Gingerbread Bûche de Noël - Baking Chez Moi

Per Nana ~

This is a recipe I have always wanted to make and was excited that it was 

chosen for this week. I prepared each portion of the recipe separately so 

that I could concentrate without being overwhelmed. I made the candied

 pralines, which was quite easy and a new experience, and Jim loved them. 

As I read through the recipe, as each new step was mentioned I thought it 

would not all work. But with Dorie's instructions, it all worked beautifully. 

Removing the cake from the sheet pan was a trying experience, fortunately

 it came away so easily.  I managed to then roll it up without breaking or 

cracking the cake. By the time I prepared the frosting I realized I did not

 have a candy thermometer, so I just guessed at the temperature and when 

I poured the mixture into the egg whites it actually worked. 

Score one for Nana.

  All kidding aside, it is really not as hard as it looks and I 

am happy to be able to say I conquered the whole process.

 Tricia~

So many firsts with this single recipe. I had not attempted a 

bûche de noël before but as I followed along with Dorie's recipe

 from "Baking Chez Moi", I realized that I had not made sponge cake 

like this one, nor made the delicious candied pecans and definitely 

never tried a marshmallow meringue icing like this. It made me 

wonder what I had been baking all these years. 

I also had to chuckle because like any new learning experience, it seemed 

quite simple while I watched the video on Youtube of Dorie making it.  

Very straight forward. Kind of like watching my math teacher do long 

division on the blackboard many years ago. I was right there along side, 

until I got handed a sheet of paper and had to do a problem by myself. 

I am actually embarrassed to admit that I had to watch that Youtube 

video 4 or 5 times to double check what was being unwrapped when.

 Ah, nothing like a new adventure. 

While my kitchen never took such a direct hit (especially from 

confectioner's sugar) as it did with this recipe, it truly was a fun 

and forgiving cake..... bearing in mind that many sins will be

 covered with that amazing frosting. I am so pleased to have

 conquered this "bragging rights worthy" holiday dessert. 

Now on to the Croquembouche !  

(kidding...maybe next year...)

While we do not normally publish recipes from Dorie's books, we are 

permitted when the recipe was shared with the media by the publisher. 

This is one of them. 

The link below will take you to the actual recipe. 

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/22/371279552/yule-have-to-try-this-gingerbread-buche-de-noel

 Happy Holidays ~