Indulge in a festive classic with this Yule Log (bûche de Noël) recipe, a stunning Christmas dessert that transforms a simple Swiss roll into a show-stopping centrepiece. Featuring a soft, chocolate sponge and a luscious cream filling, this traditional Yule log is perfect for holiday entertaining and adds instant magic to any Christmas table.
Whether you’re seeking an easy Yule log recipe or a modern twist on the French bûche de Noël, this iteration supplies the best of both. The creamy chocolate spread and addition of raspberries makes it a little lighter (but just as decadent) for an Australian climate. While we’ve kept our decorations simple, feel free to let our creative spirit shine with the addition of chocolate ‘bark’, fondant ‘ornaments’ or other additions that might make your Yule log look even more festive.
How to make a Yule log
Ingredients
Method
For sponge, preheat oven to 180˚C fan-forced. Grease and line a 25cm x 35cm Swiss roll tin or oven tray with baking paper. Whisk eggs in an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (6-8 minutes). Meanwhile, stir sugar and 1½ tbsp water in a small saucepan over high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil without stirring. With motor running, add hot syrup to eggs and whisk on medium speed until mixture cools and holds a thin ribbon (6 minutes).
Sieve in flour and cocoa, fold to combine, then fold in butter. Spread batter evenly in prepared tray and bake until sponge springs back when gently pressed (8-10 minutes).
Carefully turn out onto a clean tea towel lined with baking paper and dusted with cocoa and peel baking paper off base of sponge. Loosely roll sponge in tea towel, starting from a long edge, and leave to cool (30 minutes).
Meanwhile, for chocolate cream, heat chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch water and stir frequently until melted (5 minutes); remove from heat and cool. Place butter in bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth (30 seconds), then add cream cheese and beat on low speed until combined. Gradually add melted chocolate and beat until smooth; then add cream and beat until soft peaks form (5 minutes). Stand chocolate cream at room temperature until ready to assemble. (Do not refrigerate).
Once your sponge has cooled, unroll to assemble. Using a small offset spatula, spread two-thirds of cream evenly over sponge, leaving a 2cm border along a long edge. Scatter raspberries evenly on top of cream, then roll cake up slowly.
Using a long spatula, transfer cake to a platter. Spoon remaining cream over the bûche de Noël. Scatter with chocolate shards, extra raspberries and slivered pistachios.
Roll sponge while still warm as this shapes the cake for the final roll and stops it breaking. Liberally coat baking paper with cocoa to stop sponge sticking.
Notes
Yule Log FAQs
A Yule log cake is a Christmas dessert resembling a traditional Yule log. The Yule log is a piece of wood that was decorated and burned as part of an ancient European ceremony. Per the tradition, a family would select a large log, decorate it, and then burn it over 12 days as an offering. They hoped this would deliver warmth and good fortune through the harsh winter months, and bring the swift return of the sun!
Meanwhile, the Yule log dessert is a thin sheet or sponge cake, layered with cream or ganache and rolled into the shape of the cylindrical log. It is often covered in chocolate icing and decorated to look more like an actual log. In France, the Yule log is better known as ‘bûche de Noël’.
A Yule log and Swiss roll can be the same: they’re both rolled, cream filled sponge cakes! What separates the two is that a Yule log is often made to look like an actual log!
Both a Yule log and Swiss roll can be chocolate or other flavours of cake, although chocolate is preferred for the Yule as it naturally has the brown colouring of a log. The Yule log is also specifically made at Christmas and often features decorations that reflect the festive occasion.
In short: A Yule log is essentially a Christmas version of a Swiss roll.
The Yule log tradition (i.e. the burning of a log) originated in northern Europe, in Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway), Germany and some Celtic regions (England, Ireland and France). However, it was France that eventually created the dessert tradition of a Yule Log, i.e. the bûche de Noël.
