BUCHE DE NOEL, VERSION 2025

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Not my first time, in fact it is my fourth, but it is hard to resist such a classic for the holiday season.

So many components, but apart from the decorations, nothing is that complicated, and of course even the decorations can be simplified to a minimum: a dusting of powdered sugar. Your cake, your choice!

BUCHE DE NOEL
(cake component from Helen Fletcher’s Pastrieslikeapro)

for the chocolate sponge cake:
¾ cup sifted cake flour (75 grams)
¼ cup sifted cocoa (25 grams)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
6 eggs separated
⅔ cup sugar, divided (140 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla

for the filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar (100g)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

for the buttercream frosting:
1 + ¼ cups unsalted butter softened (284g)
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cocoa powder (48g)
2 + ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar sifted (330g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
several tablespoons of heavy cream to adjust consistency

for the meringue mushrooms:
2 egg whites room temperature
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons superfine sugar
cocoa powder for dusting
melted chocolate or Royal icing for assembling

Make the meringue mushrooms, the day before. In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat on medium speed until frothy and doubled in volume. With the mixer running, slowly sprinkle in the sugar. Once all of the sugar is added, continue beating until stiff and glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Place the meringue in a piping bag fitting with a large round tip.

Pipe half of the meringue into stems by placing the piping tip on the parchment and squeezing the piping bag while slowly moving the tip up, creating a column of meringue. Pipe round tops. Dust the tops and stems very lightly with cocoa powder. Bake for about 2 hours or until the meringues easily release from the paper. Turn the oven off and let cool completely in the oven.

Once cool, use a sharp knife to make a little indentation on the bottom of the caps, brush with melted chocolate or Royal icing, and stick the stem into it. Set aside for at least one hour before moving them.

Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350. Spray the bottom of ½ sheet pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper and spray the paper. Do not spray sides of pan. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa and baking powder, mixing well. