Indulgent Chocolate Log

An easy Yule Log with a delicious filing and icing. The apricot jam helps the icing to stick to cake and is tasty too. Not just for Christmas - any time will do.

#Christmas #YuleLog

Serves: 10-12

Prep Time: 50 mins

Cooking Time: 8-10 minutes

Source: Mary Berry's Christmas Collection, Daily Mail Part Two

Ingredients:

For the chocolate sponge

4 large eggs 100g (4 oz) caster sugar

65g (2 1/2 oz) self-raising flour

40g (1 1/2 oz) cocoa powder

For the icing

2 x 200g (7 oz) bars Bournville chocolate, in small pieces

600ml (1pt) double cream

4 tbsp apricot jam, warmed

icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Lightly grease a 33cmx 23cm (13inx 9in) Swiss roll tin, and line with non-stick paper or baking parchment, pushing it into the corners.

Whisk the eggs and sugar using an electric hand whisk in a large bowl until the mixture is pale in colour, light and frothy. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and carefully cut and fold together, using a metal spoon, until all the cocoa and flour is incorporated into the egg mixture. (Be careful not to beat any of the air out of the mixture).

Pour into the lined tin, making sure that you spread the mixture evenly out into the corners. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until the sponge is evenly brown and the sides are shrinking away from the edge of the tin.

Place a piece of baking parchment bigger than the Swiss roll tin on the work surface. Invert the cake onto the paper and remove the bottom lining piece of paper.

Trim the edges of the cake with a sharp knife and make a score mark night across one of the longer edges, 2.5cm (1 in) from the edge. Roll up from this long edge using the paper, rolling with the paper inside. Set aside to cool.

While the cake cools, make the icing. Melt the chocolate and 450ml (16fl oz) of the cream In a bowl over a pan of simmering water until completely melted (the bowl must not touch the water). Put into the fridge to cool and firm up (this Icing needs to be very thick for piping). Whip the remaining cream.

Uncurl the cold Swiss roll and remove the paper. Spread a third of the icing over the surface, then spread the whipped cream on top, and re-roll tightly. Cut a quarter of the cake off from one end on the diagonal. Transfer the large piece of cake to a serving plate and angle the cut end to the side of the large cake to make a branch. Then cover the surface of the cake with the melted apricot jam.

Place the remaining chocolate icing in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and carefully pipe long thick lines along the cake, covering the cake completely so it looks like the bark of a tree. You can also cover each of the log with icing or, if you wish to see the cream inside, leave it un-iced.

Dust your log with a little icing sugar and garnish with some fresh holly to serve.

Cook's Tip:

You can make this completely, filled and iced, up to 2 days ahead. If there is time, though, it is best made on the day of serving. It freezes well for up to month Ideally it should be frozen filled and rolled but un-iced, then iced once defrosted, so the icing keeps a nice shine. You'd only need to make a third of the icing to fill it before freezing. Defrost it in the fridge overnight.