Cardamom, Orange, and Ricotta Buche De Noel

Merry Christmas Eve, friends! I hope you are still in your pajamas, sipping coffee, baking cookies and watching Christmas movies. I took on one last freelance recipe development project for the year, which I finished up late last night so as soon as I click “publish” on this blog post, I’m on vacation! Since I’ve been working all week, I haven’t baked one single Christmas-y treat so today, I’ll be deep in cinnamon roll dough and banana bread. I cannot wait.

But first, no Christmas dessert collection is complete without a Buche De Noel (or a Yule log cake). These are far simpler than they look. A Buche de Noel aka roulade aka jelly roll is simply a sponge cake, filled with some sort of cream or jelly, rolled and frosted to look like a Yule log. My rendition features a cardamom and orange flavored sponge, an orange ricotta cream reminiscent of cannoli filling, and a chocolate cardamom buttercream. There are so many different ways to decorate your cakes, do a simple google search for ideas and make it your own!

After 12 days of brand new recipes here on the blog, I’ll be taking a few weeks off. I have a new baby niece that I’m dying to snuggle and we are right in the middle of buying our first home so I’ll be packing and unpacking like a mad woman. It’s been a wild year, but I’ve been so blessed to be able to share it with you all in my little baby internet food community. See you in 2021!

buche de noel, yule log cake, cake, christmas, holiday baking, christmas recipes, sponge cake

Yield: makes one yule log cake

Author: Anna Ramiz

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Cardamom, Orange, and Ricotta Buche de Noel

Prep time: 1 H & 30 MCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 45 M

A traditional Christmas cake featuring an orange cardamom sponge, filled with orange ricotta cream and frosted with a fudge-y cardamom frosting. Sponge recipe adapted from Helen Goh and Yotam Ottolenghi.

Ingredients

for the cardamom sponge cake

• 8 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup + 2 tbsp (140 g) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (80 g) all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• powdered sugar, for dusting

for the orange ricotta cream

• 1/2 cup (115 g) heavy cream
• 1/4 cup (30 g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup (110 g) whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt

for the chocolate cardamom buttercream

• 1 stick (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 cup (70 g) powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 6 oz dark chocolate

Instructions

to make the sponge cake

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a rimmed half-sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, begin whipping the egg whites on medium speed. Once the whites become frothy, add the 1 1/2 tsp sugar and increase speed to medium-high. Whip until medium peaks form, then transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
3. In that same mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, remaining 140 g of sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Whip on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes, until the mixture is thick and pale.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl.
5. When the egg yolks are voluminous, remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Sprinkle half of the flour over the top of the yolks and gently fold in using a rubber spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour and mix carefully, just until no flour streaks remain.
6. Add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites to the mixture and gently fold them in. Repeat in two more additions with the remaining whites. When everything is folded in, the batter should be smooth and no streaks of egg whites should remain.
7. Pour into your prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
8. After the cake has been cooling for about 10 minutes, dust the top of the cake with a thin layer of powdered sugar. Turn the cake out onto a large clean dish towel and use a sharp knife to trim the edges.
9. Then working on a longer end and using the towel, gently roll the cake into a log. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before unrolling.

to make the orange ricotta cream

1. In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, orange zest, vanilla, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip heavy cream on medium speed until soft peaks begin to form. Add the powdered sugar, and continue whipping until combined and thickened.
3. Gently fold whipped cream into the ricotta mixture and smooth in an even layer over the surface of your unrolled cake.
4. Chill the cake for about 30 minutes, or until you are ready to frost.

to make the buttercream

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a double-boiler. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, cardamom, salt, and vanilla. Beat for 1-2 minutes until butter is soft and smooth.
3. Add the powdered sugar and continue beating until frosting is thick and all of the powdered sugar has been combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually stream in chocolate, mixing until homogenized. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix for another minute or so, to ensure that everything is completely combined.

to assemble

1. Use a small offset spatula to coat the cake log in a layer of chocolate frosting.
2. Use a serrated knife to trim the edges, just so that they are straight and even. Cut a piece about 4” long from the end of the log and then cut that piece in half on a diagonal.
3. Place each diagonal piece on the edge of the log, to look like a yule log. Fill in the gaps with frosting and then use the spatula to create waves in the log to look like bark. Decorated with pomegranate arils, rosemary springs, cranberries, or any over desired foresty-decorations.

