There is still time to get festive and get your Christmas Bakes on... This can be made as boozy as you like. Just add more Brandy (is my favourite sentence...)
Ingredients. Makes 1 Yule Log.
4 Eggs
100g Golden Caster Sugar
65g Self-Raising Flour
50g Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
Cherry Juice (from a jar of cherries in syrup, for example)
600ml Double Cream
300g Dark Chocolate
2tblsp Brandy
2tblsp Icing Sugar, plus extra to dust
Method
1. Start by making to ganache. Gently heat 300ml of the double cream in a saucepan to just below simmering point, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the broken up dark chocolate stirring until it melts and combines fully. Set aside to cool then pop into the fridge to set
2. For the cake, set the oven to 200ºc and line a baking tray with parchment. I used one roughly 20cm x 30cm. Put the eggs and caster sugar in a large bowl and beat using an electric whisk until the mixture is fluffy and pale in colour, this could take a few minutes. Add the sifted flour and cocoa powder and gently fold in with a large spoon or spatula being careful not to knock out all the air. Pour the mixture into the tin and spread evenly. Bake for 8 minutes
3. Working quickly, place a large piece of parchment on your work top and turn the cake out onto it, removing the parchment it was baked in. Brush the sponge with the cherry juice and carefully roll the sponge up with the new parchment inside, as tightly as you can. The cake will be hot, but this needs to be done before it cools too much. Take a clean tea towel and firmly roll the thing up nice and tight and leave to cool completely
4. Whip the other 300ml of cream with the brandy and icing sugar until lovely and spreadable
5. To assemble, gently unroll the cooled sponge and spread the cream evenly before re-rolling tightly. To create the branch, slice a section off one end at an angle to move it to the middle of the main section. Using a star shaped nozzle on a piping bag, pipe bark-like patterns lengthways all over the sponge. Either show off your swirl or pipe over the ends too. Dust with icing sugar and present triumphantly to awaiting guests!
6. Merry Christmas!
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