Daring Bakers - 3rd Challenge: Yule Log

December 22, 2007 at 12:02 am | In Challenge, Daring Bakers, baking |
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Daring Bakers Yule LogAs much as the Potato Bread challenge made my heart sing, this one made my heart sink. Don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with intricate and elaborate instructions, but having to reproduce anything realistically is just not my cup of tea. Mushrooms out of meringue or marzipan? Oy!

Our hostesses this month were none other than Daring Bakers’ founders Lisa and Ivonne. I printed the six-page recipe and read it a few times, visualizing all of its steps. As with other Daring Bakers challenges, I found the recipe more daunting in its written form than in its execution. The genoise took no time to put together, thanks to my mom’s birthday gift of a very nifty Kitchen Aid mixer.

Earlier in the month I caught an episode of Iron Chef America where Chef Tyler Florence tried to make a yule log and ended up with Yule planks when his genoise broke when he rolled it. Well, needless to say I had nightmares about this procedure after I saw this. If this Iron chef couldn’t do it right, how could I?…I stared at my pan for a long time before attempting the roll-over. I finally took a deep breath and just went for it. It worked. Kind of. My log is more oblong than round, but at least it didin’t break into planks. I was stoked.

The mocha buttercream went a long way in camouflaging the unevenness of this log. I had a small slice of each end, and it tasted great. It’s now been frozen and will be flown to Toronto for the holidays. The test will be on Christmas day when it will be served at a small dinner. A picture of the final result will be posted at that time.

Thanks again for a great challenge for the opportunity to stretch my sticky spatula even further… :)

*******
Update: In the end I did not have thee space in my luggage to bring the log to Toronto. Here’s the final result, created when I returned home after the holidays.

Daring Bakers - Yule Log

29 Comments »

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  1. Repeat after me. Tyler Florence was under time pressure. And while he’s adorable and quite talented, he’s not a pastry chef.

    You did great!

    Comment by Dolores — December 22, 2007 #

  2. Looks wonderful!

    Comment by culinography — December 22, 2007 #

  3. Great job! And thanks for the laugh…the Tyler comment? I would have thought the same thing! But, from the looks of things - you kicked his butt in Yule Logs. Liz - 1 Tyler 0! :)

    Comment by Chris — December 22, 2007 #

  4. I love it! Great idea on freezing the cake for a later time!

    Comment by Gigi — December 22, 2007 #

  5. You have achieved that which an Iron Chef did not. Challenged and victorious! Congratulations.

    Comment by Kim — December 22, 2007 #

  6. Nice job! Though I was nervous, I did like doing the meringue mushrooms!

    Comment by Claire — December 22, 2007 #

  7. Looks great and I’m sure it’s delicious! I tell you, this challenge has uncovered my addiction to the fluffy, light, yummy meringues! :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    Comment by maria~ — December 22, 2007 #

  8. In your face, Tyler Florence!! hehehee But I mean that in the nicest way as I heart Tyler and want him to have my babies one day. :D

    You did a wonderful job, Liz! As always. =)

    xoxo

    Comment by lamiacucina67 — December 22, 2007 #

  9. i had the same problem as you re reproducing anything realistically. the marzipan mushrooms took a lot of concentrating. your log looks great, nevertheless.
    i hope you had heaps of fun making it. happy holidays!

    Comment by desie the maybahay — December 22, 2007 #

  10. You did a fabulous job, and there’s one thing you’ve always got to remember about food: If it’s not absolutely perfect, eat the evidence and try again. There are worse things than eating a whole yule log, especially as your’s looks so yummy.

    Comment by african vanielje — December 23, 2007 #

  11. Well there you go, you’re the titanium chef, and your log looks just great. (I had trouble with the meringue mushrooms too because I didn’t have a pastry bag). Happy holidays!

    Comment by Hilda — December 23, 2007 #

  12. Well Done! Your log looks just great. Hope you have a great Christmas and I’m sure your log will be a hit at the party!

    Comment by Dharm — December 23, 2007 #

  13. HA! I’m so glad someone besides me was nervous about rolling it! Tyler Florence spooked me too. Mine traveled for 2 1/2 hours in the car fine thawed, so I’m sure yours will be great on Christmas! Merry Christmas!

    Comment by Mary — December 23, 2007 #

  14. Hi Liz,

    I saw that episode of Iron Chef and couldn’t stop laughing. :)

    Your log looks great! I’m sure it’ll be a hit in Toronto.

    Happy Christmas to you.

    Julius

    Comment by Julius — December 23, 2007 #

  15. I saw that episode of Iron Chef (and was a little freaked out by it) too! But icing hides a multitude of sins, eh? Your log looks wonderful!

    Comment by Meryl — December 23, 2007 #

  16. YUM!! It looks fabulous~ great job!!

    Comment by Beth G — December 23, 2007 #

  17. Isn’t it great what buttercream will hide? Hope everyone in Toronto loves your Yule Log!
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

    Comment by Elle — December 23, 2007 #

  18. You are better than an Iron Chef - you are a Daring Baker! Cute story :)

    Comment by Lisa — December 23, 2007 #

  19. Yes, when I saw this challenge I totally thought of how Tyler Florence tanked the yule log. But you did a lovley job.

    Comment by peabody — December 24, 2007 #

  20. Looks delicious - Taste is more important than the look. And your log looks much better than Florence’s log. Happy Holidays to you!

    Comment by Claudia — December 25, 2007 #

  21. Way to go beating an Iron Chef! Great job

    Comment by Paula — December 26, 2007 #

  22. Yule log on an airlplane? Now, that’s daring! I love it! Glad everything turned out good in the end. Enjoy the holidays!

    Comment by Tartelette — December 27, 2007 #

  23. I think it looks wonderful. I’m always intimidated when the recipes are pages long, but then they usually come together!

    Comment by Deborah — December 27, 2007 #

  24. I think you did a great job at this recipe and even if things didn’t look super realistic, I am sure they tasted great!

    Comment by Gretchen Noelle — December 27, 2007 #

  25. Great log! Well done!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Comment by Rosa — December 28, 2007 #

  26. That looks like a yule log to me! And if it tastes good, well - that’s more than halfway there. Great job and happy new year!

    Comment by Jen — December 30, 2007 #

  27. congrats on your yule log cake!!

    Comment by dhanggit — January 2, 2008 #

  28. Thanks to everyone who commented. Just as an update, the log never made it Toronto. But the time I was finished packing, there was no more space…We had ice cream crepes with orange sauce in the end for dessert.

    I did finish the log when I returned last week. I’ve added the final to the blog update.

    Comment by pixeltheatre — January 2, 2008 #

  29. Security probably would have “confiscated” it from your bags anyways! :-)
    Hope you had a great Christmas!

    Comment by Jenny — January 4, 2008 #

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