Sugar High Friday #26, Sugar Art: Bûche de Noël Pastorale

Voilà une bûche de Noël for Sugar High Friday #26, Sugar Art.  This month's event is sponsored by the ever-adventurous Danielle, of the gorgeous and provocative blog  Habeas Brûlée. 

My woodland scene includes a pure-white marzipan pig which I swiped when my brother and SIL hosted us at a wonderful holiday luncheon at Scandinavia House a few weeks ago.  Piggy is truffle hunting, and has just come upon a gigantic cache of truffles (yes, I'm aware that's not how it happens) next to a prehistorically gigantic yule log.  The scale's kind of off, but I was going with a concept, ya see. 

Each Christmas Eve we go to my beloved cousin's home for a family dinner.  We always have a good time, and feel very lapped in the best sort of family love and warmth.  And each Christmas I bring several multiple sets of cookie assortments -- one for the holiday table, one for cousin Diane and her husband to stash away for themselves, and various other gift assortments.   One year I tried bringing just one cookie assortment for the table, and since there were other desserts, Diane tried to put it away while no-one was looking.  Unfortunately she was discovered in the act and other family members raised a battle cry.  Ever since then, I bring enough cookie stashes for all. 

In addition, I'm generally called upon to make some sort of chocolate cake, since this is far and away the favorite family dessert.  However, because of younger family members and their preferences, it's got to be straight-up chocolate -- no coffee or orange or raspberry, no rum or cognac, and certainly nothing as outré as chestnut, which was an idea I toyed with for a while, and then set aside. 

This year I thought a bûche de Noël would fit the bill, as long as I kept it to straight chocolate, with maybe a vanilla filling.  I used a bittersweet chocolate roulade recipe from Cooks' Illustrated, which I will not reprint here, since I would not use it again.  It wasn't ghastly, and in fact everyone oohed and ahhed and gobbled it all down quite nicely.  But it was very labor intensive -- lots of beating of yolks, and then separate beating of whites -- and then it all deflated when the flour and cocoa were added after the whites had been folded in -- a direction I thought rather bizarre to begin with.   Then it shrank strangely in the oversize pan that I purchased specifically for this purpose.   And then it cracked when I rolled it.  In addition, it was just a teensy bit rubbery for my slightly perfectionist taste  -- perhaps too high a proportion of eggs to other ingredients.  I had expected it would be like a fallen chocolate soufflé cake, rolled around the vanilla filling and iced with ganache.  Truthfully, it all tasted quite lovely.  But then again, I probably could have filled the towel I rolled it in with vanilla-bean mascarpone filling and iced it thickly with bittersweet ganache and that towel would have tasted pretty damn good, too.  I have, however, overcome any trepidation I might have harbored about roulades or yule logs or buches, since the easiest and most fun part of the whole thing was rolling, assembling and decorating. 

So I'll leave you to find your own yule log recipes, and with wishes for the happiest and loveliest of new years, in which you may all find your hearts' desires.  I know I've found mine -- but more about that in a later post.

Comments

[Danielle]

I love that you set up this whole scene, and the adorable marzipan piggy totally makes it for me.

I wish this is how truffle hunting actually worked!

[lindy]

I have never done one of these, though I love the idea, and am always telling myself I'll give it a shot. I think yours came out splendidly, and I am especially cheered by the pig/truffle size ratio, which seems to bode well for a surfeit of truffles in the coming year.
I've never had anything to do with an actual truffle either-truffle oil is the closest I've come. Perhaps I will make a point of the yule log and the actual truffle for 2007. How's that for a self indugent resolution? Happy New Year.

[Jenni]

Always disappointing when recipes don't turn out the way you envision....I have a yule log recipe that has always turned out well - it isn't rocket science, but it is yummy. Always gets attention, too, just for being different!

ps congrats on your engagement!

[Brilynn]

I love the 'accurate-ness' of the scale! Very fun.

[Julie]

I haven't been as good about responding to comments as I like to be...

Danielle, maybe this is how CHOCOLATE truffle hunting works -- if I think of myself as the little piggy...

Lindy, I think truffles and yule logs are great resolutions for 2007. I'm definitely going to tweak the yule log and make that chocolate souffle sponge turn out to my specs.

Jenni, I would love to check out your recipe -- and thanks for your kind congrats!

The scale is silly, isn't it, Brilynn? But I did have a lot of fun putting it together!

[Lydia]

Just caught up with this post -- love the scale of the buche! I'm not much of a baker, but I just started making truffles this winter.

Congrats on your engagement!

[Joe C]

Hahaha. I love that pig!

[Anne]

Hats off to your bûche. It looks wonderful and not always an easy recipe to succeed in making. That's probably why I've never attempted one myself (despite living in the Land of the Bûches de Noël! (France).

p.s. I love how you got the pig!

[husky]

Splendid! I love it.