It’s just not Christmas without a Yule Log, is it? This log is everything you want at Christmas: a soft chocolate sponge cake stuffed with delicious hazelnut praline cream, all covered with a rich dark chocolate mousse. For even more seasonal delights, why not serve the cake pieces with a coulis of our hazelnuts & dark chocolate spread? YUM!
• 1 ½ cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 ½ cup all-uses flour
• 1 cup granule white sugar
• ¾ cups cocoa (a high-quality cocoa will really make a difference!)
• 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons vegetal oil
• A bit more sugar
Hazelnut Praline Garnish:
• ½ cup vegan salted butter (plant-based Becel stick or Earth Balance)
• 1 cup Allo Simonne Hazelnut Praline.
• ¼ cup icing sugar
Chocolate Mousse Icing:
• 1 cup regular coconut milk
• 1 ½ cup vegan dark chocolate (pellets or bar)
• ¼ cup vegan salted butter (plant-based Becel stick or Earth Balance)
• ¼ cup icing sugar
Optional:
• A few fresh branches of rosemary
• Fresh cranberries
• Icing sugar
• A jar of your favourite Allo Simonne spread
• Pre-heat the oven at 350F.
• Cover a cookie sheet with 11 x 13 inches parchment paper so the paper covers every side and goes past the sides of the sheet just a little bit. Keep around for later. In a bowl, combine the soy milk with the vinegar. Let it rest to make buttermilk while you get on the next step.
• In a larger bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix. Add vanilla extract and oil to the milk then pour upon the dry ingredients.• Mix with a whisk until the paste is homogeneous. Pour on the cookie sheet. Move the cookie sheet so as to make the mix uniformly cover the entirety of the sheet.
• Cook in the oven for around 20 minutes, until the sides of the cake seem firm and a toothpick stuck in the center of the cake is clean when it is removed.
Have a clean dishcloth ready. Cover the cloth with a thin layer of sugar, a few teaspoons should suffice. It’s to prevent the cake from sticking to the cloth.
Once the cake is cooked, let it cool for a few minutes before removing the cake (while leaving it on the paper) from the sheet. Flip the cake (paper up, cake on the cloth) on the cloth and remove the parchment paper. Roll the cake, not too firmly, using the cloth, until it’s entirely rolled. Let it completely cool as-is. This may take more than an hour given that the heat stays inside. It’s important that the log has completely cooled before icing it.
Hazelnut Praline Garnish:
• Once the sponge cake has entirely cooled, hand-whisk the vegan butter and the hazelnut praline together in a narrow bowl. Once the butter is well spread around in the mix, add the icing sugar and whisk for two more minutes. The mix will become paler as more air enters into it. So that the garnish can more easily stay solid on the cake, it can be refrigerated for about 15 minutes.
Delicately unroll the log and keep a fulcrum for the extremities: the flatter it is, the more likely it is that it cracks. Still, it’s normal if it cracks a little bit; it’s just that it’s important that it doesn’t split side to side.
• Put on a part of the garnish and ice the sponge cake starting at the center of the roll and roll up the cake as you ice it. You can use a spatula or the back of a spoon to ice it. Once it’s all rolled up, wrap the log with the cloth and put it in the fridge whilst you do the next steps.
Chocolate Mousse Icing:
• Pour the coconut milk into a little saucepan and bring it slowly to a boil with a low flame. Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a narrow bowl. Once the coconut milk is starting to have bubbles, pour it on the chocolate and let it cool for 2 minutes without touching it. Then whisk it until it looks and feels like a smooth ganache.
Let it cool completely. Add the vegan butter and the icing sugar and whisk until the mix is homogeneous. Put in the fridge for around 30 minutes. Warning: if it becomes too cold, it will be hard to whisk it again. Shake it a little and touch it every ten minutes to make sure it doesn’t become too hard.
Take the log from the fridge. Unwrap it and cut off around 1 inch from both tips to have nice, smooth, not-too-dry sides (a little snack on the side!) Put the yule log on the plate on which you want to serve it. Ice all of it and, if you like, carve a wood texture on the icing.
Decorate with rosemary branches (to make it look like fir) and cranberries if you like. Conserve in the fridge. Take the yule log out of the fridge around 20 minutes before serving it. Put icing sugar on it if you like.
