Chestnut
Yule Log
(Buche de
Noel aux Marrons)
1 1/2
pounds chestnuts
1/4 pound
soft unsalted butter
4 squares
bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup
water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2
teaspoons vanilla
candied
cherries
angelica
Cut an X
on the flat side of each chestnut and put them into a large pan of rapidly
boiling water. Boil the chestnuts 30 minutes. Drain and peel them, removing the
inner skins as well as the shells. Force the nuts through a food mill. Add the
butter and the chocolate, which has been melted and blended with the water,
sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Roll into a
long thin log and wrap in buttered wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator for
several hours.
Unwrap the
log from the wax paper and place on a long serving platter. Run the tines of
the fork lengthwise over the surface of the cake, to give the appearance of
bark and decorate with candied cherries and angelica.
-- from
the 1954, Tante Marie's French Pastry, translated and adapted by Charlotte Turgeon
ORIGIN: Rumor
has it that when Napoleon ordered all chimneys to be closed during the winter,
a mischievous French chef devised this lovely faux log dessert paying homage to
the original tradition of decorating a log for the fire.
