How to make a Yule Log

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Well, my find food friends Christmas is here!! The holidays may not be full upon us yet but the festive period has certainly started. The tree is up. The advent calendar has started its countdown. And the kids are well and truly excited!… I think its time to start baking!!  What better than a Yule Log?

Come with me and I’ll show you how to make a Yule Log. Grab the kids and they can help too…

1. Get all of the ingredients together

As always, I highly recommend pulling all of the ingredients together before any detailed preparation or cooking is started. For this Yule Log recipe, you’ll need to make 3 individual parts and then put it all together. Firstly, you’ll make the sponge for the roll. Secondly, the chocolate icing for the covering. Finally, some whipped cream for the centre… Sound yummy already right?

2. The chocolate sponge

Before starting the sponge put the oven on 200C / 180C Fan and grease a swiss roll tin and cover with baking paper.

Now start by adding the sugar to the eggs and whisking until light and fluffy. It’s best to use an electric whisk for this as it will take around 8 minutes. Considerably longer if doing this manually, as I did! ???? This is probably the most critical part of this Yule Log recipe. You want a light sponge for the roll and making the egg and sugar mix very light is key to this.

Once happy with the egg and sugar mixture you need to sieve the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder into the egg and sugar mixture. Now, and very gently, fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Do this slowly so as to make sure you limited knocking any air out from the mixture.

Once folded in then tip the sponge mixture onto the swiss roll tin and roll the tin around until the mixture has coated all of the baking tray.

Bake this for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven. Place another sheet of baking paper, larger than the baking tray, onto your work surface and tip the sponge onto the paper. Finally, remove the baking paper from the underside of the sponge.

So, now you should have the baked sponge removed from the swiss roll tin and lying face down on a fresh piece of baking paper.

Now, take the paper lengthways and roll the sponge up as tight as possible and leave to cool while you make the icing and filling.

3. Make the chocolate icing

Firstly, cut the butter into small cubes and place in a glass mixing bowl. Next, break the dark chocolate into small pieces and add this to the bowl.

Secondly, you will need to make a bain marie. This is a French phrase but is a simple method for melting a product that could burn if subjected to direct heat. Chocolate is in this category.

To make the bain marie just get a saucepan smaller than the mixing bowl. Next, pour water into the pan such that the mixing bowl can sit in the top of the pan but not touch the water.

Now put the saucepan and mixing bowl on a hob at a low heat and as the water heats up so does the bowl. This then melts the chocolate and butter mix.

Keep stirring until everything has melted and you have a smooth and creamy chocolate sauce.

Now, add the syrup and 6 dessert spoons of the cream to the chocolate sauce. Mix this in well and then add the sifted icing sugar until you have a smooth chocolate icing.

4. Make the filling

I have used simple whipped cream for this Yule Log recipe but you could vanilla cream or even buttercream. For me, though I simply whisked the remaining double cream until it was nice and thick.

5. Make the Yule Log

Now that all of the cooking preparation has been completed it is time to assemble the Yul Log. There are a number of stages to this and I’ll explain them one by one.

a) Make the swiss roll

The first thing to do is to make the swiss roll. To do this unroll the cooled sponge and spread the whipped cream evenly over the sponge.

Now roll the sponge back up in a roll try to no break the sponge. Although, it is OK if you do as you will cover this with icing.

b) Make the log shape

With the sponge rolled up cut any uneven ends off and then cut the sponge diagonally around 1/4 down the sponge. Once you have two separate swiss rolls then place the shorter one from the diagonal end onto the long piece, as if it were a branch.

c) cover the Yule Log with the chocolate icing

Now, and using a pallet knife, spread the chocolate icing over the Yule Log until it is completely covered.

d) Finish the Yule Log

To finish the Yule Log, firstly, and using a fork, score the icing so the top looks like tree bark, and sprinkle some icing sugar over the Yule Log to look like snow.

Finally, add some seasonal greenery and berries remembering to remove these before you eat the Yule Log.

And there you have my Foodie Friends. Festive chocolate bliss in the form of a Yule Log. Give it a go and get the kids to help. Fantastic for this time of you.

As always I’d love to hear your comments or questions. Just use the comments box below. Or check out some of my other delicious desserts.

Many thanks for reading and until next time… Steve.

Steve Deacon

Founder & Writer

Hi, I'm Steve, founder of The Yum Yum Club. After years in the corporate rat race traveling the world, my wife Jen and I settled back in the UK to follow our true passion: great food and wine. Having worked in restaurant kitchens in my youth, I share honest home-cooked recipes, kitchen timing tips, and culinary discoveries.

View all posts by Steve Deacon →