Active Time
2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time
15 hours 30 minutes (includes freezing time)
Peppermint ice cream and chocolate cake are rolled up into the quintessential holiday treat.
Ingredients
Makes 12 to 14 servings
Sauce:
Chocolate leaves:
Cake:
Meringue and decorations:
Special Equipment
Preparation
For sauce:
Step 1
Place chocolate in medium microwave-safe bowl. Bring cream to simmer in small saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until melted and smooth. Do ahead can be made 1 week ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm, uncovered, in microwave in 15-second intervals and whisk before using.
For chocolate leaves:
Step 2
Stir chocolate in small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Using pastry brush, brush chocolate on underside (veined side) of 1 leaf to coat completely (do not allow chocolate to drip over edge of leaf). Place leaf, chocolate side up, on small foil-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining leaves. Chill, uncovered, until chocolate coating is cold and firm, at least 1 hour. Working with 1 leaf at a time, carefully peel green leaf away from chocolate. Return chocolate leaf to same sheet; discard green leaf. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
For cake:
Step 3
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking sheet with parchment. Coat paper with nonstick spray and dust with cocoa.
Step 4
Sift 1/2 cup sugar, cake flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder, and salt into small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks in large bowl until thick. Beat in oil, 2 tablespoons water, and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating just until blended. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions. Spread batter evenly on prepared baking sheet.
Step 5
Bake cake until puffed and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 10 minutes. Sift light layer of cocoa over large smooth kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Cut around pan sides. Turn cake out onto prepared towel, leaving 3-inch cloth border on 1 long side. Peel off parchment. Starting at long side with cloth border and using cloth as aid, roll up cake in towel (towel will be rolled up inside). Place cake, seam side down, on work surface; cool completely.
Step 6
Microwave ice cream in 10-second intervals until barely softened. Unroll cake on work surface but leave on cloth. Dollop ice cream over cake by spoonfuls. Gently spread ice cream into even layer, leaving 1-inch plain border on long side opposite cloth border. Sprinkle ice cream with crushed candy. Using cloth as aid and starting at cloth border, roll up cake, enclosing ice cream in cake. Place cake, seam side down, on long platter; cover with plastic wrap. Freeze cake at least 8 hours or overnight.
For meringue:
Step 7
Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Beat in vanilla.
Step 8
Cut off 1/8 of cake at angle at 1 end. Press cutoff part onto center of 1 side of log, cut side in. Spread meringue all over top, sides, and ends of cake. Using fork, make long grooves in meringue down length of cake and in circles on ends to resemble tree bark. Freeze cake until meringue is cold and firm, at least 3 hours. Using torch, brown meringue in random spots. Return cake to freezer. DO AHEAD: can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen.
Step 9
Garnish cake with chocolate leaves, fresh mint sprigs, and small candy canes. Cut cake crosswise into 1-inch-wide slices. Drizzle with warm chocolate sauce.
How would you rate Frozen Chocolate-Peppermint Bùche de Noël?
Leave a Review
Reviews (9)
Back to TopI would say that this is a very good cake. However if you don't have a good amount of time I wouldn't do it and if you are looking for a quick and easy cake then this is not the cake for you. But if you have that time and experience than I would definitely give it a shot.
Bull_Dawg
6/5/2011
I made this for Christmas Eve. It was exceptional. I agree with other bakers that the cake was a little lighter than the photo but it tasted fine. We used McConnell's Peppermint Ice Cream and it was just perfect. My cake did start to crack after I put the ice cream in it, but I just rolled it up and put it in the freezer overnight and after putting the meringue on it you never would have known. It also gave me an excuse to buy a kitchen torch at Sur La Table which I have always wanted. It was a complete success in all ways. I would consider making a chocolate genoise from The Cake Bible next time as an experiment to see whether I liked it better, but overall, this was a hit just as is.
meganmcconnell
Los Angeles, CA
12/27/2010
In the end, my family said it was delicious - which it was, because of the combination of peppermint ice cream and chocolate sauce. But I could have made brownies with ice cream & chocolate sauce and had the same flavors (and more chocolatey flavor) and saved a lot of work. This should have been all about presentation, but like other reviewers I found the cake (prepped and baked exactly as directed) impossible to roll. It cracked like crazy, the ice cream slid around, and it finally came out as a rolled rectangle. Luckily the meringue layer hid a lot and it looked pretty with garnishes, but I will do a traditional buche de Noel with buttercream filling next time.
Anonymous
Southborough, Mass.
12/26/2010
After reading the first reviews of this recipe I was a bit skeptical! But I was determined to try it anyway. The cake was okay, pale in color and not a whole lot of flavor. I baked it 2 minutes less as previously suggested. I probably had the ice cream a little too soft so the end result was not quite round.....The overall taste and time it took to make this was definitly not worth it.....Make a Baked Alaska... much easier
lnilsen
12/26/2010
The cake was beautiful and my family was very impressed. The chocolate cake was a bit dry, but I probably over baked it. It tasted very good especially with warm chocolate sauce on top! Who doesn't like cake and ice cream?
Anonymous
Choctaw, OK
12/26/2010
A terrible recipe. Although the cake has an ok flavor it doesn't roll well and is very hard to manage. There are many other better "Buche" recipes on this site.
mairzi
Holyoke, MA
12/25/2010
I've decided to make this cake so I can do ahead and place in freezer until the 25th. So far, the cake came out light colored as others have stated, but it tastes good. I used turkey hill peppermint chocolate chunk ice cream, and it was just the right amount to fill the cake. I have yet to frost it. we shall see about the next step...Maybe I'll add some extra flavor to the meringue to avoid the blah flavor
gwenhendry
boston
12/19/2010
It was pretty but it didn't have much taste. The cake does not turn out nearly as dark as the picture indicates and has very little chocolate flavor. I used Haagen-dasz holikday st chocolate and peppermint bark ice cream, which was good. The meringue was pretty but contributed little tast. There are better buche de noel recipes out there!
janetbakes
pdx
12/13/2010
I have made buche noel before and my family has always loved this holiday treat. I thought I would try the ice cream version for something new. Big mistake! This cake did not come together well at all and tasted blah! too. The first set of ingredients were very stiff and thick and it was near impossible to "fold in the first set of egg whites and so I ended up forcing the mixture together. I was able to fold in the second amount of egg white and thought the cake might be okay but noticed it was a very light color and not chocolate looking at all. I baked the cake according to directions and took it out of the oven at 12 minutes. This was too long! The cake was way over baked and the cooking time should have been closer to 10 minutes. I cooled the cake according to the recipe and as I have done with other buche noel cakes, I have made, I wrapped it in the dusted towel. Warm it rolled well. However, after it cooled and I unrolled it to put in the ice cream it began to crack everywhere. This was probably due to the overcooking but the cake was not spongy enough either. I also needed to have more than 2 pints of ice cream. It was not enough. I went through, rolled it anyway, wrapped it, and froze it cracks and all. The next day I before I bothered to take the time to frost with meringue I cut off an end and tried it. Not good! The cake had the texture and taste of cardboard and had no depth of chocolate. I will be making something else for my dinner party this weekend! As I am the first review, I am curious to know others experience. Cheers!
Anonymous
Seattle
12/7/2010
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