My Inititiation & First Daring Baker Challenge

Buche Noel

Why would a "baking challenged" person who shakes with fear when she has to make pastry join the industrious and acclaimed group over at the Daring Bakers? Well...two reasons. Firstly to belong to such a supportive group of men and women. Over the past months I have seen "newbie" and seasoned bakers alike struggle with making caramel, mousse, etc. Always in the comments section these same people have such support from their fellow DB's that I wanted to become a part of the collective. The second reason to join, when I am "oven challenged," is for the challenge itself. It forces me to delve into the unexpected and think outside my comfort zone..."where no man (or woman) has gone before!!!! At least not this woman.



The Daring Bakers is the darling of Lis over at La Mia Cucina and Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice . Each month over 400 men and women are asked to rise to the challenge by these innovative, warm and caring women. It is so much fun to discover all those Daring Baker men and women out there in the blogosphere and their sites.

This month's challenge was a yule log or "Buche Noel" as we say here in French Canada. There is absolutely no room in my freezer so the challenge had to be done at the last minute. The original recipe called for a coffee flavoured log, but, we were allowed to incorporate a few changes here and there. First of all I opted for a chocolate flavoured genoise. To do this I reduced the cake flour to 1/3 cup, increased the cornstarch to 1/3 cup and added 1/4 cup cocoa to the flour mixture. Thank goodness for the other DB comments!

In my research on the net one source said that you needed to coat your roll with a simple syrup to allow it to roll easily. This was within the guidelines so I opted for a simple syrup made with 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water and 2 T (or up to 1/4 cup) appropriate booze varied according to your taste and context. In keeping with my whole Black Forest Cake theme I opted for kirsch. Two tablespoons in simple syrup and a shot glass for me!

The genoise cake turned out surprisingly good and cooked up within 10 minutes in the oven. Due to my own oven it was even a little overdone at that point. If I had have not brushed it with simple syrup I think it would have cracked at the edges when rolling. Another shot of kirsch for me!

The next adjustment I made was to add cherries as a filling (once again in keeping with the whole Black Forest Cake theme). For the cherry filling I stirred together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 T cornstarch in a small saucepan. Then I stirred in 2 T water and added 1 cup red frozen pitted tart cherries. I cooked it over medium heat until thickened and stirred it once in a while. Cooked and stirred some more for 2 minutes. Removed from heat and stirred in 1-1/2 tsp kirsch (plus 1 shot of kirsch for me!!!!). Covered the surface with plastic wrap and allowed to cool while I went on to prepare my buttercream.

Once again in keeping with the "Black Forest Cake Theme" we were able to substitute the coffee flavouring in the buttercream. To do this I added 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces, melted and cooled. I love all the support from my fellow DB's because through them I discovered that the buttercream could be a disastrous and runny affair. It was suggested that the eggs needed to be at room temperature or at least not cold, and, that the sugar and egg white mixture needed to be cool before adding the butter. Imagine my surprise (for this "baking challenged" person)when the buttercream turned out light and fluffy. I had adverted danger so far...because I was scared!! Another shot glass of kirsch for me! The only thing is that my buttercream turned out a light colour. My solution to make it darker is to sprinkle it with chocolate shavings..gives it a rustic look. Another shot glass of kirsch for me!!!!!!!!!!!

I spread 1/2 the chocolate buttercream to within 1/2-inch of the edges of the genoise cake. Spread the cherry filling lengthwise over the buttercream in a 1-1/2-inch wide band, starting 1/2-inch from the long edge. Then I carried on as usual.

The biggest mistake I made was to try and make the log over a 2 day period. I made the buttercream flawlessly and then went off to my second job. Therefore the cake had to be made the next day, but, alas the buttercream was as hard as a rock so I had to wait for it to soften up. So many thanks have to go out to our lovely founders for giving us a 2 day grace period for posting this months challenge due to the holidays and our busy schedules. Thank you..thank you...thank you!!!! Another shot of kirsch for me...just for good measure. Hic!!!

This was my first Daring Bakers challenge. I never got around to making the meringue mushrooms. I did however make some chocolate leaves for decoration. I think it makes my log a little bit earthy...it is a log after all.

Sources: Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert

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