Let's Go Traditional

The Buche de Noel is a traditional cake made in France at Christmas.  It is usually a thin sponge cake wrapped with a filling and frosted in chocolate, then decorated to look like a log.  That part I can handle.  In its über-traditional form, it also includes little meringue mushrooms.  I stay completely away from the mushrooms.  I’m not that great at plain meringue…I can’t imagine trying to make it look like any sort of object.

If you don’t mind working a little harder to impress, this cake is definitely worth the effort.  The cake is a great chocolate, and the filling is very creamy.  The chocolate frosting hardens while you’re refrigerating the cake - so don’t put it on too thick, or you won’t be able to cut it!

The next time I make it I think I’m going to cut the vanilla down by half because the vanilla flavor becomes almost too overpowering.  Also, since I made two of these this year, I’m making something easy next year.  Holly cookies, double chocolate mint chip cookies…I’m not sure what, but something easy.  This cake is not easy, even if it is totally worth it.

One more thing - make sure you start this cake a day before you need it because it has to be frozen overnight.  Also, finish it a few hours early the next day because it should be refrigerated up until the time you plan to slice it.  If it’s melted, it won’t slice worth a darn, and you’ll miss the great spiral shape of the cake.

Smooth...Like Velvet. Red Velvet.

Red Velvet cakes are interesting to me.  They're technically a chocolate cake, but most of the cakes I've tasted don't have a strong chocolate flavor.  Also...they're bright red.  A lot of red velvet cakes take an entire bottle of red liquid food color, which can't be good for you.

This recipe is a good one.  It doesn't require a whole bottle of red liquid food color...just a lot of the red paste food color.  I'm not sure if that's much better for you, but it's at least a little less expensive.  You can pick the paste color up at any JoAnn's, Michael's, or A.C. Moore.  Heck, WalMart even stocks the stuff - just head to their craft/wedding aisle and look for the cake decorating stuff.

Most of what I bake is relatively easy, and this cake is no exception.  Sure, I enjoy the complicated, showy stuff too, but I'm certainly not going to spend 8 hours on dessert when I have 10 people coming to our one bedroom apartment for dinner and eek! our couch isn't here yet, so where exactly is everyone going to sit?  See, easy will win out almost every time.

For some reason this cake came out with big holes throughout.  I think it has something to do with the final step, where you combine the vinegar and baking soda and then add it to the cake batter.  I think mine may not have gotten mixed in all the way.  It still tasted good, just looked a little weird.

If you need a cake that's a little bit different, not too complicated, and needs to impress, this is a good one.  Although the cinnamon frosting isn't my absolute favorite, it's still good and people will love it.  I think next time I might make a more traditional French or Italian buttercream, but flavor it with the cinnamon to see if that works a little better.  Go forth, and bake!