Christmas Special Eggless Yule Log Cake is a delicious, moist vanilla cake rolled and shaped to look like a tree branch which then smothered with chocolate whipped cream frosting.
Christmas Special Eggless Yule Log Cake
We are down to last two recipes. For Y, I am going to share Christmas cake roll recipe famous in Swiss, Belgium and other European countries. It’s the Yule Log cake or Yule log roll. Yule log is a delicious, moist vanilla cake rolled and shaped to look like a tree branch which then smothered with chocolate whipped cream frosting. This recipe is surely a feast for the eyes and mouth.
I was able to let go the fortune cookies and settle with butter cookies for X. But with Yule log, I couldn’t do it. I simply couldn’t let go of this cake with the other alternative recipe that’s from Finland. I know, I am not a cake pro and I know I struggle with cake decorations and I know I have to try and roll an eggless cake.
But in spite of all these, I couldn’t let go of this recipe. I kept postponing the preparation as was super nervous but finally decided to let my fear go off and baked this last Saturday.
Decorating Yule Log Cake
I know there is a lot of room for improvement. My rolls aren’t perfect, and edges slightly broke too. But this cake provided me with that boost and confidence required for baking cakes other than Tres Leches. Yes, there were flaws in the look (my log looks more like a car) but absolutely no flaws in the taste, even if I say so myself. :-) I shared this cake with one of our friends too, and they enjoyed it and needless to say about the family members. They came back for the second and third.
I saw this recipe on YouTube once somewhere around December and learnt the decorating procedure. And I’ve just remembered the rolling process from that video as well, so just followed it in this recipe. For the ingredients and recipe itseld, I went with my own. I followed my sponge cake recipe for the base but replaced oil with butter and milk to add some richness. That did the whole trick. I don’t have a Swiss roll pan, so I used my rectangular cake pan. As the recipe procedure is quite lengthy, I will stop my write up here and get into recipe right away, err after the recap.
Recipe Recap
Christmas Special Eggless Yule Log Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
For the Sponge Cake:
- Maida/All purpose flour – 1.5 cups
- Yogurt – 1 cup
- Granulated Sugar – ¾ cup
- Baking soda – ½ tsp
- Baking powder – 1.25 tsp
- Salt – a pinch
- Butter – ½ cup / 1 stick at room temperature
- Vanilla essence – 1.5 tsp
- Milk – 1 tbsp
For the frosting:
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips – 1.5 cups
- Whipping Cream – 2 cups
- Sugar – 8 tbsps
For decoration:
- Cocoa Powder – 2 tsps
- Raspberries – few
- Mint leaves – few leaves
Steps:
Sponge Cake Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
- Place the parchment paper on the regular cake pan and grease it generously.
- Add the yogurt and sugar in a wide bowl and whisk them together. Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
- Now add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix them and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- The mixture will be emulsified now. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again.
- Now slowly pour the butter and whisk the mixture. Then add the milk and stir it once.
- Sieve the APF to this wet mix and combine gently.
- Make sure there aren’t any lumps. Pour this cake batter into the cake pan and spread it thin like below. Mine was approximately ⅓ inch thickness and 11 X 11 inches in the measure.
- Bake the cake for about 30 minutes.
- Let it cool for 15 min before rolling.
Preparing the frosting:
- While the cake is baking, melt the chocolate chips in your preferred way. I used the double boiler method like above.
- Add 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and sugar in a wide bowl and using hand mixture whisk it nicely until soft peaks are formed.
- At this stage add the melted chocolate and mix it again until stiff peaks are formed.
Rolling and decorating the cake:
- After minutes, roll the cake with the parchment paper and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Then unroll the cake and now apply the chocolate frosting over the cake like below.
- After that, roll the cake alone without the parchment paper. As you can see, my rolls weren’t that perfect. But the chocolate covered it up all.
- Now cut about 2 inches of the cake from either end diagonally. We will place this on top of the roll to give the log/branch look.
- I transferred the cake to the serving plate at this stage; it is easy to move it now than later.
- Now apply the chocolate frosting on the main roll and cover it up completely.
- Then place the small log on top and apply the frosting all over again.
- Using a fork, draw branch patterns to give ridged appearance.
- Now drizzle the cocoa powder on top of the cake and decorate it with raspberries and mint leaves.
That’s it. The Yule log cake is ready.
Notes:
- I went with my vanilla sponge cake for the base. You can use any chocolate cake or your preferred sponge cake for the base.
- Instead of whipped cream frosting, you can use buttercream frosting too.
- I did not refrigerate the rolls after applying the chocolate coat. However, you can cool for about 30 minutes in the fridge for a firm roll.
- Do not bake the cake for more than 30 minutes, as they become stiff and rolling might become involved. Spread the cake batter as thinly as possible as the sponge cake will raise generously. Mine was slightly on the thicker side, and the above two points could have been the reason for rolls cracking in between.
- The sky is the limit for the decoration. You can mimic the branch and bark effect as you prefer.
Enjoying Christmas Special Eggless Yule Log Cake? You will love these, too:
- Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake
- Elephant Ear Cookies | Palmier | Little Heart Sugar Cookies
- Roundup of Kid’s Delight Event | Cakes and Cookies
- Single Serving Eggless Microwave Vanilla Cake | 1 Minute Cake
Have you made made this Gujarati Kadhi?