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Classic Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Milk Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I spent this past weekend in Knoxville drinking wine on front porches (and huddled around fires) and soaking up all the fall weather that I could. The official purpose of my trip was to help out with a Side by Side wine dinner some friends were hosting. It was a private dinner perched atop an East Tennessee hillside, with sprawling views of the city, a picturesque backdrop for one of the most beautiful dinners I’ve ever been a part of. I spent the weekend hand rolling agnolottis, singing karaoke, having drinks with one of the most prolific food writers around, and drinking 1995 vouvray. It’s been a long time since I’ve had friends that felt more like family and every time I leave Knoxville I start thinking about my next excuse to return.

Recently, I’ve been trying to shift my mindset from apprehension to gratitude. There has been a lot of transition in leaving a full-time career to pursue a future in food writing and my day-to-day has taken some getting used to. Having to manage my time and discipline myself to put in the work, whether in the kitchen or at the computer, has challenged me in ways I didn’t anticipate. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been working all day and still don’t have anything to show for it and I often find myself holding a tight grasp to the “someday”, looking forward to the day when I see a paycheck, my name on a byline, or my own book in my hands. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that I have a goal to push towards on the days when I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m realizing that I also don’t want to miss the time I have right now. I’m trying to view my days as flexible instead of empty, grateful that I am able to take a weekend in Knoxville or that I have the time to make a birthday cake, like this one, for a sweet friend. These are the times I want to make the most of.

All of that being said, let’s be grateful for whatever season we’re in and let’s chat about Swiss meringue buttercream. I have never been a fan of traditional American buttercream, it’s a little too sweet for me and I don’t like its gritty texture. During culinary school, however, I discovered an entire world of buttercreams. Swiss buttercream is one of the easier buttercreams to execute and its silky smooth texture makes it one of the best for frosting layer cakes. You begin by heating egg whites and sugar over a double boiler, stirring frequently to make sure that you don’t end up with chunks of cooked egg whites because that’s gross. You’re going to heat the mixture to about 160 degrees F (feel free to use a candy thermometer if that floats your boat), but I find it’s easiest to just watch for the sugar to dissolved. The mixture should be warm to the touch and you should be able to rub a little between your fingers without feeling any sugar crystals. You will then transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and beat it until it is stiff and glossy and room temperature. This is really important because your meringue and your butter need to be the same temperature or you will either have a chunky mess or a liquid mess-either way, a mess. With the mixer on medium high speed, add the butter piece by piece. As soon as the butter is completely added, switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. At one point, your buttercream may look a little curdled and you may think it’s about to break. This is okay, as you continue to beat it, it will thicken up and start to take on that voluptuous buttercream shape. If it looks a little liquidy after you’ve added all the butter, pop the entire bowl into the fridge for a few minutes to cool it off and then try mixing it again. Because of all the butter in this recipe, when you add the melted chocolate, this buttercream tastes like a big glass of Ovaltine and takes on an ultra smooth consistency, perfect for cake swooping.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake 

Yield: 1-1/2 sheet pan or 3-8” cake layers or 6-5” cake layers

Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt 

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/2 cup olive oil 

1 T vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature 

1 cup brewed coffee, warm 

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, olive oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until no lumps or flour streaks remain. Whisk in warm coffee until homogenized.

4. Divide and/or pour batter into your prepared cake pans. Baking times will vary depending on the size of your pans. For a 1/2 sheet pan, I baked the cake for 7 minutes, rotated it, and baked for another 10-12 minutes. For 8” cake pans, I would recommend baking for 12 minutes, rotating, and then another 12 minutes, adding more time if needed. You will know that the cake is done when the top springs back when touched and the edges begin to pull slightly away from the sides of the pan.

5. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Slice and layer as desired!

Chocolate Milk Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients: 

115 g egg whites

230 g sugar

345 g unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

Procedure: 

1. Create a double boiler, using a heat-proof bowl and a medium saucepan. Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl and heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 160 degrees or mixture is hot to the touch. Make sure that all of the sugar crystals are dissolved.

2. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high speed until completely cool. You should have a stiff, glossy meringue that forms peaks when the whisk is lifted out of it.

3. With the mixer on medium-high speed, add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, making sure each piece is incorporated before adding the next. It is very important at this point that the butter and the meringue are the same temperature before adding the butter. As soon as you add the last of the butter, switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment and beat on high speed until mixture is smooth, light, and fluffy. It should look like a familiar buttercream at this point.

