Chocolate Christmas Yule Log

Photo: Maria Grossmann

Christmas 2020 was quite different: quiet days, reading, cooking and reflecting on the changes and challenges that the world has seen in these turbulent times. On Christmas Eve, I decided to turn one of my favourite recipes into a traditional Christmas cake. This Chocolate Christmas Yule Log uses the base recipe of the Cupboard Love Brownie.

Serves 8–10

For the cake:
— 400ml coconut milk
— 2 very ripe bananas
— 70g cacao powder
— 125g buckwheat flour
— 100g ground pistachios or almonds
— 165g coconut sugar
— 2 tbsp baking powder
— ¼ tsp vanilla powder or paste
— 10g poppy seeds
— 25g cacao nibs

For the ganache:
— 400 ml coconut milk
— 50–80g cacao powder, depending on how dark you want the colour of the ganache

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 24 × 30 cm baking tray with baking paper. I have an adjustable baking tray, but you can use any size of baking tray and rolled-up aluminium foil to create the shape that you need for this recipe.

2. Pour the coconut milk into a stand mixer and whisk on a low speed for 4–5 minutes. Mash the bananas and add to the coconut milk for the last 2 minutes, creating a smooth and creamy paste.

3. Put all the other ingredients together in a mixing bowl and stir into the coconut and banana cream. Mix well for 5 minutes.

4. Pour the cake mix into the prepared baking tray and smooth the top.

5. Place in the preheated oven for 30–35 minutes. Use a cocktail stick to check if the cake is ready. Push it into the centre of the cake and if the stick comes out dry then the cake is ready. Do not worry if there are some small bits stuck to the cocktail stick, this is fine as you want the cake to be moist and gooey, but the cocktail stick should not be completely covered with the mix.

6. When the cake has cooled, trim the edges to a neat rectangle.

7. Prepare the ganache by mixing the coconut milk and cacao powder together in a saucepan and then cooking over a very low heat until well combined.

8. Spread 3–4 tbsp of ganache over the top of the cake and roll up into a log shape. This is tricky to do without the cake breaking! My advice is just to do it very slowly and use the baking paper underneath to support the cake as you roll it up. You can use the cocktail stick again to hold the log together until you start to cover it with the ganache.

9. Cover the log with the ganache and use your artistic flair to make the icing textured like the bark of a log. Decoration ideas: Cut bay leaves into holly-leaf shapes and dip into melted vegan chocolate and dip blueberries into melted vegan chocolate too. Then, place on top of the yule log for a festive finish.

Decoration ideas:
Cut bay leaves into holly-leaf shapes and dip into melted vegan chocolate and dip blueberries into melted vegan chocolate too. Then, place on top of the yule log for a festive finish.