Weekend Cooking...On the Ninth Day of Christmas, the Yule Log

When I was just a wee caite, my mother bought a set of cookbooks, the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery. It was a set of 12 volumes, with very 60's illustrations and nice photographs. I believe that she bought them at the local supermarket, a new volume being available every week. I still have them, a bit worse for wear, but they are a treasure. This was 1966 and these books opened a new world of food, far from our everyday menu of pot roast and chicken and dumplings...not that there is anything wrong with them...lol

My mother liked to cook and often paged through these books looking for something new. Looking at vol. 12 Ton-Z you can find everything from how to make white sauce to how to cook a turtle. Yes, a turtle.
But this was my favorite volume because it contained the recipe for the Yule Log, a Christmas dessert I first made as a teenager. A dessert that will always make an impression.
Oh, the Yule Log page is in very bad shape, but still readable, and I will share this nice recipe with you. It may seem a bit daunting but, if taken step by step, it is not really hard.

The first part to make is the cake, a classic sponge cake...

Sponge Cake
5 eggs, separated
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. granulated sugar
1 tbs. grated orange rind
2 tbs. sherry
1 c. sifted cake flour
¼ tsp. salt

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff. gradually beat in ½ c. sugar. In another bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Into the eggs yolks beat remaining ½ cup of sugar, sherry, orange rind and and salt.
Fold egg yolks mixture into egg whites and then gradually fold in flour and fold very gently, just until mixed. Pour into foil lined jelly roll pan (15x10x1) and bake in preheated 375 deg. oven for 20 minutes.
When done, turn out of pan, on to a tea towel dusted with confectioners sugar, carefully remove foil and roll up with the towel along short end.
While it cools, make the filling.

Filling
Beat 2 c. of very cold heavy cream with ¼ cup confectioners sugar. Add a flavoring of your choice...1 tbs. of coffee power or almond extract and slivered almonds, grated orange rind and orange extract, or whatever you like. Whip until thick enough to spread.

When cake is cool, carefully unroll, remove towel, spread with filling and re-roll. Place in frig to chill and set.

Chocolate frosting
Melt 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate with 3 tbs butter. Mix 4 c. confectioners sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, 7 tbs. milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Add chocolate mixture and blend well. Yet stand, stirring occasionally, until of spreading consistent.

To finish Yule Log, cut off two small sections of the cake at a sharp angle, one very short, the other a little longer, to be the two branches. Place on either side of the cake and ice the entire surface. Use a fork, pulled through the icing, to make the bark. Dust with ground nuts, powered sugar and decorate with marzipan leaves and/or meringue mushrooms, my personal favorite.

This is my contribution this week to Weekend Cooking and and be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.