This is gluten free yule log is one of those gluten free recipes that you can serve to everyone in the room, because absolutely no one will guess that it’s gluten free. It’s so easy to make, and delicious, too!
Here’s another recipe which I know you’ll probably think is too difficult for a beginning baker to make, but it’s not!
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This Yule Log looks intimidating, so I don’t blame you if you are thinking it is difficult, but this recipe is really quite simple, and so delicious (and if you can believe it-it is gluten free!)
I make it because of its texture and flavor, not because I want it to be gluten free…but that’s an added plus when I have guests who are on GF diets! To me, this is the perfect Christmas dessert because of its beautiful presentation and festive shape; it’s also a light cake, which means it’ll probably even entice those with full bellies, after a big Christmas dinner!
I usually make a few of these each Christmas season, and believe me, once it’s been cut, it’s only a matter of minutes before it’s gone! You don’t have to make meringue mushrooms (recipe coming soon), but they are the perfect addition to the presentation of the Yule Log. You can use real branches of pine trees to adorn the log, or holly and pinecones, just picture what you’d see on, or next to a log, in a forest in winter.
Another Christmas recipe you might enjoy–Snow Cookies!
Without further ado…here are my step-by-step instructions on how to make a Yule Log!
Yule Log (Bûche De Noël)
Serves 8 to 10
adapted from a McCall’s Cooking School recipe
- 6 egg whites, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup (1 1/4 oz) unsweetened cocoa, good quality
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- confectioner’s sugar
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) heavy cream, chilled
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
Mocha Buttercream Icing (optional)
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) butter, room temperature
- 5 cups (1lb 12 oz) confectioner’s sugar
- 1/3 cup (1 1/4 oz) unsweetened cocoa
- 1/3 cup (2 1/2 oz) or more of cold, strong coffee
To decorate: meringue mushrooms, holly, small branches of pine, (or rosemary dipped in beaten egg white and coated in sugar) Christmas baubles, etc.
Prepare 15x10x1 jelly (swiss) roll pan by buttering the pan, lining with waxed (greaseproof) paper and then lightly butter the paper. Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC.)
In large bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form when beaters are slowly lifted. Add 1/4 cup (2 oz) sugar, two tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
Using the same beaters, beat yolks at high speed, adding remaining 1/2 cup (4 oz) sugar, two tablespoons at a time, until very thick (about 4 minutes.)
At low speed, beat in cocoa, vanilla and salt until smooth.
With a spatula, gently fold cocoa mixture into egg whites just until blended (until there are no egg whites visible.)
Spread evenly into pan.
Bake 15 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed.
Place a clean linen kitchen towel on workspace and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, in a 15″x10″ area.
Turn cake out onto sugared towel and carefully peel off paper.
Roll up cake, starting with the short end.
Continue rolling until the end, and then place seam side down onto cooling rack. Allow to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
Filling: place all ingredients in a bowl and beat until thick; then chill.
To assemble: unroll the cake and cover with filling to 1″ from the edge.
Re-roll without the cloth, and place seam side down onto serving plate.
Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. This can also be frozen for up to a week, wrapped in foil.
Let stand at room temperature for one hour before serving.
To serve as in the original recipe: place on a serving platter, dust with confectioner’s sugar and decorate with red candied cherries and green angelica leaves.
Christina’s Method of Decorating
a Yule Log~
Prepare buttercream frosting: mix all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy,
adding enough coffee until a smooth, spreadable consistency is reached.
Before placing the filled Yule Log on a serving plate, cut a piece off each end of the log, at a 45 degree angle.
Spread a little frosting on an end of each piece and attach it to the log to make it look like a log with two cut branches on it.
Frost the entire log, using a butter knife and make the frosting look like wood, by making rough streaks with the knife.
Alternately, you can run a fork along the entire dessert, to make it look like the bark on the log. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar just before serving (to make it look like snow.)
Decorate with Meringue Mushrooms, sprigs of holly (toxic, so be careful), rosemary, and/or faux decorations.
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Yule Log (Made Easily, Delicious and Gluten Free!)
Ingredients
Yule Log
- 6 egg whites, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup (1 1/4 oz) unsweetened cocoa, good quality
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- confectioner's sugar
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) heavy cream, chilled
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
Mocha Buttercream Icing (optional)
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) butter, room temperature
- 5 cups (1lb 12 oz) confectioner's sugar
- 1/3 cup (1 1/4 oz) unsweetened cocoa
- 1/3 cup (2 1/2 oz) or more of cold, strong coffee
Instructions
- Prepare 15x10x1 jelly (swiss) roll pan by buttering the pan, lining with waxed (greaseproof) paper and then lightly butter the paper. Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC.)
- In large bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form when beaters are slowly lifted. Add 1/4 cup (2 oz) sugar, two tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
- Using the same beaters, beat yolks at high speed, adding remaining 1/2 cup (4 oz) sugar, two tablespoons at a time, until very thick (about 4 minutes.
