Christmas Dishes From Around the World

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and as we all know what goes with Christmas, a lot festivities with lots to eat and drink.

And as it our purview to focus on Food we will be taking a look at Traditional Christmas Dishes from around the world.

We will be starting from France with The Famous Bûche de Noël of French Christmases

La Bûche de Noël is a dessert that symbolically represents the Yule Log – a wood log that was traditionally carried into the home, sprinkled with wine, and then burned on Christmas Eve. In the 1940s when the practice started to disappear, this dessert took up the mantle.

Often made from sponge cake and chocolate buttercream, la Bûche de Noël looks quite a bit like a real log.

Other variations of the dessert have emerged. Now you can find recipes for anything from tiramisu to cran-raspberry mascarpone, caramel cream to Meyer lemon.

Try this recipe for la Bûche de Noël.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

½ cup white sugar

⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon salt

6 egg whites

¼ cup white sugar

confectioners’ sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a 10×15 inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whip cream, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until thick and stiff. Refrigerate.

Step 2

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until pale in color, light and frothy. Blend in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, and salt. In large glass bowl, using clean beaters, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until whites form stiff peaks. Immediately fold the yolk mixture into the whites. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Step 3

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Dust a clean dishtowel with confectioners’ sugar. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and turn the warm cake out onto the towel. Remove and discard parchment paper. Starting at the short edge of the cake, roll the cake up with the towel. Cool for 30 minutes.

Step 4

Unroll the cake, and spread the filling to within 1 inch of the edge. Roll the cake up with the filling inside. Place seam side down onto a serving plate, and refrigerate until serving. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

There you have a delicious Christmas dessert that will keep you in the jolly mood of the Season. Bon Appetite!