Piece of life
It’s mid-December, and the Christmas vibe is everywhere. I love this time of year so much. Still, I’m reasonable and wait until December to get the decorations out. I always arrange for our tree to arrive the first weekend of the month, and from there, we get into the holiday spirit. To finish the festive touch, Christmas songs are played on a loop [not enjoyed by everyone at home, sorry hubby], and we bake gingerbread and other Christmas cookies.
You’ve probably noticed that the internet and social media are overflowing with Christmas recipes. Every year, I tell myself that I have to anticipate, but I never manage to do it. But this year, I decided to prepare one of the yule logs in advance and froze it. I need to free up some time because I’ll have the kids home on Christmas Eve, and cooking will be quite a challenge. There are two traditional yule log recipes in my family. I can’t remember a single Christmas without these logs. We usually make them again for New Year’s Eve, just to enjoy them a bit more.
About the chestnuts yule log
Who says Christmas says yule log! Nowadays you can find all kinds, shapes and flavours. One of the great classics is, of course, the chestnut log. The recipe in my family is extremely simple. There’s only buttercream, very rich in chestnuts, and covered with chocolate glaze. It is a bit dense, but that is the way we like it.
Whenever possible, I use fresh chestnuts. Of course, this makes the preparation time quite longer [the time to peel them], but the taste is unbeatable. Otherwise, I use frozen chestnuts [you find them easily in France, at Picard for ex.]. In Quebec, I’ve never found frozen chestnuts.
Putting the log together
Once the chestnut cream is ready, all you have to do is shape it as you wish [as it is thick, it is easy], either by hand or in a mould. Here I used a ScrapCooking log mould, but any mould will do [even a simple cake mould]. Then cover it with the chocolate glaze and put it in the fridge until it’s time to eat. Just remember to take it out 30-60 minutes before serving.
Easy chestnuts yule log
Ingredients
- 500 g of peeled chestnuts (fresh or frozen)
- 100 g soft butter
- 100 g confectioner's sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
Chocolate glaze
- 150 g dark chocolate
- 40 g butter
- glazed chestnut pieces (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the chestnuts according to your favorite method or the instructions on the package (I prefer to cook them in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes).
- Mix them in a blender to get a puree (more or less smooth according to your taste, I like it when there are still little pieces left). Set aside and let it cool down.
- Whip the butter with the confectioner's sugar and the salt.
- Add the chestnut puree to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until you obtain a homogeneous cream (if necessary use a hand mixer as it will be dense).
- Mold the mixture into a cylinder shape, or place it in a log (or other) mold. Set aside and prepare the glaze.
Chocolate glaze
- In a pan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat.
- As soon as the mixture is melted, pour it over the log. You can draw some lines with a fork for decoration [to represent a log] and add some glazed chestnut pieces. Keep the log in the fridge and take it out about 30 to 60 minutes before serving.