- At low speed, beat in cocoa, vanilla and salt until smooth.
- With a spatula, gently fold cocoa mixture into egg whites just until blended (until there are no egg whites visible.) Spread evenly into pan.
- Bake 15 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed.
- Place a clean linen kitchen towel on workspace and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, in a 15"x10" area. Turn cake out onto sugared towel and carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake, starting with the short end.
- Continue rolling until the end, and then place seam side down onto cooling rack. Allow to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
Filling: place all ingredients in a bowl and beat until thick; then chill.
To assemble: unroll the cake and cover with filling to 1" from the edge.
- Re-roll without the cloth, and place seam side down onto serving plate.
- Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. This can also be frozen for up to a week, wrapped in foil.
- Let stand at room temperature for one hour before serving.
To serve as in the original recipe: place on a serving platter, dust with confectioner's sugar and decorate with red candied cherries and green angelica leaves.
Christina's Method of Decoratinga Yule Log~
- Prepare buttercream frosting: mix all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy,
- adding enough coffee until a smooth, spreadable consistency is reached.
- Before placing the filled Yule Log on a serving plate, cut a piece off each end of the log, at a 45 degree angle.
- Spread a little frosting on an end of each piece and attach it to the log to make it look like a log with two cut branches on it.
- Frost the entire log, using a butter knife and make the frosting look like wood, by making rough streaks with the knife.
- Alternately, you can run a fork along the entire dessert, to make it look like the bark on the log. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar just before serving (to make it look like snow.)
- Decorate with Meringue Mushrooms, sprigs of holly (toxic, so be careful), rosemary, and/or faux decorations.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
14Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving:Calories: 674 Total Fat: 18g Saturated Fat: 11g Trans Fat: 1g Unsaturated Fat: 6g Cholesterol: 125mg Sodium: 98mg Carbohydrates: 128g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 124g Protein: 4g
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We made this for Christmas this year and it was a hit! My kids are sensitive to sugar so we used less sugar, especially in the icing where we only used 2/3 a cup of confectioners sugar instead 5 cups….and it was plenty sweet enough. All 3 of my kids were really interested in the process and helped me make it, it was so much fun! This is a fantastic recipe and the cake was so easy to roll, did not break or crack and tasted amazing! We are going to make this every year now. Thank you so much for posting.
Hi Shena, I’m so happy everyone loved it. If sugar is an issue, you can skip the frosting altogether and just give the log a dusting of powdered sugar. Another tip: you can make this all year long and just make it as a Swiss roll, without turning it into a log (less work, too), and it’s a treat that’s not Christmas themed! :) Happy new year! CC
So excited to try this recipe. Bringing it to Christmas at my cousin’s. XO
Everyone’s going to love it, Valentina! Let me know how it goes :)
I’ve made a number of yule logs over the years, both gluten free and not, and I thought this worked very well – especially if you need a yule log that’s grain free. (I think, I’m not too familiar with grain-free but I think this would meet that criteria. But double check to be sure.) It did turn out much smaller than other yule logs I’ve made since this one has no flour whatsoever. The cake part is a very traditional, light sponge cake, and from that perspective it soaked up half a cup of rum beautifully. But because the cake is smaller it only served 7 of us, and not large pieces. On the plus side, it’s a very light cake so as decadent as it looks, it’s actually perfect after a heavy meal. So all in all, this is a great recipe if you’re looking for a lighter, smaller yule log. If you need a bigger yule log, look for a recipe that has some flour in it (gluten free or otherwise.)
Oh I would also add, the pictures above are fabulous – really nice job on those. If you’re never done a yule log before, follow the steps above and you’ll be fine. It’s much easier than you think!
Thank you so much, Kate! I appreciate it! :) CC
Lovely review, Kate! You are correct, it isn’t a large or heavy yule log. I’m glad you liked it, and yum with the rum! :) Thanks so much! Christina
I’ll add one more comment: I made this 3 times (yes, three!) this Christmas and added a little gluten-free flour the second and third time to make it a little bigger, and it worked great. I added flour with the cocoa, sifted together. Adding 1/2 cup of gf flour was good for serving 10 slices, and adding 3/4 cup flour fed our Christmas crew of 12 people. (At that point, it was much more traditional cake-like rather than sponge.) I love the flexibility of doing this! Wish I could share a picture, they were all beautiful and turned out great.
Oh please do send me a photo or two (or three)! :) Sounds great Kate! (Either email me or post to my Facebook page (Christina’s Cucina). Thank you for letting me know! CC
[…] Yule Log […]
I have the original page of this McCall’s Cooking School recipe, from the December 1973 issue of McCall’s magazine. I love this easy recipe, which I have used almost every year since then. It’s now a family tradition. I came across your web page because I was looking for a recipe for frosting, just to be ‘different’ this year. I hope many generations of cooks will continue to enjoy this wonderful recipe. Happy Christmas!
