Chocolate Nut Yule Log Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Whip powdered sugar, butter, cocoa powder, salt, and coffee liqueur together in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed. Transfer buttercream into a separate bowl and add mascarpone cheese. Mix until combined; set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Brush a little melted butter over a 13x18-inch rimmed sheet pan. Line pan with parchment paper and brush remaining melted butter on top.
• Combine cocoa powder, salt, and flour together in a bowl; whisk or sift to break up clumps.
• Place eggs in the clean bowl of your stand mixer. Add sugar and whip until fluffy, thick, and very light in color. Add 1/2 of the cocoa powder mixture and vanilla extract; mix on low speed for a few seconds. Beat in remaining cocoa mixture on low for a few seconds. Switch to high speed; stop once mixture is moistened but not fully blended. Pull off the whisk attachment and whisk batter with it until evenly blended.
• Pour batter onto the prepared sheet pan and spread out with a spatula, leaving some room around the edges. Tap pan on the counter to knock out the large bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry and edges start to pull away from the sides, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Dust a clean kitchen towel with enough powdered sugar to cover an area slightly larger than the sponge cake. Remove cake from the oven. Run a knife around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top. Run a spatula under the parchment paper to make sure it's not stuck to the pan.
• Quickly flip pan on top of the sugared area to invert the cake. Remove parchment paper and dust cake with more powdered sugar. Gently roll cake up inside the towel; allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Unroll cake and dollop buttercream on top, reserving some for later. Spread frosting to the edges. Roll cake up over the frosting, using the towel to lift it if needed. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top. Wrap log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Combine chocolate chips and hot cream in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate melts.
• Make an angled cut 3 inches from one end of the log. Place log on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Apply some buttercream to the angled slice and attach it to one side. Spread a layer of ganache all over the cake, except for the swirls. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up ganache.
• Carve lines into the ganache using the tip of a knife to create the appearance of tree bark. Refrigerate until completely chilled before serving. Dust with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

Steps:

• Whip together 1 1/2 cups of the heavy cream, the confectioners' sugar and espresso powder in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Spread a heaping tablespoon of the whipped cream onto one side of 39 chocolate wafer cookies (wipe the spoon clean with a rubber spatula between dollops). Spread the whipped cream out on the cookies with a small offset spatula. Stack 5 cookies on top of each other. Repeat with the remaining cookies (including the one without whipped cream) so that you have 8 stacks total. One of the stacks will have a cookie on top with no whipped cream; this stack will be the top stack.
• To build the log: Lay out a piece of plastic wrap about 20 inches long on the countertop. Working across the entire length of the plastic wrap, lay one of the cookie stacks on its side. Gently press the remaining 7 cookies stacks together, end to end, finishing with the top stack, to make one long cookie log that's about 15 to 18 inches long. Wrap the log up in the plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• While your stack is chilling, make the ganache: Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the remaining 1 1/2 cups heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir until completely melt. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer and refrigerate until completely cool, about 30 minutes. Just before frosting, whip the ganache until it just begins to loosen up, turns lighter in color and is spreadable, 30 to 45 seconds. It's important not to overwhip or it will become grainy.
• Cut a 2- to 3- inch diagonal piece from the top end of the log and place it on top of the log at an angle; this will be the branch. Spread the ganache over the log to cover it completely. Heat a metal fork. Use the tines and the back of a the fork to draw a bark pattern in the ganache, running it along the surface in short strokes.
• To make the mushrooms: Shave the tops of 6 of the meringues with a rasp grater until they are smooth and round and resemble mushroom caps. Smooth the tops with a wet finger. Mix together 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar with 1/4 teaspoon water in a small bowl to make a glue. Smear a little of the sugar glue on the bottom of each meringue and stick a marshmallow to it to make a stem. To make a shorter stem, simply cut the marshmallow in half with kitchen shears. Let the mushrooms sit for 30 minutes until the sugar water has hardened. Dust the tops with cocoa powder.
• Decorate the cake with the mushrooms, rosemary, mint and cranberries. Shave the remaining meringue over top of the cake to make snow. Slice the cake on a diagonal for serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-by-15-inch jelly-roll pan with nonstick cooking spray; line bottom with parchment paper. Coat paper with cooking spray; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup granulated sugar until pale yellow. Whisk in almond extract and flour just until combined (do not overmix); set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. While beating, slowly add remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) and beat until stiff and glossy. Whisk one third of beaten egg whites into yolk mixture; gently fold in remaining whites with a rubber spatula. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan; bake until center of cake springs back when lightly pressed, 15 to 17 minutes.
• Immediately after removing cake from oven, run a knife around edge of pan. Dust top of cake with confectioners' sugar; invert cake onto clean parchment paper, and gently peel off the lining paper that's now on top of cake. Starting from a short side of cake, gently roll cake, along with clean paper, into a log; let cool, seam side down, 30 minutes.
• Once cake has cooled, prepare filling and frosting. Gently unroll cake, and spread with filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border; starting from a short side, carefully re-roll (do not roll paper in cake), and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet or serving platter. Spread log with frosting; sprinkle with almonds. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• To serve, use a serrated knife to slice off the ends of the log neatly, revealing interior. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and, if desired, garnish with Marzipan Mushrooms.

