Chocolate, Rye & Amaretto Yule Log

Thanks to Doves Farm for sponsoring this post

Every year for Christmas I make the Christmas Day dessert and, for the past few years, I’ve ended up making some kind of yule log. It’s such a great cake to have for festive celebrations – there are so many flavour combos you can do with the cake, filling and glaze, and so many ways to decorate it. I stick with the same roll cake recipe from my mum’s family cookbook and just adapt it differently each time.

This year I’ve made things a bit fancier & sophisticated by using Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour (available from Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and dovesfarm.co.uk) and a touch of cocoa in the sponge. The rye flour really helps to create the softest sponge and highlights the earthy nuttiness of the cocoa powder too. Doves Farm is the UK’s #1 organic flour brand (Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 21 April 2019) who produce a range of amazing flours, from traditional types like plain white and self-raising, to their ancient grains range which includes rye and spelt.

To add extra layers of chocolatey-ness I included melted dark chocolate in the whipped cream filling which is also spiked with Amaretto for that boozy hit. If you’re serving it to kids though, feel free to replace the alcohol with some brewed, cooled coffee with a touch of almond extract.

The most satisfying part about making this cake is the glaze – just a simple milk chocolate ganache – which you get to pour over the cake, enrobing it in a shiny, glistening coat. I decorated this with flaked almonds, some snowflake sprinkles and edible gold dust but a simpler option is to fork through the ganache (once set) in long streaks to give it a ‘tree bark’ texture and then dust lightly with icing sugar ‘snow’. It always looks so festive and fun when decorated like that I think!

Chocolate, Rye & Amaretto Yule Log

A chocolate sponge roll cake made with rye flour, coated with a creamy milk chocolate ganache. It's also filled with a dark chocolate & amaretto cream making it perfect for Christmas baking.
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Course: Cake
Cuisine: French
Keywords: almond, amaretto, cake, chocolate, cocoa powder, cream, rye flour
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

Filling:

  • 200 ml double cream
  • 30 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), melted
  • 4 tbsp Amaretto

Ganache:

  • 100 ml double cream
  • 100 g milk chocolate , finely chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C non-fan). Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking tin (or baking tray with high sides) and line with a piece of baking paper. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar using electric beaters until pale, fluffy and tripled in volume.
    3 medium eggs, 125 g granulated or caster sugar
  • In a separate bowl, combine the rye flour, white flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Stir with a fork or whisk to remove any lumps. Add this all to the bowl of beaten eggs and fold together gently using a spatula until just combined.
    50 g Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour, 20 g Doves Farm Organic Plain White Flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder, Pinch of salt, 5 g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread out gently into an even layer. Bake for 12-15 minutes until puffed and pale on top. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake from the tin as needed.
  • Dust a clean tea towel with icing sugar and flip the cooked cake out onto it. Trim off the very edges of the cake (they’re crusty so don’t roll well) using a pair of scissors or a sharp knife. Gently peel away the baking paper then, starting at a short edge, roll the cake up with the tea towel (almost as if the tea towel is the filling of the cake). Leave the rolled cake seam side down to cool completely at room temperature.
    Icing sugar
  • Once the cake has cooled, make the filling by whipping the cream until billowy but still forming soft peaks. Fold in the melted chocolate (make sure it has cooled a bit before folding in) followed by the amaretto.
    200 ml double cream, 30 g dark chocolate, 4 tbsp Amaretto
  • Make the ganache by heating the cream in a small pot until gently steaming. Place the chopped milk chocolate into a small heatproof bowl and pour the steaming cream over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes so the chocolate can melt then stir together until completely smooth. Set aside at room temperature so it can thicken slightly – you want it to be the texture of a thick glaze so it’s still pourable but not super runny.
    100 ml double cream, 100 g milk chocolate
  • Carefully unroll the cooled cake and spread the filling all over the surface of the cake. Re-roll the cake and place onto a wire rack set over a baking tray.
  • Pour the cooled ganache over the cake and leave so that the excess glaze drips off onto the tray below. Once the glaze has stopped dripping, use a metal spatula to transfer the cake to a serving platter. You can serve it now or chill for up to 24 hours before serving.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!