AceFoodDesk says here’s today’s Christmas Recipes with Kindness & Love XX A&M

Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Dec.20: 2023: The Vintage Kitchen Published: 19th Dec.2023: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Link https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

Bûche De Noël

Christmas Eve was filled with food, family, and festivity when I was a child, but I also loved the magic of all the food preparations that filled the week before – fussing and primping and putting everything together for the grand finale.

Lots of baking

Mom would make her Spritz cookies, little buttery treats in playful shapes of Christmas trees, camels, wreaths. We got the job of sprinkling them with colored sugar, and eating the broken ones of course. She also made her mincemeat cookies, and when I was older, I got to help fill them, usually greedily putting a bit too much in each, but that is how you learn. There would be sweet breads, and whatever else caught my mother’s fancy from time to time, often a weekly dousing of my Aunt Elda’s fruitcake with brandy. I have so many memories of mom in her apron, humming along to Christmas tunes on the radio, fussing over fruit pies or cakes, and totally in her element, cooking for a crowd.

Rituals

There was always an attempt at fudge. My mom was a great baker, but since she was not the most patient of cooks, she seldom cooked it long enough, so we would usually eat our fudge with a spoon, not that we minded, of course. She would get the tourtière, meat pies, made the day before, and dust off the pretty dishes and plates, and the punch bowl and little cups for serving the homemade eggnog on its own table. Mémé’s fruit bowl would make its twice-a-year appearance, along with the little pink Depression-era sugar bowl and creamer.

Making the Bûche De Noël

But my favorite creation was the Bûche De Noël, from the French Canadian side of the family, a chocolate yule log filled with blackberry jam and covered with chocolate frosting, all dressed up to look like a tree log complete with meringue mushrooms. Watching this come together was amazing to me, and helping to make the magic mushrooms was a proud task. It was pure fun, and made a great centerpiece.

Traditional or not

I still make this most years, and use my mom’s chocolate sponge filled with jam. It is more traditional to fill it with whipped cream, and I like it both ways, but since I often some dairy-challenged folks in attendance, I opt for the jam. 

Passing it on

This past weekend I enlisted my granddaughter’s help in creating one for a small gathering here. I assigned her the tasks of making the mushrooms and the chocolate ganache, which is what I use rather than frosting because it is a little less sweet, and, well, who doesn’t like chocolate ganache. Bittersweet chocolate is our preferred, but you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate if you want it sweeter.

Always a twist

I was out of blackberry, so I substituted raspberry jam instead, and added some fresh raspberries as well. My mother brushed her sponge with brandy; I used a raspberry liquor just to enhance that raspberry flavor. If you don’t want alcohol in your cake, you can use a simple syrup instead.

Let there be fun!

Don’t be afraid of the rolling up; just don’t overbake the cake, and make sure to roll it up right out of the oven so it gets trained to be a roll!

Put on an apron, turn the radio on, there will still be some carols playing, and enlist the help of another. This is the best time to play with your food!

Sylvia’s Chocolate Sponge for Bûche De Noël

• ½ cup sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• Large pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Greases and line a 17” X 12” rimmed baking sheet with parchment, then grease again. Place a kitchen towel on the counter and dust well with confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until more than double or triple in volume, about five minutes. Don’t skimp on this step. Beat in the vanilla.

While this is beating, sift together the dry ingredients.

Fold the dry carefully into the beaten egg mixture and stir gently until there are no streaks, being careful not to deflate all the air you’ve just beat in.

Spread the mixture gently and evenly in prepared pan, all the way to the corners. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Check at 9. You don’t want this to overcook, so remove it when it first feels firm to the touch.

Take a deep breath and flip the whole pan on top of the towel. Let it set for a couple of minutes, then carefully remove the pan and the parchment liner. It should come right off.

Immediately roll up the whole thing, long end facing you. Let sit until completely cooled. This is all way easier than it might sound, and it is an important step, giving the cake a memory of its roll shape. Don’t laugh.When you unroll the sponge, it will have a memory.Brush with spirits, add the jam, and sprinkle fruit on top if using.

When ready to fill, unroll, brush with spirits if using, and add your filling of choice, jam or stabilized whipped cream, below.Re-roll, and slice off about of third of the cake at a 45-degree angle. This will be the branch

Frost with chocolate ganache or chocolate frosting, using a fork to create the bark texture. This is really fun, no matter what you do, it will look like bark.

Decorate with meringue mushrooms and mint or frosting leaves with red cinnamon balls or fresh cranberries standing in for holly berries. Sprinkle with a little confectioners’ sugar snow. You can also color coconut flakes with green food coloring sprinkle around as moss. A few rosemary sprigs add to the mood.

If filling with whipped cream:

      Use a pint of heavy whipping cream and beat it to soft peaks with a splash of vanilla and a little powdered sugar to taste. Add 4 oz. of softened full-fat cream cheese, and continue beating until fairly stiff, but don’t turn it to butter. By stabilizing, you can make this the day before.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

In a deep bowl, or bowl of your stand mixer, place 12 oz. of bittersweet chocolate chips and a scant teaspoon of espresso powder. Simmer 12 oz. of heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes, then gently stir until the funny looking mixture becomes beautiful melted dark chocolate. Make sure it is all melted.

Place in the refrigerator to cool for about a half hour, or until it just starts to set at the edges. Now you are going to whip in a stick of softened butter, a tab at a time. Whip it until nice and fluffy, stopping to scrape down and under a couple of times.

Magic Meringue Mushrooms

Beat together three egg whites until frothy. Add a half teaspoon of white vinegar or a pinch of cream of tartar to stabilize, and continue beating. Slowly drizzle in about a half cup of sugar, and whip until stiff peaks form. Add a splash of vanilla extract.

Using a piping bag with no tip, fashion little mushroom trunks, just round standing cylinders of meringue. Don’t worry if they are flat, since you can scrape them so with a knife after baking. Then, make little caps, cookie shaped mushroom tops. With a slightly wet finger, smooth down any peaks.

Bake on parchment at 200 for between one-and-a-half and two hours. They should be crisp to the touch and not rubbery. If still soft, put them back in the oven.

To assemble, level off the tops of the stems with a knife, put a little frosting or jam on top, and thus ‘glue’ the cap to the stem. Dust with a bit of cocoa powder.

© Copyright 2023– or current year, The New Vintage Kitchen. Dorothy Grover-Read. Unattributed use of this material is strictly prohibited. Reposting and links may be used, provided that credit is given to The New Vintage Kitchen, with active link and direction to this original post.

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