Steps:

• Place egg whites in large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Line a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. , Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup sugar. Sift flour, baking cocoa, baking powder and salt together twice; gradually add to yolk mixture and mix well (batter will be very thick). , With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, on high until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold into batter. Spread evenly into prepared pan. , Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, 10-12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with cocoa powder. Gently peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake in towel, jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; cool completely on a wire rack., Meanwhile, for the filling, beat cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and almond extract, beating until stiff peaks form. Unroll cake; spread filling to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up again. , In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in chocolate, milk and vanilla until smooth. Frost the cake, using a metal spatula to create a bark-like effect.

Steps:

• Place the pistachios and sugar in a food processor; cover and process until ground. Set aside. In a microwave, melt 1 cup chocolate chips; stir until smooth., In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, melted chocolate, milk and almond extract. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pistachio mixture., Divide dough into eight portions. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm., Shape each portion into an 18-in. rope; cut each into six logs. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cut the ends of each log at an angle. Using a small amount of egg white, attach removed pieces to each log, forming branches., Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks., In a microwave, melt remaining chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Working in batches, dip cookies in chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. With the tines of a fork, make strokes in the chocolate to resemble bark. Dust with ground pistachios., For mushrooms, pinch half of each marshmallow to form a stem; flatten the other half for cap of mushroom. Dust tops of mushrooms with cocoa. Attach to cookies with a small amount of melted chocolate., Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Butter and line a 23 x 32cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment. Beat the eggs and golden caster sugar together with an electric whisk for about 8 mins until thick and creamy.
• Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together, then sift onto the egg mixture. Fold in very carefully, then pour into the tin. Tip the tin from side to side to spread the mixture into the corners. Bake for 10 mins.
• Lay a sheet of baking parchment on a work surface. When the cake is ready, tip it onto the parchment, peel off the lining paper, then roll the cake up from its longest edge with the paper inside. Leave to cool.
• To make the icing, melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Take from the heat and stir in the golden syrup and 5 tbsp double cream. Beat in the icing sugar until smooth.
• Whisk the remaining double cream until it holds its shape. Unravel the cake, spread the cream over the top, scatter over the crushed extra strong mints, if using, then carefully roll up again into a log.
• Cut a thick diagonal slice from one end of the log. Lift the log on to a plate, then arrange the slice on the side with the diagonal cut against the cake to make a branch. Spread the icing over the log and branch (don't cover the ends), then use a fork to mark the icing to give the effect of tree bark. Scatter with unsifted icing sugar to resemble snow, and decorate with holly.