4. Melt chocolate over a double boiler and then cool to room temperature.

5. With the mixer on low speed, add melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold buttercream, ensuring that everything is evenly mixed.

*Note: Measuring egg whites without a kitchen scale is a pain in the butt, so you will notice that this recipe is written using metric measurements. If you’re interested in why I think all baking should be done using a kitchen scale, you can read more here. If you don’t have a kitchen scale and have your heart set on making this Swiss buttercream, there is a bit a of a workaround. An average large egg weighs about 50 grams and each white weighs about 30 grams. You can do a little mental math to divide 30 into 115 and then use the number of egg whites that will get you closest. Also, one stick of butter weights about 113 grams and a cup of sugar weighs about 200 grams. If you are feeling like a real arithmetic whiz, you can scale this recipe up or down fairly easily. Swiss Meringue buttercream always uses 1 part egg whites, 2 parts sugar, and 3 parts butter. Feel free to get a little wild!

Everyday Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Good cake should not be a rarity. Everyday, no matter the challenges and struggles we might face, there are small things that should be celebrated. I think that celebrating the little things helps to keep us grounded and grateful, it helps me not get overwhelmed by the big stuff that I can’t always control. And my favorite way to celebrate is through cake! This “everyday cake” is my take on the classic yellow boxed cake, jazzed up a little.

When you think about that quintessential yellow cake, it’s marked by moistness and fluffiness (those are very technical descriptions). In order to create an extra moist cake, I used both butter and oil in this recipe. I chose to use olive oil because I wanted to give a slightly grassy and full flavor, but you can easily substitute another more neutral oil. I used a blend of cake and all purpose flour to create a fluffy cake that would still hold up under the weight of the ganache. Cake flour has a lower protein level than other flours, so it creates less gluten which results in a lighter, fluffier crumb. You could also use all cake flour for the total flour amount, or even all AP flour (just remember your cake will be a little heavier).

For this frosting, I didn’t want anything cloyingly sweet so I decided to use Rose Levy Beranbaum’s ganache frosting method and it turned out wonderfully and couldn’t be simpler. Using a food processor, pulse your chocolate to create small crumbs. Then heat heavy cream to a scald and pour into the running food processor, processing for about a minute until everything is emulsified. Then, transfer the ganache frosting to a bowl and let it cool until room temperature and slightly set up. This created a frosting that was denser than a traditional chocolate frosting, yet lighter than a ganache. Perfect for this everyday cake for all of your little celebrations!

Everyday Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Yield: 1 3-layer 8” cake

Ingredients: 

for the cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder 

1 1/2 tsp salt 

1 1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup olive oil 

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

5 eggs 

3 egg yolks

for the ganache frosting:

16 oz dark chocolate (60% cocoa)

17.6 oz heavy cream

Procedure: 

to make the cake: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8” cake pans with nonstick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

3. In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Set aside. 

4. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low-medium speed, add eggs, one at time, making sure they are thoroughly combined before adding the next. Remember to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl frequently to make sure that everything is being evenly combined. 

5. Reduce mixer speed to low and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Just before it is completely combined, add in half of the sour cream mixture. Alternate with another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining half of the sour cream mixture. Finish by adding the final third of the dry ingredients and mix until everything is well combined. 

6. Evenly divide batter among the three prepared pans and bake, rotating halfway through if necessary, for 25-30 minutes, until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan springs back when touched. 

7. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan and then turn them out onto a cooling rack and let rest until complete cooled.

to make the ganache frosting: 

1. When you are ready to frost the cake, place chocolate pieces in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chocolate is broken up into very small pieces. 

2. Heat the cream in a medium saucepan until just before simmering, and small bubbles begin to appear on the outer edges. Very carefully, pour in the cream into the running food processor through the feed tube and continue processing for about 30 seconds after adding the last of the cream, until everything is combined. Transfer the ganache to a bowl and let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours, until completely cooled and thickened. 

3. Just before you frost the cake, if you want your ganache a little thicker and fluffier, you can beat it in the stand mixer for a minute or two until it reaches your desired consistency. Be careful not to beat it too much, or too much air will be incorporated and your frosting will have air bubbles and won’t smooth completely when frosting. 

to assemble the cake: