I 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!
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.