Yule Log Cake
Serves: 1 (13-inch-long) cake
 
Ingredients
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 (15.25-ounce) box devil’s food cake mix*
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • Vanilla Filling (recipe follows)
  • Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)
  • ¼ cup white melting wafers
  • Garnish: confectioners’ sugar, fresh cranberries, and fresh mint
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Spray a 18×12-inch rimmed baking sheet with baking spray with flour. Line with parchment paper, spray again, and dust with flour. Sift confectioners’ sugar over a clean dish towel.
  2. In a large bowl, beat eggs with a mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add cake mix to beaten eggs, alternately with ½ cup water and oil, beginning and ending with cake mix, beating at low speed until just combined after each addition. Pour batter onto prepared baking sheet. Using an offset spatula, spread batter in an even layer.
  3. Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched in center, 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife along edges of baking sheet to release cake. Turn out cake onto prepared dish towel. Gently peel off parchment paper from cake bottom. Starting at one long side, roll up cake and towel together jelly roll style, and place seam side down on a wire rack. Let cake cool completely.
  4. Unroll cake. Using an offset spatula, spread cake with Vanilla Filling. Reroll cake without towel, and place seam side down on a cutting surface. Using a serrated bread knife in a gentle sawing motion, cut a 5-inch-long piece from one end of cake. Cut 5-inch piece in half diagonally.
  5. Place 13-inch-long cake log on a serving platter. Attach diagonally cut sections (branches) to one long side of cake log with a thin layer of Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, pressing branches into sides of cake log.
  6. Place remaining Chocolate Buttercream Frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (Wilton #12). Pipe a thin layer of frosting onto cake log and branches. Using an offset spatula, smooth frosting to cover cake log and branches completely. Drag an icing comb or a fork with even pressure across frosting to make a bark pattern.
  7. Melt wafers according to package directions. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (Wilton #3). Pipe white chocolate swirls to resemble tree rings on ends of cake log and branches.
  8. Just before serving, garnish with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and with cranberries and mint, if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
*We used Pillsbury.
Make-Ahead Tip: Cake can be baked, assembled, frosted, covered, and refrigerated until needed, up to a day. Let come to room temperature before garnishing and serving.
Recipe by TeaTime Magazine at https://teatimemagazine.com/yule-log-cake/