Monday 20 December 2010

Blog Fest: Be Jolly By Golly

It's the week of Christmas. What better way to celebrate than with some festive blog fest fun. Organised by the awesome Jen and Melissa.




1.Blog Post to be posted on December 20th (whatever time you desire)
2.Show pictures of your decorations, holiday lights & Christmas tree!
3.Share your favorite treat (Recipe included, chance for others to steal the yumminess!)
4.Share your favorite drink (Recipe included, chance for others to steal the alcohol – or non)
Christmas tree!
5.Last but not least… visit others!!! Take part in their holiday cheer! (Linky list)

Two things let me know Christmas is almost here. The first is getting an advent calender. Chocolate for counting down days till Christmas = Best. Invention. Ever!
The second is the tree.

I like cake. You know I like cake. So one of my favourite treats is yule log.


(Picture from indyweek.com )

It's cake and chocolate in one yummy package. That counts as a double win for me.

Ingredients:

Butter and greaseproof paper
6 eggs, separated
150g caster sugar
50g cocoa (choose a good cocoa such as Green & Black’s)
Zest of one large orange
125g dark chocolate
185g icing sugar, sifted
165g butter, at room temperature
Juice of one large orange


Preheat the oven to 180ÂșC and line a Swiss Roll tin (about A4 size) with greaseproof paper. Butter the paper and then sprinkle lightly with cocoa.


Put the egg whites into a food processor or large bowl and whisk to soft peaks. Add 50g (about 2tbsp) of the caster sugar and whisk again until the egg whites are quite stiff. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the orange zest and remaining sugar until they are light and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift over the cocoa and stir it in gently (the mixture will look a bit claggy but don’t worry, it comes together).


Put a spoonful of egg white into the yolk mixture and stir it in gently. Then add the remaining white in three additions – fold very gently, so you don’t lose any air. Pour and spoon the mixture into the lined tin and, when the oven is heated, put in for 20 minutes.


Now rinse out the food processor bowl (or clean the whisking blades) and sift in the icing sugar. Add the butter and beat for a few minutes, until soft and creamed. Add the orange juice and whisk again.


Weigh the chocolate into an ovenproof bowl. When the roulade comes out of the oven, switch off the oven and put in the chocolate for a minute or two to melt. Turn the roulade onto a rolling board and peel off the parchment. Retrieve the melted chocolate and add it to the butter mixture, then pulse until well combined. Spread a thin layer of the icing onto the roulade and, while it’s still warm, roll it up to make a log shape.


Put the log, seam-side down, onto a serving plate. Leave it to cool for a few more minutes, then cut off one end and arrange it as a branch. Cover the log with icing, rippling with the end of a knife for a log effect. (From Cake Baker UK)

I'm not a huge drinker. Most of the time I stick to soft drinks, but one of the drinks I remember helping my granddad make for my relatives as a child was a Snowball.
Ingredients:
1 shot of Advocaat. Fill glass with sparkling Lemonade. Add a shot of Advocaat to the glass and top up with sparkling lemonade. Add a 1/4 shot of lime cordial and mix. Easy!

And Christmas at my house wouldn't be Christmas without the festive TV tradition... the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special!

What about you? Any traditions you share over the festive period?

53 comments:

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

That log looks so yummy! My hips are growing just seeing it.
"A Christmas Story" is the tradition around here for laughter.
MBeth

Renae said...

Love your tree and that cake looks amazing!!!!

Emily White said...

Merry Christmas! Your tree looks so cute!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yeah, the tree is cute. And I didn't realize yule log had orange in it.

DL Hammons said...

YUM YUM...a yule log. Definitely gonna print that one out. Love your tree!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

PK HREZO said...

Hopping by on the blogfest... mmm, yulelog! Have a wonderful Xmas!

Stina said...

This blogfest is making me hungry. Maybe I shouldn't have checked out so many posts before breakfast. *rushes off to find yummy treats to eat*

Have a great Christmas!

Kimberly Franklin said...

Beautiful tree! Merry Christmas!! :)

Unknown said...

Happy Christmas. Your tree looks pretty. You took me back to my teens with your recipe: I remember learning how to make a chocolate Yule Log at school - the felled mess in the plastic box, when I got home, was a sight too.

Matthew MacNish said...

Nice tree. Happy Christmas!

Nicole Zoltack said...

Merry Christmas! That is one recipe I am going to have to try.

Lisa Potts said...

From one cake lover to another, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recipe!

Ellie Garratt said...

Happy Christmas to you and your family!

We share the same favourite drink, only made slightly different! I could drink Snowballs forever. LOL.

Be Jolly By Golly

Roxy said...

Yule logs are the best! They're also so fun to make and look at. Happy Christmas!

Colene Murphy said...

Lovely tree! Thanks for the nommy recipe!! Merry Christmas!!

Laura S. said...

These are fun treats! Your tree looks wonderful!

Tara said...

I bet that yule log is yummy!

Unknown said...

I love your tree!!! The Yule Log looks amazingly delicious! I think I'd enjoy it as well!!!

