Cake
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup sugarPinch of salt
⅓ cup unbleached all purpose flour
⅓ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons finely grated orange peel
Buttercreams
1½ cups plus 1½ tablespoons sugar
1½ cups water
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
6 tablespoons Cointreau or other orange liqueur
2¼ cups (4 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ½ tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
⅔ cup macadamia nuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
Meringue Mushrooms (see recipe)
CAKE: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 17½×11×1-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and salt in large bowl at medium speed until stiff peaks form. Sift in flour and cocoa. Add orange peel; gently fold together. Spread batter evenly in prepared sheet. Bake until cake is springy to touch and just begins to pull from sides of pan, about 7 minutes. Using small sharp knife, cut around cake edges to loosen. Transfer cake and parchment to work surface and let cool.
BUTTERCREAMS: Bring sugar and 1½ cups water to boil in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling without stirring until candy thermometer registers 240°F (soft-ball stage), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush.
Meanwhile, using electric mixer, beat egg yolks in medium bowl until thickened. Add Cointreau. Gradually beat in hot syrup. Continue beating until bottom of bowl cools to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Add butter, 3 tablespoons at a time, beating at medium speed after each addition until smooth. Mix in orange juice concentrate. Transfer 3 ¼ cups buttercream to small bowl. Mix melted chocolate into remaining buttercream. (If buttercream looks broken or curdled, place bowl with buttercream over medium heat on stove burner and whisk 5 to 10 seconds to warm mixture slightly. Then remove from heat and beat mixture again at medium speed. Repeat warming and beating as many times as needed until buttercream is smooth.)
Invert cake onto sheet of plastic wrap. Carefully remove parchment. Spread orange buttercream over cake, leaving 1-inch border on long side. Sprinkle with macadamias. Using plastic wrap as aid, roll up cake jelly-roll style, starting at long side and rolling toward side with uncovered border.
Trim to make ends of roll even. Cut 2 inches off each end of roll at 45-degree angle [1]. Using plastic as aid, transfer roll to platter, seam side down. Spread some chocolate buttercream on cut ends of 2-inch pieces. With buttercream touching cake, place 1 piece atop cake off center; place second piece on 1 long side of cake to resemble tree stump. Transfer 1 cup chocolate buttercream to pastry bag fitted with ¼-inch plain tip. Spread remaining chocolate buttercream over cake. Pipe buttercream in spirals over ends of bûche and stumps, starting at center of each. Run fork tines through buttercream to create bark pattern [2].
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before serving.
Garnish with Meringue Mushrooms just before serving.Recipe Tip: Buttercream StylesThere are three primary styles of buttercream: French, Italian, and simple. This cake recipe uses French buttercream, which is made by beating hot syrup into egg yolks and finishing with butter. Italian buttercream is made by beating butter into Italian meringue. Simple buttercream is made by beating powdered sugar and butter together. Save the egg whites to use in the Meringue Mushrooms.
These little meringue cookies make the perfect embellishment to any bûche de Noël. Here, powdered sugar and egg white form the glue that sticks the meringue caps and stems together, but melted dark chocolate could also be used. Don’t worry if your caps and stems aren’t uniform; they’ll only look more natural. A tap of sifted cocoa powder just before serving creates mushroom freckles. Makes about 15
¼ cup egg whites (about 2 large), room temperaturePinch of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar mixed with ¼ teaspoon egg white (paste)
Natural unsweetened cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 150°F. Line baking sheet with parchment. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in medium bowl 1 minute to blend. Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar in small bowl. Add to egg whites in 3 additions, beating 20 seconds after each. Continue beating until meringue is stiff and glossy. Transfer mixture to pastry bag fitted with ½-inch plain tip. Pipe about fifteen ½- to 1-inch domed rounds on prepared sheet for mushroom caps. Smooth top of each with damp finger. Pipe about fifteen ½- to 1-inch peaked mounds on prepared sheets for stems. Bake until meringues are dry and beginning to color, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Let cool completely.
Using small knife, cut small hole in bottom of each mushroom cap. Dip peaked end of stem in sugar paste and push into hole in mushroom cap. Repeat with remaining stems and caps.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
Dust mushrooms with cocoa before serving.Storage Tip: MeringuesThe long baking time dries out the meringue so that the cookies become crunchy; the low temperature is what keeps them white. Any dampness or humidity will soften the meringues. Keep them crunchy by storing them in an airtight container, such as a cookie tin.
Natural foods stores and Middle Eastern markets are both good places to find the dried fruits called for in this recipe. 16 servings
Cake
1½ cups diced stemmed dried Calimyrna figs
1 cup diced pitted prunes
1 cup diced dried peaches
1 cup diced pitted dates
¼ cup spiced rum or dark rum
¼ cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons minced orange peel (orange part only)
3 cups sifted unbleached all purpose flour (sifted, then measured)
¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar