Buche de Noel aka Yule Log

Yule Log!  I made my first one based on THIS recipe - it took about 2 hours of nonstop baking and mixing, so plan ahead - I didn't make it as decorated as that picture, but it turns out pretty well - here are the pictures of the process:

Here are all the ingredients laid out - it doesn't look like much, right?  Only problem is all the damn whipping you have to do!!

Whipping egg yolks...

Whipping egg whites...

Rolling the fresh baked chocolate-whipped yolk stuff...

Applying the chocolate whipped cream (third whipped item btw)...

Cutting it to look kinda like a branch

I thinly spread some melted semisweet chocolate along parchment paper and chilled it in the fridge - the brown is a bit homogeneous but it looks decent with the powdered sugar sprinkled on top!

And ta-da!!!

By the way, it tastes AMAZING.  I'm a chocoholic and I thought the amount of powdered cocoa that goes into it wouldn't be sufficient but it was fantastic.  I love this cake.  I want to make it a tradition that we try new ways to decorate it every year - I want to try those mushroom meringues next time!

Happy Yule and Happy Holidays!  

The days start to get longer from here on out!