Low Carb Buche De Noel (Christmas Yule Log)

[Sherrie]

Okay as discussed here in the low carb xmas menu thread and in my diary last week I had a go at making a low carb yule log for Christmas. I converted this recipe from a recipe by Nigella Lawson in her Feast cookbook. I was quite pleased with how it turned out though initially I thought the cake part was a bit of a flop. On the day I made it I tried some off cuts dipped in a bit of icing and I found the cake part like a chewy meringue/pavlova that happens when you replace sugar with splenda. Also, I found the icing too sweet but that is easily fixed by simply adding splenda to taste. But when I tried it a day later I found it had changed considerably for the better and found the cake part airy and marsh mallowy rather then cake like and it no longer tasted really sweet. I also had plenty of icing left over.

I did make another roll type cake today for an experiment, it is pretty much the same but it contains dark chocolate instead of the cocoa powder. This definitely has a more cake texture (at least as it was fresh) but I found it harder to roll. I did end up rolling it by wrapping it in glad wrap but not without some tears though that would be easily covered by the icing anyway. I also made a smaller version of that so it is possible that I overcooked it a little and that was why. Oh and I also think I over mixed it when folding the eggwhites in and then spreading it out on the tray.

If anyone wants the recipe for that one let me know. Now here's the Nigella version



Low Carb Buche De Noel

Cake:

6 eggs, separated
37 splenda tablets or 3/4 cup of granular splenda or other sugar substitute
2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract
50g/1.8oz cocoa powder (homebrand)

Icing:

175g/6.2oz lindt 85%
225g/7.9oz butter, softened
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
50 splenda tabs or 1 cup of granular but I would recommend a lot less.


To Make Icing:

Melt chocolate in a bowl over hot water poured in the sink and cool. Cream splenda and butter until smooth and then add the cooled chocolate and vanilla.

Cake:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F

Line a greased swiss roll tin with baking paper cutting down the corners so it sits in evenly without creases. Make sure to leave plenty of overhang.

Cream egg yolks with half of the splenda until pale and creamy then fold in vanilla and sifted cocoa powder.

Using a clean bowl beat egg whites with the other half of the splenda until it is holding peaks but not dry. Add a couple of spoonfuls to the yolk mixture to lighten and then fold the whites in, in thirds trying very carefully to not lose air.

Pour mixture into the lined tin and bake for 20 mins.

Let cake cool a little then turn out on to another piece of baking paper.

Trim along the long edges of the cake, setting aside to use for making branches. Thinly spread icing along the cake and then with the shortest edge facing you, roll up into a tight roll. Cut one of the ends on a slight angle and save the off cut for a branch. Use icing to attach the diagonal off cut to the log, trimming the off cut if needed and then using icing to finish off the shape. With the other off cuts, cut and attach together with icing to form a branch and attach to log with more icing and then ice the rest of the cake. Once iced decorate by drawing lines to make it look more realistic. Nigella suggests sprinkly icing (or in our case granular splenda) over the top for a snow effect but I found it distracting. I think decorating it with holly would look better but up to you.

I stored mine in a container and placed it in the pantry.

Here is a pic of the inside:

[sam68]

Thanks Sherrie

My mouths watering!!!!!!

Yum!!!!!

Sam

[Sherrie]

Your welcome

[Lauren78]

Sherrie, i made this and the cake turned out awful. I must have stuffed up somewhere along the line, but even my daughter wouldnt eat it. Might try again another time. Looks great in your pictures!

[LilRascal]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Sherrie]

What happened?

[Evey]

Great job! Looks awesome!

[Lauren78]

I dont know what happened to be honest. I thought i followed the recipe well, but i obviously did something majorly wrong. Ill have to do it again one day to see if it happens again. It wasnt even edible, which was the sad part, i had to throw it all out. Next time, it will be delicious im sure.

[Sherrie]

Was it the cake, perhaps it was over mixed?

[Sherrie]

You weren't expecting it to be like a normal sponge were you?

[phoenix]

Hi sherrie,
so you reckon making it the day before is the go?
how long did it keep for, or did it get eaten on the 2nd day
still haven't worked how you kept it that long................

[Sherrie]

I probably kept it for 5 days. Definitely a day ahead but perhaps do a trial run first just in case?

[Lauren78]

Maybe it was overmixed. I wasnt expecting it to be like a normal sponge, never mind, another time. Sherrie, you could just pop on over and make it for me...

[danyelle]

So this isn't like a sponge - is it chewy then?

[Sherrie]

I can't remember now but this was how I described it in the first post:

I was quite pleased with how it turned out though initially I thought the cake part was a bit of a flop. On the day I made it I tried some off cuts dipped in a bit of icing and I found the cake part like a chewy meringue/pavlova that happens when you replace sugar with splenda. Also, I found the icing too sweet but that is easily fixed by simply adding splenda to taste. But when I tried it a day later I found it had changed considerably for the better and found the cake part airy and marsh mallowy rather then cake like and it no longer tasted really sweet.

Now that I don't use splenda anymore I should try it again with erythritol and see if the texture is different at all.