Sunday, December 23, 2007

Daring Bakers challenge


Just a quick post... more about the daring bakers group shortly... we have departed from the Cake Bible on this one.

The Yule log, or Buche de Noel as some of us might call it was a great success. It is a basic yellow genoise and a very yummy coffee buttercream For the filling, we chose cranberry, which turned out to be a very good selection. It was pretty simple: cranberries, a left over can of cranberry sauce that never got used at Thanksgiving, and a LOT of ground cloves, some apple cider vinegar, and so on. It was a chutney really, and modeled after one we recently enjoyed from Trader Joe's. It wasn't so sweet which worked out very well becasue the cake itslef was really sweet, too sweet actually. The contrast of tart cranberry, spice, and coffee buttercream is pretty darn good.

The mushrooms are marzipan, and were a treat to make, the evergreen bough is rosemary that was still hanging in there in the snow covered garden. I'm very pleased with the festive look.

Like I said, more about what the daring bakers are next time- back to holiday guests and fun.

14 comments:

Peabody said...

Job well done. Nice log.

Meryl said...

I had a lot of fun with the marzipan too. I love the way you used the rosemary.

Beth G. @SweetLifeKitchen said...

Your log looks great!! :O)

Lunch Buckets said...

Good job, like the idea of incorporating cranberries.

Lis said...

Love, love, love your choice of fillings! I can taste the nice tartness of the chutney with the sweetness of the cake.. *swoon*

And it looks lovely too.. yous did a fabulous job. =)

xoxo

Cheryl said...

The marzipan is fun isn't it. Love the cake.

Dolores said...

Welcome, and congratulations on a successful challenge! I love your cranberry filling idea...what a wonderful way to cut the sweet richness of this particular buttercream. I believe there IS a buche de noel in the cake bible... it's different, but quite tasty.

I hope you're having a happy holiday, and wish you all the best in 2008.

Julius said...

I'm really glad you guys have joined Daring Bakers.

Looking forward to your challenges.

Gorgeous bûche de Noël.

Happy Holidays!

Julius from Occasional Baker

Gretchen Noelle said...

Very nice log! Welcome to the Daring Bakers! The cranberry "chutney" sounds so interesting as a filling!

Deborah said...

It's a beautiful Yule Log!

Helene said...

Nice job! Can't wait to read the whole story!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Great looking! Well Done!

Cheers,

Rosa

Jen Yu said...

Looks fantastic! Congratulations on your DB challenge. You're a pro :)

jen at use real butter

Jenny said...

Glad you made it! What a choice for your filling, very original.