Maple Walnut Bûche de Noël
A light and airy maple sponge cake rolled with a maple walnut cocoa cream filling and topped with a chocolate ganache layer. Garnish with powdered sugar and mushroom meringues for a maple walnut bûche de Noël that truly resembles a snowy winter forest!
Equipment
- 1 eighth sheet pan
Ingredients
Maple Sponge Cake
- 4 eggs total (2 whole eggs+ 2 egg yolks, 2 egg whites), room temp
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Maple Walnut Cocoa Cream Filling
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- 1 tbsp bourbon or rum, optional
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
Ganache Bourbon Topping
- 1 cup chocolate, melted
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp bourbon, optional
Mushroom Meringues (optional)
- 2 egg whites
- ¼ cup sifted powdered sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Instructions
Maple Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°. Butter the jelly roll pan (bottom and all the way up the sides), and place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom.
- In a large bowl whisk the two eggs and the two egg yolks together with the sugar until it thickens and gets paler in color, which should take about 5-7 minutes. I use a handheld mixer, but you can also use a stand mixer.
- In a separate bowl, whip the remaining egg whites until they form soft peaks, about 3-4 minutes. A good trick to see if your whites are done is tipping the bowl upside down. They shouldn't move at all if they're done!
- Switching to a spatula, fold in the egg whites to the egg/sugar bowl and fold until combined.
- Add in the sifted flour (it's important to sift it so that you don't get big flour bubbles in the batter), and gently fold it in using a spatula until just combined.
- Spread the cake batter on top and smooth it out with a knife or an offset spatula to ensure an even surface. Bake for 15 minutes until slightly golden in color. One way to check if it's done is to gently press down on the cake with your finger-- it should spring right back up when done.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Then, cover the top with a kitchen towel and place a cooling rack over it. Using oven mitts (careful! the tray will be very hot!), gently flip the tray over so that the cooling rack is on the bottom. Remove the pan and gently peel off the parchment paper. Let sit until completely cool.
Maple Walnut Cream Filling
- Pour all the filling ingredients into a large bowl (except for the chopped walnuts) and whisk on medium high with a handheld mixer until soft peaks start to form.
- Fold in the chopped walnuts and that's it! You're ready to assemble the cake!
Ganache Layer
- Melt the chocolate (you can do this in a small microwavable bowl in the microwave in increments of 20 seconds, stirring at every interval) and add in the heavy cream. You can enhance the flavor with some vanilla or rum, if you like. Set it aside for 5 minutes (not longer to ensure it doesn't harden),
Assembly
- Using an offset spatula or a knife, spread the cream filling all over the cake layer. Next, gently roll up the cake starting at the bottom end (the shorter side). Once you reach the top, gently lift the cake to ensure it sits on the bottom edge.
- Cut 1.5 inch piece of the cake from one end at a diagonal. Using leftover cream filling, 'glue' it to the side of the cake log to resemble a branch.
- Use a knife or spoon to spread the ganache on top. Immediately after layering it on, drag a fork across it lengthwise so that you get a neat bark-like design. Top with powdered sugar and some optional mushroom meringues!
Mushroom Meringues
- Preheat oven to 200°. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Whip the egg whites until frothy. Add in the granulated sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking at every interval. It should start to thicken and turn snowy white. Once you have stiff peaks, add in the sifted powdered sugar and fold gently using a spatula until just combined.
- Using a piping bag or a ziplock bag with a corner slightly cut off, pipe two types of shapes on the tray: roughly 2 inch circles to act as the mushroom caps and the other shapes will be smaller, roughly half an inch in size, but slightly taller. Sprinkle with some sifted cocoa powder and bake in oven for 90 minutes.
- Use some of the leftover ganache to stick the mushroom caps on their stems and to stick them to the cake.