For an even wilder dessert put a jar of your favourite Allo Simonne spread at the center of the table and add a generous layer of spread to the log slices.
Ingredients
Chocolate Sponge Cake:• 1 ½ cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 ½ cup all-uses flour
• 1 cup granule white sugar
• ¾ cups cocoa (a high-quality cocoa will really make a difference!)
• 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons vegetal oil
• A bit more sugar
Hazelnut Praline Garnish:
• ½ cup vegan salted butter (plant-based Becel stick or Earth Balance)
• 1 cup Allo Simonne Hazelnut Praline.
• ¼ cup icing sugar
Chocolate Mousse Icing:
• 1 cup regular coconut milk
• 1 ½ cup vegan dark chocolate (pellets or bar)
• ¼ cup vegan salted butter (plant-based Becel stick or Earth Balance)
• ¼ cup icing sugar
Optional:
• A few fresh branches of rosemary
• Fresh cranberries
• Icing sugar
• A jar of your favourite Allo Simonne spread
Steps
Sponge Cake:• Pre-heat the oven at 350F.
• Cover a cookie sheet with 11 x 13 inches parchment paper so the paper covers every side and goes past the sides of the sheet just a little bit. Keep around for later. In a bowl, combine the soy milk with the vinegar. Let it rest to make buttermilk while you get on the next step.
• In a larger bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix. Add vanilla extract and oil to the milk then pour upon the dry ingredients.
• Cook in the oven for around 20 minutes, until the sides of the cake seem firm and a toothpick stuck in the center of the cake is clean when it is removed.
Have a clean dishcloth ready. Cover the cloth with a thin layer of sugar, a few teaspoons should suffice. It’s to prevent the cake from sticking to the cloth.
Once the cake is cooked, let it cool for a few minutes before removing the cake (while leaving it on the paper) from the sheet. Flip the cake (paper up, cake on the cloth) on the cloth and remove the parchment paper. Roll the cake, not too firmly, using the cloth, until it’s entirely rolled. Let it completely cool as-is. This may take more than an hour given that the heat stays inside. It’s important that the log has completely cooled before icing it.
Hazelnut Praline Garnish:
• Once the sponge cake has entirely cooled, hand-whisk the vegan butter and the hazelnut praline together in a narrow bowl. Once the butter is well spread around in the mix, add the icing sugar and whisk for two more minutes. The mix will become paler as more air enters into it. So that the garnish can more easily stay solid on the cake, it can be refrigerated for about 15 minutes.
Delicately unroll the log and keep a fulcrum for the extremities: the flatter it is, the more likely it is that it cracks. Still, it’s normal if it cracks a little bit; it’s just that it’s important that it doesn’t split side to side.
• Put on a part of the garnish and ice the sponge cake starting at the center of the roll and roll up the cake as you ice it. You can use a spatula or the back of a spoon to ice it. Once it’s all rolled up, wrap the log with the cloth and put it in the fridge whilst you do the next steps.
Chocolate Mousse Icing:
• Pour the coconut milk into a little saucepan and bring it slowly to a boil with a low flame. Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a narrow bowl. Once the coconut milk is starting to have bubbles, pour it on the chocolate and let it cool for 2 minutes without touching it. Then whisk it until it looks and feels like a smooth ganache.
Let it cool completely. Add the vegan butter and the icing sugar and whisk until the mix is homogeneous. Put in the fridge for around 30 minutes. Warning: if it becomes too cold, it will be hard to whisk it again. Shake it a little and touch it every ten minutes to make sure it doesn’t become too hard.
Take the log from the fridge. Unwrap it and cut off around 1 inch from both tips to have nice, smooth, not-too-dry sides (a little snack on the side!) Put the yule log on the plate on which you want to serve it. Ice all of it and, if you like, carve a wood texture on the icing.
Decorate with rosemary branches (to make it look like fir) and cranberries if you like. Conserve in the fridge. Take the yule log out of the fridge around 20 minutes before serving it. Put icing sugar on it if you like.
For an even wilder dessert put a jar of your favourite Allo Simonne spread at the center of the table and add a generous layer of spread to the log slices.
Products we use in this recipe