Oh that’s wonderful, Fredericka! It is a great recipe, and that’s often what I am doing on my site: essentially passing on recipes that I have found to be fantastic, whether in a recipe book, magazine or handed down from my Nonna in Italy, for example. Hope you find some others you may enjoy on my site (we may have similar tastes in recipes)! ;) Happy New Year!
Made a #glutenfree mocha #YuleLog yesterday and decorated the plate with pine cones and holly from my garden. It was absolutely delicious. Best yule log recipe I’ve tried. Credit goes to @ChristinaCucina http://bit.ly/2zgSh6n . Thanks Christina! This was a party hit! [Review and photo originally posted to Twitter by @RulaSinara]
Thanks so much for your lovely review, Rula! So glad it was a hit! :)
Being Scottish, I like tea not coffee so it wasn’t my cup. But I loved the cookies!
I don’t drink coffee either, but I LOVE mocha! Which cookies did you love, Lora?
[…] endless. What we ended with is a gluten free product, with minimal sugar. I used inspiration from https://christinascucina.com/2012/12/yule-log-made-easily-delicious-and.html to get me started, and altered as […]
I tried this out this Christmas and loved it so much I made it twice!! I did choose to make a chocolate mousse to fill it with, and used my own buttercream for coating, but the hard part was all yours. Great recipe – thank you!
That’s wonderful to hear, Christine! Thank you so much and happy new year!
I made this for Christmas because my 5 year old granddaughter is gluten free. OMG it was fabulous! Not sure if she even had any, as there were other GF options, but everyone who tried it loved it. It disappeared one sliver at a time. This recipe is a keeper for sure.
[…] Camille’s note: I found this article of the more or less same cake but with step by step pictures – I think it helps so here is the link. […]
[…] https://christinascucina.com/2012/12/yule-log-made-easily-delicious-and.html […]
Never made a yule log before but love the thought of it. Nice to see the step by step photos to see how it’s made!
It’s much easier than expected, Vicky!
Yule Logs are a staple! This one is so pretty…and looks exactly like a log!
Thank you, Steph!
My mom’s usually the one to make the yule log but now that you’ve shown how easy this is, I might just give it a try!
It certainly is easy! I think people are intimidated because of the way it looks. Enjoy!
Perfection Christina!! And I am in love with those meringue mushrooms. So cute!
Unfortunately, that photo was taken at a party I brought the Yule Log to, so it’s not really a great shot, but yes, the meringue mushrooms are always a hit! Someone once thought they were toadstools from my front yard! ;)
Such a perfect yule log, Christina! I’ve never attempted one before, probably because it just seemed like too much of a hassle, but your tutorial makes it look thoroughly doable, thank you!
It sure is doable and simple, Kimberly!
This is beautiful! I’ve wanted to make a Yule Log for ages, but am really worried I would mess it up and it would crack. But this looks amazing, so I really need to give it a go!
Absolutely, Annie! Give it a try, you’ll see it’s not so difficult!
many thanks for this brilliant looking recipe, today is the day & i feel the need to get this yule log done, practice makes perfect i suppose?
& with christmas just around the corner, this will really make an amazing centre feature on my dining table as my guests tuck in to it …. many thanks once again for your amazing ideas, and all the hard work that you guys do …..MERRY CHRISTMAS x :)
What a lovely comment to wake up to! Thank you so much, Thomas! You’ll see how easy it is after the first time. I made one for a party last year, start to finish (with decorating) in an hour! Let me know how it turns out and Merry Christmas to you, too! :) CC
Thank you christina, it actually turned out far better than i could ever imagine.. both myself & wife claim that its way to pretty to cut or eat lol.. i have taken pictures of it but dont have the means of uploading a picture for everyone to see on your site. however, i am very satisfied with the final result and now with my tester out ofte way … i feel pretty confident in doing my christmas table center piece nearer christmas day… again many thanks for all the insperation you provide to all your followers… love you lots and lots merry christmas to all you know and please stay safe … Thomas ( south wales ) uk x
Oh I am so happy to hear this, Thomas! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know! I would love to see it if you are able (and willing) to send it to my email address: christina at christinascucina dot com (obviously, use the @ and .). I agree that it does look very pretty when it’s finished, but I do hope you did cut into it and tried it! I love how light it is, and this can easily be made as a regular swiss roll any other time of year. Thanks again for letting me know! Merry Christmas to you too! :)
Merry Christmas, what a gorgeous yule log, I am going save this recipe, your sponge looks amazing. I have been looking for a good recipe for a while now.
Merry Christmas to you too, Suzanne! I’m happy you’re going to try the Yule Log-it’s always turned out great…you can just keep it plain for any other time of year too. Enjoy! CC