I am loving our blogfest! It's such a yummy idea! I'm feeling fat full already!

Carol Riggs said...

Great tree, and I love the yule log idea, though I've never made one before. Looks scrumptious. Merry Christmas! We also always like to watch either a Christmas Carol, The Grinch, or Charlie Brown's Christmas.

Ann said...

Your chocolate Christmas log looks delicious. My mother always had numerous Christmas logs on hand for the holiday. We always watch a movie after the dinner too.

Summer Ross said...

I've never known how to make a yule log. :) I love your tree. our tradition is watching the grinch who stole christmas.

Sondrae Bennett said...

I love yule logs (although I wont lie, I bought mine this year instead of making one). Have a great holiday!

Bess Weatherby said...

I LOVE the Dr. Who Christmas special! If only I could get my family to watch it with me . . .

Cheers dear,

~ Bess

Katrina L. Lantz said...

Doctor Who?! That's an awesome Christmas tradition! We carol on Christmas Eve.

And that yule log looks amazing and deadly. Mmm!

So fun to see what you're doing on the other side of the pond! Merry Christmas!

p.s. I just read the most amazing pages from a really talented unpubbed author (wink, wink). Still thinking about the story this morning. You are awesome!

N. R. Williams said...

Trees and logs, yum.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

I love me some cake, too! I'll have to give that yule log a try! :)
Merry Christmas!

Meredith said...

I love yule logs! When I get better at baking (ie when I don't nearly burn my apartment down every time I turn on the oven), I'll have to try that recipe! Love your tree!

Kathi Oram Peterson said...

Cute tree! And your recipe looks yummo!

A tradition we have: having Christmas Eve dinner together and a program by the fireplace and Christmas tree.

RaShelle Workman said...

Lindsay - Cake and chocolate is a win-win for me, too. What is caster sugar, though?

Botanist said...

That yule log looks delicious...just how I remember them when I was younger and exactly how a yule log should look. Mmmmmm....

Anonymous said...

The yule log looks delicious! I've always wanted to make one. Will have to make a point of making one next year. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Michelle Merrill said...

That Yule Log looks absolutely delicious! Have a great Christmas :)

Melissa said...

Log cake! Looks sooo good!

Your tree is very cute too! I love that you have tinsel on it! I love tinsel. I used to wrap myself up in it as a kid! (probably why we don't have it anymore!)

Beth Fred said...

You have a beautiful tree.
beth-project52.blogspot.com

Christmas Blogfest said...

That cake looks delicious!

Santa Paws said...

Here for the blogfest. Happy Holidays!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

That yule log looks soooooo good!!! :-)

Talei said...

Merry Christmas! Advocaat - I remember my Dad had a few of little bottles but I had no idea what to do with it! Perfect recipe, thank so much for sharing it. ;)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Beautiful tree! and that yule log looks delish!

Lyn
W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey

Shannon said...

Your tree is absolutely darling! =)

And yeah...cake is always good. So glad you did this blogfest!

Kelley said...

That cake looks delicious! I will have to try it, thanks for showing it :). Happy Holidays!
~Kelley

Michael Di Gesu said...

Love yule logs, and your tree looks so pretty.

Have a WONDERFUL holiday!

Michael

Unknown said...

I've never had a yule log but it sounds yummy! And yay for Dr. Who! (even though I'm still a season behind)

Jemi Fraser said...

Love your tree and the yule log looks delicious. I haven't made one in years - maybe it's time to try it again :)

Danette said...

I'm with you about the advent calender although when my kids were young I even put presents in them! I was too ambitious!!! Nice blogfest entry! Merry Christmas!

Jennie Bailey said...

I love yule logs! We have a bakery down the street that makes the yummiest! I get one each Christmas. Have a Merry Christmas!

Talli Roland said...

Gorgeous cake! And gorgeous tree, too.

Happy holidays! :)

Tracy said...

Your tree is beautiful. And it's so cute. It looks tiny compared to the monsters some of us have taking up massive amounts of space in our homes!

Merry Christmas, Lindsay!

Susan Fields said...

That cake sounds sooo good! We don't have Advent calendars, but we do countdown to Christmas with an Advent chain with an activity for the kids and I to do together each day. But they're getting older now (two of the three are teenagers), so more often than not we don't end up actually doing the activity. :( The kids still like to see the chain shrink and see how close we're getting to Christmas, though.

Abby Minard said...

That chocolate roll looks SO yummy. I've seen so many other people who watch Dr. Who and I always say I need to start watching it! Maybe soon! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Vicki Rocho said...

My daughter and i tried to do a yule log a few years ago...didn't work out so well. Not sure what we did wrong, but it didn't look ANYTHING like that one.

Brenda Drake said...

That yule log looks and sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing and have a Merry Christmas! :D

Lola Sharp said...

YUMMMM...I LOVE a Buche du Noel/Yule Log!! (Well, I love cake...especially chocolate frosting cake. ) But, yule logs are a pain to make. Much more fun to eat. :)

Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2011!
Love,
Lola