The bûche de Noël, or yule log cake, was created in France in the 19th century by pastry chefs who were inspired by the wood logs that burned on hearths throughout Christmas Eve. A bûche de Noël is basically a swiss roll filled with cream, frosted and presented to look like a log. Bûches are often served with a portion of one end of the cake cut off and set on top of the cake to resemble a chopped off branch, and a bark-like texture is created by pulling a fork through the buttercream frosting for further realism. These are commonly decorated with powdered sugar to resemble snow, tree branches, fresh berries and mushrooms made of meringue.
In my raw version I chose the flavour combination of chocolate and peppermint, like the After8 mints. After a heavy Christmas dinner, peppermint as a digestive and carminative is just great to end the night. I did consider other flavours such as salted caramel but decided that it might be too rich. So peppermint it was! Moreover I added medicinal herbs like the shou wu and chaga into the frostings, which I’m not sure if it a placebo effect or not, and it brings great joy to share this beautiful dessert with loved ones on the special day of Christmas, Christ is born!
Composition: chocolate sponge, peppermint cream, chocolate avocado frosting, pistachio mint moss, hazelnut cacao soil, raspberry mushrooms, fresh mint, edible flowers.
- 105 g (3/4 cup) almond pulp
- 70 g (3/4 cup) almond flour
- 48 g (1/2 cup) oat flour
- 20 g (1/4 cup) ground flax
- 12 g (2 tbsp) cacao powder
- 9 g (1 tbsp) coconut sugar
- 3/8 tsp vanilla bean powder
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
- 40 g (2 1/2 tbsp) maple syrup
- 7 g (2 tsp) coconut oil
- 160 g (1 cup) young coconut meat
- 92 g (2/3 cup) raw cashews, soaked
- 70 g (1/4 cup + 2 tsp) coconut water
- 32 g (2 tbsp) raw honey
- 20 g (4 tsp) spinach or kale juice (for colour)
- 2 dropperfuls or 48 drops peppermint extract
- 2 tsp soy lecithin
- 30 g (3 tbsp) coconut oil, melted
- 90 g (1 no) pitted avocado
- 27 g (1-2 no) pitted dates
- 20 g (4 tsp) maple syrup
- 12 g (2 tbsp) cacao powder
- 15 g melted raw chocolate (or use 5 g each of melted cacao butter and coconut oil)
- 36 g Peppermint Cream
- 1 tsp he shou wu
- 1/2 tsp chaga powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- Pinch Himalayan salt
- 50 g mint leaves
- 50 g activated pistachios
- 70 g (1/2 cup) activated hazelnuts
- 18 g (2 tbsp) coconut sugar
- 15 g (1 1/2 tbsp) cacao paste, chopped
- 6 g (1 tbsp) raw cacao powder
- 4 g (1/2 tbsp) mesquite powder
- 1 tsp lucuma powder
- 1/2 tsp chaga powder
- 1/4 tsp vanilla bean power
- Pinch Himalayan salt
- Place the almond flour, almond pulp, oat flour, ground flax, cacao powder, coconut sugar, vanilla and salt in a food processor and process until well combined. Add in the maple syrup and coconut oil and process again few times until well combined. Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to 18 cm x 23 cm rectangle of about 0.6 cm thick. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
- Place all the ingredients except for the soy lecithin and coconut oil in a blender. Blend until very smooth, then add in the lecithin and coconut oil. Blend again until well combined. The consistency should be thick. Transfer the batter out into a bowl and place in the freezer for 1 hour to firm up.
- Place the ingredients in a food processor and blend until very smooth. Allow to set in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Place the fresh mint leaves in the dehydrator and dry for 24 hours or until completely dry. In a spice grinder, pulverize the mint and pistachios separately to a fine powder, then combine and store in an air-tight container.
- In a spice grinder, pulverize the hazelnuts to a fine powder. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse a few times to combine. Store in an air-tight container.
- Spread a 1/2-inch layer of peppermint cream over the chocolate sponge. Roll the sponge along the short edge. Transfer to the freezer to set, preferably overnight. Once the cake is fully firm and frozen, prepare to frost the outside. Transfer the chocolate avocado frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a plain circle piping tip. Decorate the outside as you like, making it look like a log. Once done, store in the freezer. Bring out 10 minutes before serving.
- Decorate the serving board with the pistachio mint moss and hazelnut cacao soil.
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