Estimated reading time: 18 minutes

This Easy Yule Log Recipe (Bûche de Noël) has a store-bought pumpkin cake roll (or use our Pumpkin Cake Roll recipe!) with a cream cheese frosting filling; It's covered in dark chocolate, chopped walnuts, sugared cranberries, decorated with raspberry-pretzel "mushrooms," dried mango slices made to look like "chicken of the woods" mushrooms, dried orange slices, sugared lavender (or rosemary) sprigs and pretzel stick "twigs," thyme & sage leaves, and surrounded by pine tree clippings. This traditional, French cake recipe is a perfect showstopping, a centerpiece for a Christmas holiday dessert table!

Easy Yule Log Recipe

Hi Everyone, this easy Yule Log recipe can be the centerpiece showstopper of your dessert table and it need not be difficult to make!

This recipe gives you the option to use a grocery/bakery store-bought cake roll or you can make a homemade cake roll, if you wish. Purchasing the cake roll, skips a step, allowing you to focus on and give time to decorating the yule log.

What is a yule log or bûche de noël)?

A yule log cake, also called, Bûche de Noël is comprised of a cylinder-shaped cake roll (genoise or Italian or French sponge cake using a cake roll pan to make it), with a sweet frosting, buttercream, or jam filling. It also has a frosting or ganache on the outside, the ends of the "log" can be covered or exposed to show the roll, in section.

There are so many flavors and variations of the cake itself, you can really make it what you want.

There are even more variations on the decorations. It can be decorated quite minimally with a simple frosting made to look like the bark of a tree, and chocolate "shards." It's often topped with a dusting of powdered sugar which represents snow falling on a log in the woods.

Many use rosemary sprigs to be the twigs, in this case, we use lavender sprigs because we have a lot of lavender plants because my father-in-law farmed lavender.

Can I use another flavor/variety/type of cake roll (recipe)?

Yes, of course, you can! We use the pumpkin cake roll recipe because of its contrasting flavor and color to the rich dark chocolate.

You can substitute the pumpkin roll with chocolate, vanilla, yellow, gingerbread, red velvet, or another type of cake roll recipe.

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History of the Yule Log (Bûche de Noël)

The Yule Log cake recipe, as it's called in the United States or "Bûche de Noël," as it's called in France, originates in France.

It's specifically considered a Christmas cake that is served around Christmas time. This recipe is most popular in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and in many former French colonies, Canada, Vietnam, and Lebanon. Variant forms of this recipe are also served in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, and Spain.

It is thought to have emerged from France in the 19th century and later spread to other countries.

The term, "yule log" dates back to the Edwardian era (source: Wikipedia).

Popular Holidays to serve Easy Yule Log Recipe (Bûche de Noël)

A yule log cake recipe could be served year-round and tailored to different holidays, celebrations & birthdays with its decorations & toppings but here is a list of the most popular holidays to serve this recipe:

• Thanksgiving - the yule log recipe is more closely associated with Christmas but Thanksgiving is a big food holiday and it would be a great featured recipe on a Thanksgiving dessert table
• Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - this is the most popular time to serve this recipe
• New Year's Eve or New Years' Day - since it is close to Christmas, it can be featured at this time, especially for a party or gathering. Perhaps, if you did not get a chance to make it for Christmas, there's always New Year's, right?

Ingredients

• 6.5-inch pumpkin cake roll - you can find them in the bakery section of the grocery store or use our Pumpkin Roll Recipe, see notes
• 10 ounces dark chocolate melting wafers, see notes
• dried mango, you can substitute the same amount of dried apple slices, see notes
• pretzel rods amount to taste
• pretzel sticks amount to taste
• pretzel nibs amount to taste
• 6 ounces raspberries, washed, gently pat dry
• 6 lavender or rosemary sprigs, or amount to taste
• granulated white sugar
• sugared cranberries amount to taste
• chopped walnuts, or, pecans, or other favorite chopped nuts of choice
• granulated white sugar for making sugared lavender sprigs - you don't have to sugar the sprigs but it makes them look like they have "ice" or "snow" on them
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• optional, non-edible decorations, like evergreen sprigs, a wreath, a pine garland, ornaments, etc.

