Pink Velvet Yule Log Recipe
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure PolicyI decided to give a classic holiday dessert a delicious and colorful makeover. This Pink Velvet Yule Log is a unique, delicious, and beautiful dessert to celebrate the holiday season!
Happy 12 Days of Christmas! I love you all so much, and my Christmas spirit is soaring so high, that I decided to add a bonus post to the series with this Pink Velvet Yule Log recipe.
Inspired by my Christmas in the Kitchen tour, I thought we needed something sweet to celebrate. How about this Pink Velvet Yule log recipe?
Pink Velvet Yule Log:
Since I’d never made a yule log, but had long wanted to do so, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. And, since nothing can be typical around these parts, I wanted a yule log with a twist.
With touches of pink all over my kitchen (including my fabulous pink countertops), a pink velvet yule log only made sense. To make it feel festive and sparkly, I added lots of sprinkles, sugar pearls, and coarse sugar.
I’d say we have something worthy of Suzy Snowflake. Right?
Now, if you’ve never made a yule lug, it can be a bit time consuming, given all of the ornamentation. However, despite how it looks, I kept things pretty simple.
How to Make a Pink Velvet Yule log:
To start, you’ll prepare two pink velvet Swiss rolls. The cakes are baked thin on a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Once out of the oven, they are immediately rolled in a confectioner’s sugar-dusted towel to cool. Doing this prevents the cake from cracking when it is filled with frosting and rerolled.
After the cakes have cooled, they are spread with a cream cheese and white chocolate frosting and are rolled back up.
Once they’ve set up in the refrigerator, you’re ready to assemble them. The reason you’ve baked two of these rolls is to make the main yule log and have extra pieces to create branches. You can see how I’ve sliced my cake up below.
You’ll have to slice the cake with some curves so they fit somewhat snuggly to the main roll.
However, don’t worry too much. The nest step is using more of that wonderful frosting to pipe lines all over the cake to create a wood grain effect. (I used white and pink for a bit of variety.) During this process you can also fill in any gaps where your cake pieces connect. Once your yule log is complete, you won’t notice the joints. Frosting covers a myriad of mistakes.
Now you’re ready to decorate. Traditionally, yule logs are adorned with meringue mushrooms. However, I don’t have much meringue experience, so I just created mushrooms by piping white and pink melted chocolate onto wax paper. Sprinkled with sugar and candies before the chocolate sets, no one will even miss the meringue mushrooms.
(I also piped trees, but they didn’t work as I thought. However, I did tuck them around the base of my yule log to mimic leaves.)
Once all of that was complete, I just sprinkled the entire thing with more coarse sugar and sprinkles to create a festive and heavenly confection.
It’s the perfect pink holiday treat.
For my first yule log, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I also had a blast putting it together.
However, with all that work behind me, I think it’s time for a taste.
Tada!
Yes, creating a yule log is a process. However, if you enjoy baking, it’s fun, and the results speak for themselves.
I love how mine turned and may have just started a yearly tradition. What do you think?
Pink Velvet Yule Log Recipe:
Pink Velvet Yule Log
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Pink gel food coloring about 4 drops
- Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Filling / Frosting:
- 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
- 15 ounces white baking chocolate melted
- Pink gel food coloring
You will also need:
- Sprinkles, sugar pearls, coarse sanding sugar
- Additional melted white chocolate (in white and pinpiped into mushroom and tree shapes
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Grease two 15x10x1" pans with baking spray, cover with parchment paper, and then spray again.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs on high for 3-5 minutes, until pale in color. Continue beating as you slowly add the sugar. Once combined, add the oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat to incorporate. Add pink gel food coloring to achieve desired color. Mix to combine. Finally, beat in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared baking pans. Tilt the pan (or spread with a spatulto even out the batter.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched.
- While the cakes bake, lay two tea towels out on your countertop and sprinkle each towel with powdered sugar.
- When the cakes are done, immediately invert them onto the prepared towels. Remove the parchment paper and then roll the cake in the towel starting at the narrower end. Set on a wire rack to cool completely. (This step is important because it will prevent your cake from cracking later when you reroll it after it's cooled.)
- In the meantime, prepare your filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, and salt until smooth. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine. Gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar and white baking chocolate until smooth. Divide this frosting evenly into three bowls.
- Once your cakes have cooled, unroll them. Using two of the three bowls of frosting, spread one bowl over each of the cakes to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Roll them up again, without the towel. Place both onto a large platter seam side down and refrigerate until the filling has set. This will take about 2 hours.
- Once the cakes have cooled, trim of the edges of each cake. Set one cake onto a platter, then cut the second cake to create branches off the first. Trim the cake branches so they fit snuggly.
- Divide your final bowl of frosting into two bowls. Use a touch of pink gel food coloring to dye one half pink; leave the rest white. Put each frosting into separate piping bags, cut off the tips, and pipe lines onto the cake to resemble bark. Fill in any areas where the cake connects.
- Garnish the yule log with sprinkles, sugar pearls, and coarse sanding sugar for sparkle.
- To create chocolate mushrooms, put melted white chocolate (one white and one dyed pininto two piping bags. Pipe the desired shapes onto wax paper. Sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar or add sugar pearls to the mushrooms before the chocolate sets for added interest. Allow the chocolate to cool completely, and then tuck them into your yule log.
Gorgeous!! This is such a smart recipe and idea!
Now, I have to wait until next Christmas and it’s still January!
Looks amazing
OMG… Cute.. Nice PINK… will broke my diet program lol.. i Like it.. hug from indonesia
Oh MY GOODNESS! This might just be my most favorite thing I’ve seen this year! I’m literally about to cry from the happiness that beautiful pink brings. So lovely!
What the actual heck?! This is incredible!! I’m in Australia so we just pump out lots of pavlovas for Christmas dessert but I really want to try this. Thanks for the bonus! ?
Love your pictures… and pink is my color
Many greetings Andrea
Gosh this is incredible! Well done, Michael!
The pink yule log is incredible! I have to try it! Thanks for the inspiration!