If you’ve made this recipe, please let me know on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter – I will be delighted to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Yule Log Cake | Eggless Christmas Special Yule Log Cake
Ingredients
For the Sponge Cake
- 1.5 cups Maida/All purpose flour
- 1 cup Yogurt
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 1.25 tsp Baking powder
- 1 pinch Salt
- ½ cup Butter 1 stick at room temperature
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla essence
- 1 tbsp Milk
For the frosting
- 1.5 cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 cups Whipping Cream
- 8 tbsps Sugar
For decoration
- 2 tsps Cocoa Powder
- Raspberries – few
- Mint leaves – few leaves
Instructions
Steps
Sponge Cake Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
- Place the parchment paper on the regular cake pan and grease it generously.
- Add the yogurt and sugar in a wide bowl and whisk them together. Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
- Now add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix them and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- The mixture will be emulsified now. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again.
- Now slowly pour the butter and whisk the mixture. Then add the milk and stir it once.
- Sieve the APF to this wet mix and combine gently.
- Make sure there aren't any lumps. Pour this cake batter into the cake pan and spread it thin like below. Mine was approximately ⅓ inch thickness and 11 X 11 inches in the measure.
- Bake the cake for about 30 minutes.
- Let it cool for 15 min before rolling.
Preparing the frosting
- While the cake is baking, melt the chocolate chips in your preferred way. I used the double boiler method like below.
- Add 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and sugar in a wide bowl and using hand mixture whisk it nicely until soft peaks are formed.
- At this stage add the melted chocolate and mix it again until stiff peaks are formed.
Rolling and decorating the cake
- After minutes, roll the cake with the parchment paper and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Then unroll the cake and now apply the chocolate frosting over the cake like below.
- After that, roll the cake alone without the parchment paper. As you can see, my rolls weren’t that perfect. But the chocolate covered it up all.
- Now cut about 2 inches of the cake from either end diagonally. We will place this on top of the roll to give the log/branch look.
- I transferred the cake to the serving plate at this stage; it is easy to move it now than later.
- Now apply the chocolate frosting on the main roll and cover it up completely.
- Then place the small log on top and apply the frosting all over again.
- Using a fork, draw branch patterns to give ridged appearance.
- Now drizzle the cocoa powder on top of the cake and decorate it with raspberries and mint leaves.
- That’s it. The Yule log cake is ready.
Notes
- I went with my vanilla sponge cake for the base. You can use any chocolate cake or your preferred sponge cake for the base.
- Instead of whipped cream frosting, you can use buttercream frosting too.
- I did not refrigerate the rolls after applying the chocolate coat. However, you can cool for about 30 minutes in the fridge for a firm roll.
- Do not bake the cake for more than 30 minutes, as they become stiff and rolling might become involved. Spread the cake batter as thinly as possible as the sponge cake will raise generously. Mine was slightly on the thicker side, and the above two points could have been the reason for rolls cracking in between.
- The sky is the limit for the decoration. You can mimic the branch and bark effect as you prefer.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Sending this cake to valli’s Anniversary event at cooking for all seasons.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 75.
[inlinkz_linkup id=693913 mode=1]
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
This is one more cake recipe that has always intimidated me. Looks so cute and you have a done a great job!
Srividhya G says
Thanks much Sandhya
Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner says
Cant say this is the first time Vidya.. You totally did justice to the cake!!!
Srividhya G says
Thank you so much Sharmila.
Sapana says
The Yule log cake takes me four years back when I tried making it. It’s really a tough job to make eggless one, you did a great job.
Srividhya G says
Thank you so much Sapana.
Pavani says
Your yule log looks great for first attempt Vidhya. Great job.
Srividhya G says
Thank you :-)
Srivalli Jetti says
So wonderfully done Srividhya..this is on my list for so long..
Srividhya G says
:-) Thanks a lot Valli.
Namratha says
Beautiful Yule log Vidya, love that it is eggless. A tip I can offer is to roll the cake as soon as it’s out of the oven. I was very skeptical about it the first time but it works like a charm, no cracks whatsoever. The chocolate frosting looks scrumptious!
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot for the tip. Actually I let it to rest for a long. Should try this again. Thank again Namratha.
vaishalisabnani says
you have done a awesome job, dont be harsh with yourself..the log looks wonderful.I had decided on the log myself, but gave up because of frosting.It is pretty hard to make a eggless sheet cake and roll..so a pat on the back:))
Srividhya G says
Thank you so much.
Harini-Jaya R says
A very tempting yule log! Good one, Vidhya.
Srividhya G says
Thank you Harini.
Priya Suresh says
Yule log cake rocks, this is a must in our Christmas dinner table. And i loved that you have baked the sponge as eggless, well done Vidhya, very pretty looking cake.
Srividhya G says
Thank you so much Priya.
Aruna says
Just perfect Vidhya. I admire your dedication to the blogging marathons!
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot Aruna. :-) April ones are always difficult Aruna, not sure if I will sign up for next year. Let’s see.
Sowmya:) says
you have to bake more. That yule log looks so tempting and drool worthy. No wonder your family came for seconds and thirds. Keep baking!
Srividhya G says
Thanks Sowmya.. Sure will definitely bake more.