Ideas for other toppings & decorations

• meringue mushrooms (our recipe for Almond Meringue Kisses can be used to make meringue "mushrooms")
• marzipan - can be shaped into mushrooms, you can add food coloring, or it can be made into other elements to decorate the yule log
• Peppermint Bark - to use to decorate the "bark" of the log
• animal or insect cake topper figurines can be utilized to decorate the log

Kitchen Tools

• offset spatula
• kitchen scissors
• measuring spoons & cups
• small bowls for ingredients
• cake stand (not required, but it's helpful)
• cake holder (if you need to transport the cake)
• cake knife

Recipe Notes

• Cake roll: We use a small, store-bought pumpkin cake roll for this recipe to make it easier but you can make a homemade cake roll if you prefer, check out our Pumpkin cake roll recipe. Please note that the homemade cake roll is much larger and would require more chocolate for covering the outside.
• Serving Size: Estimate a 1-inch slice for a serving size.
• Chocolate melting wafers: In this recipe, we use the melting wafers to cover the log, however, a chocolate ganache would be relatively easy to make and would make it easier to slice the cake for serving, as the chocolate tends to break up when sliced. Check out our Chocolate Ganache recipe. Optionally, you can also use buttercream, cream cheese, or another frosting instead.
• Sugared cranberries: We have a recipe on our blog on how to make sugared cranberries.
• Recipe time: Please note, that the preparation time can really depend on how elaborate you want to make this recipe. The times listed are just an estimate, at best.
• For the table display: I put the cake on a rotating cake stand and put a wreath around it, I added a pine garland on the table and vintage ornaments nested in the wreath and garland.

How to Make an Easy Yule Log Recipe (Bûche de Noël)

Step 1

Melt the Chocolate: Pour the dark chocolate melting wafers into a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on high for 30 seconds, 3 times, stirring in between.

Step 2

Prepare the cake roll: Place the cake on a cardboard cake round surface and then optionally, on top of a rotating cake stand. Cut ¼ of the end of the cake roll, ideally, at a 30-degree angle, and place it on the side of the cake, adhering it with melted dark chocolate to keep it in place. Cover the cake roll with the melted chocolate.

Step 3

Cover the cake roll: Using an offset spatula, cover the cake roll evenly with the melted chocolate. If it gets hard, then you can always put the chocolate in the microwave to get it melted again. You can cover all sides of the log or leave one or more of the ends exposed. Please note if any of the sides are exposed, it could make the ends dry from being exposed to the air. After you spread the chocolate, you can use a fork to make lines, squiggly and/or straight to make the chocolate resemble bark. Be careful not to go too deep with the fork.

Step 4

Decorate the cake: Now here comes the really fun part, time to decorate the yule log! Please refer to the video in this post to see a visual on how to make the decorations.

• To make the Raspberry-Pretzel "Mushrooms": Using raspberries and different-sized pretzels, make the "mushrooms" by dipping them in the melted dark chocolate, using it as the "glue" to put them together. To stand them up next to the yule log, dip the ends in more melted chocolate and allow the chocolate to dry to stand them up.
• To make the dried mango "Chicken of the Woods" mushrooms: Use kitchen scissors to cut the mango into half-round pieces and dip the edge into the melted chocolate and attach the mango slice to the yule log. Build up the mushroom in layers until it resembles a "Chicken of the Woods" mushroom.
• Sugared Cranberries: Please refer to our Sugared Cranberries recipe for the full instructions on how to make these.
• Sugared Lavender (or Rosemary): Dip the sprigs of Lavender into hot simple syrup and roll it in granulated white sugar. You can allow it to dry on a wire cooling rack and then use it as you want to decorate once it's dry.
• Dried Orange Slices: Please refer to the Dried Orange Slices recipe on our blog.
• Powdered sugar: the last step for decorating the yule log itself is to give it a dusting of powdered (confectioner's) sugar all over.
• Non-edible decorations: I use pine sprigs to decorate around the yule log. I use an evergreen wreath with a festive bow, pinecones, and faux Winterberries to decorate around the cake stand. I use a pine garland and vintage Christmas ornaments on the tablescape. Let us know if you try any of these decorations or try different ones in the comments at the end of the posts. Enjoy your Yule log!

Recipe Attribution

I personally did not grow up with the yule log or (Bûche de Noël), although, I had definitely heard of them and was always curious about the interesting log-shaped cake recipe. I really started knowing about this recipe after I got engaged and married to my husband, Eric, and started celebrating Christmas with his family. It has become a recipe that our family looks forward to and is excited about for Christmas time.

This recipe is inspired by my family's tradition. My husband's father's side of the family is originally from France. We traditionally have a Yule log, or as we call it a Bûche de Noël as a dessert on Christmas Day or around Christmas.

My sister-in-law usually makes one every year and it is so fun to see how it's decorated every year.

This is a recipe that can take time and effort the making if you decide to make the cake roll and also takes effort and imagination to decorate it. It's a great way to cap off the year and celebrate Christmas time with this extravagant dessert.

I sought to make a version with different options for the home cook/baker, to make it easier to come together.

I'm so glad to finally share on the blog this special dessert recipe that is loved by my family!

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If you make this recipe, and like it, please give it a rating in the recipe card below and let us know in the comments at the end of the post. Thank you for reading and following along!

• Recipe photographed: 12/24/2022
• First published: 12/28/2022