Boozy Yule Log

It's time to turn Christmas into an adult affair (steady there, English Mum, don't be getting ideas...) and forget all this nonsense that it's all about the kids.  It's all about the adults who need copious amounts of sugar and booze to get through it all without having a tantrum.  This Yule Log packs a healthy slug of much-needed alcoholic refreshment in both the filling and the icing.  If you don't drink, just leave it out.  If you do, and you don't like what I've used, go mad and improvise.  Either way, you're onto a winner with this sweet treat.

I used the same icing recipe which covered The Hubs' Birthday Cake but added a few tablespoons of Kahlua, tasting as I went, to get the balance right.  The centre of my Yule Log was filled with some more icing and lots of delicious Avonmore Baileys Cream which was part of a hamper which Avonmore sent me for being a runner up in their Cook With Avonmore competition a few weeks ago.

Boozy Yule Log

3 Eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
75g Caster Sugar
75g Plain Flour
2 tbsp Cocoa
1 tsp Baking Powder

Preheat your oven to 200x/Gas Mark 6.  Line a swiss roll tin or a rectangular, fairly deep baking tin with baking paper.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt in a spotlessly clean bowl until they look like meringue.  While still whisking the meringue, add the sugar in a steady stream until the mixture is glossy and thick.

Now beat in the egg yolks until well combined and sieve in all the dry ingredients, folding in with a metal spoon until no pockets of flour remain.

Pour into the tin and smooth out.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tin before turning it onto a sheet of baking paper sprinkled with some caster sugar (this gives the base of the cake some grip as you start to roll it.  Remove the lining paper and trim the sponge if it's a bit uneven.

Once the cake is completely cold, spread with some of the icing and top with generous tablespoons of the Baileys Cream - not so much that it escapes everywhere because then you'll just have to eat the extra yourself & that would be awful, wouldn't it...

Now it's time to roll the cake - you want to roll it along the longest side, so you have a longer, thinner Yule Log rather than a big fat Swiss Roll.  The caster sugar on the baking paper will give you the grip you need to roll the log without it sticking to the paper... don't roll it very tightly or all the filling will escape.  Now cut off about 1/4 of the log at an angle (this becomes your branch) and cover both pieces of the log with the rest of the icing, leaving the exposed ends un-iced.  Stick the angled piece to the main cake to form the branch. Rough up the icing with a fork & sprinkle with icing sugar.

This cake keeps for 3-4 days in the fridge in a sealed container, but if it lasts that long, you're doing much better than us...