This revisits an important traditional of French pastry, tarte au citron meringuée lemon meringue pie baked as a swiss roll cake for Christmas.
A lemon tarte, with or with out meringue, is at all times a success. So why not have it in a bûche de Noël xmas log cake ? The identical distinctive flavors offered in another way? Ultimate for Christmas or for any fancy dinner if you wish to please or impress your company.
The recipe shouldn’t be very difficult, made with 4 principal preparations: swiss roll flippantly imbibed with flavored syrup, crammed with easy lemon cream, and dressed with Italian meringue. Cake and syrup will need to have cooled down and lemon cream set to assemble the log. Subsequently these three preparations should be performed upfront, even the day past. That is fairly handy as you’ll solely have to organize Italian meringue and costume just a few hours earlier than dinner.
The primary elements of this Christmas cake
Swiss roll – gâteau roulé
The recipe for a swiss roll, defined step-by-step in photographs (hyperlink right here). The portions of substances differ barely from right here, however you should use both one. Be aware that the essential trick for achievement is to roll out the swiss roll in a moist fabric proper out of the oven. It’ll give the form to your cake. The cooled cake may crack whenever you roll it in case you don’t.
Swiss roll is named gâteau roulé in French which accurately means rolled cake. Usually imagined for classy truffles, swiss roll a part of French residence cooking, crammed with jam or pastry cream and served for dessert or kids’s 4:00 pm snack. My mum used to bake some and fill them with home made purple fruit jam (strawberry or raspberry), it’s a nice reminiscence, I’ll must share her recipe with you.
Lemon curd – crémeux au citron
Lemon curd shouldn’t be very French however is the proper filling right here. An intense lemony taste and easy texture with out being runny. That is because of the quantity of butter that you just may discover essential. It helps lemon curd set (with out utilizing gelatin) and offers a decadent style and texture.
Syrup – sirop de punchage
For the sirop de punchage (imbibing syrup) which might be used to imbibe the swiss roll, I solely use just a little vanilla and Cointreau in order to not overwhelm the lemon. I take advantage of Cointreau because it is likely to be my dad’s favourite alcohol subsequently I at all times have Cointreau at residence however you might substitute it with Brandy, Kirsh…
This syrup additionally must be ready upfront as we wish it to chill down earlier than imbibing the cake.
Italian meringue – meringue italienne
Italian meringue is then utilized to the cake utilizing a pastry bag. It’s also possible to use a spatula and easy the floor, as you’ll for an omelette norvégienne (Baked Alaska). After which roughly reproduce the bark of the log as has develop into the customized at Christmas (have you ever learn my article on the origins of the bûche de Noël?) It’s also possible to use a kitchen torch to offer it a little bit of a scorched impact, a little bit of coloration.
Ideally, plan on a little bit of time between making the weather (cake, syrup, and lemon curd) and assembling it, and once more between meeting and the ending touches of icing and ornament.
Bûche de noël – custom of Christmas xmas log in France
Bûche de Noël is a extensively unfold custom in France, not solely amongst Christians. They’re usually home made. Bakeries promote incredible logs, truffles, and frozen as effectively. You’ll additionally discover some in supermarkets. I attempt to bake a unique xmas log cake every year, so there aren’t many on the weblog.
You could find French Chef Pierre Hermé’s (recognized for his macarons) milk chocolate and keenness fruit Christmas log. I nonetheless must translate in English the others that you could find on the French model of this weblog.
I additionally wrote for you an entire article on the story and traditions behind the Christmas xmas log. So in case you’re curious about studying about gastronomy or French life-style, I’d advocate studying it.
Lemon Meringue Xmas Log Cake
For a Christmas dessert with a French contact, this bûche de Noël xmas log revisits an important traditional of French pastry, tarte au citron meringuée lemon meringue pie, baked as a swiss roll cake. For Christmas or a flowery feast.
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