs exist.

Yule logs are often served with one end cut off at an angle and set atop the cake or on the side of the log to resemble a tree branch. Often a bark-like texture is produced by dragging a fork through the icing, and then powdered sugar is sprinkled to mimic snow. Additional decorations for the cake can include fresh berries and mushrooms made of meringue or marzipan. This article from The Guardian on How to cook the perfect yule log written by Felicity Cloake is very helpful.

Bakers being the creative types that they are have put their artistic spins on this traditional dessert. Martha Stewart’s Yule-log layer cake, Food & Wine’s Baby bûche de Noël cookies and Food Network’s Chocolate dulce de leche stump cake are examples of how interpretations of this delicious treat have evolved.

Today, there are many molds available to help create log cakes such as this one by Nordic Ware. I have this silicone mold and this one as well which helps create a filling such as ice cream or mousse. When I make a Swiss roll, I love using this kit from Lekue because it makes rolling so much easier for me and this mini Lekue kit is adorable!

Brian Hart Hoffman of Bake from Scratch is hosting a Bûche de Noël class this coming Monday through Williams Sonoma. I attended the cookie decorating class this week which featured Emily Hutchinson, the author of Creative Cookie Decorating: Buttercream Frosting Designs and Tips for Every Occasion (a must-have for cookie decorators) and whose cookies made the cover of the Bake from Scratch Magazine Special Issue: Holiday Cookies (another must-have) and I learned so much! Bake from Scratch has a 12 Days of Holiday Cookies Workshop on December 16th at 4 pm CST. I am registering – it’s my birthday – come celebrate with me. The $10 ticket price will be donated to No Kid Hungry. Brian will be joined by Rebecca Firth and Amisha Gurbani.

On December 19th, Nancie McDermott is teaching an online class on Buche de Noel. I adore Nancie and you will too. You can find out more here.

One “new” holiday treat that I wanted to share with you today is the hot chocolate bomb craze (not to be confused with bath bombs, these are for drinking). Using silicone molds and a few ingredients, the hot chocolate bombs make great stocking stuffers and are fun to make. Gift a few wrapped bombs to someone special with a cute mug and instructions (plop a bomb in a mug, pour hot milk over, stir, and voila!) See our featured online recipe below that links to a tutorial for these tasty treats as well as the photo and link above for more details.

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The last week on the blog

Since our last roundup, Darcie has written articles entitled:

• Hanukkah recipes at hand
• International ‘Worlds of Flavor’ conference goes digital
• Holiday gifts from your favorite authors
• Homemade for the holidays

Darcie’s weekly food news antipasto is shared every Sunday #foodnews brings up these information-packed posts from the most current to the first one.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve shared:

• Worldwide Bookstore Global Events, Discounts and More
• 2020 Gift Guide for the cookbook lover and cook & an Emile Henry tagine holiday giveaway (2020 baker’s gift guide)

Giveaways have been posted for 

• 101 Greatest Cookies
• Pizza: History, Recipes, Stories, Places, People, Love
• Flavor for All and a John Boos Board
• Larousse Patisserie and Baking: The Ultimate Expert Guide, with More Than 200 Recipes and Step-by-Step Techniques
• The Chicken Soup Manifesto

Other articles of interest:

• The Kindle cookbook and holiday deals and 2021 cookbook preview are being updated frequently.
• Ideas on how EYB can work better for you
• It’s the most wonderful time of the year – cookie time! includes links to cookie roundups, recipes, and more.

Jenny and the EYB Team

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Featured Recently Indexed Titles

*Please note we have added an Errata Sheet to The Barbuto Cookbook that you can download and print under the book “notes” and we have added the corrections/clarifications for each recipe to that recipe’s notes as well.

• Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir with Recipes by Phyllis Grant
• Seriously Good Salads: Creative Flavor Combinations for Nutritious, Satisfying Meals by Nicky Corbishley
• CBD Cocktails: Take the Edge Off With Over 100 Recipes by Sailene Ossman
• The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do by Ayesha Curry
• A Blissful Feast: Culinary Adventures in Italy’s Piedmont, Maremma, and Le Marche by Teresa Lust
• How to Cook: Building Blocks and 100 Simple Recipes for a Lifetime of Meals by Hugh Acheson
• Lidgate’s: The Meat Cookbook: Buy and Cook Meat for Every Occasion b Danny Lidgate
• The Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2021: Best Recipes, Equipment Reviews, and Tastings
• Drink What You Want: The Subjective Guide to Making Objectively Delicious Cocktails by John deBary

Member Photo of the Week

Modern chicken and dumplings from Open Kitchen: Inspired Food for Casual Gatherings by Susan Spungen submitted by member shylastrath

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Featured Online Recipe

Hot chocolate bombs from sugargeekshow.com

EYBDigital Previews

Recently we uploaded our 829th EYBDigital Preview where a selection of full sample pages is available for the following cookbooks.

Learn more about EYBDigital Previews.

Note: To learn why you cannot add all EYBDigital Preview recipes to your Bookshelf, please read this Help page.

• 3 recipes from The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook by Regula Ysewijn
• 3 recipes from Melissa Forti’s Christmas Baking Book by Melissa Forti
• 3 recipes from Scandinavian Green: A Simple Approach to Eating Plants, Every Day by Trine Hahnemann
• 3 recipes from The Veggie Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Wok, No Meat? Over 70 Vegan and Vegetarian Takeout Classics by Kwoklyn Wan

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Cookbook Giveaways
Click on the Bold Blue Link Below to Enter

• Enter our US giveaway to win a set of cookbooks that will take you to Italy and France, respectively: Friuli Food and Wine: Frasca Cooking from Northern Italy’s Mountains, Vineyards, and Seaside and La Buvette: Recipes and Wine Notes from Paris. Expires December 31st, 2020.
• Enter our US/AU/NZ giveaway to win a copy of A Year of Simple Family Food: Delicious Recipes to Feed Your Family Through the Seasons by Julia Busuttil Nishimura. Expires December 26th, 2020.

*Publishers thank us for our continued patience while awaiting the arrival of prizes as warehouses are not operating at full capacity yet and it appears things will only get slower as the winter season takes hold. The cookbook giveaway roundup shares all current giveaways.

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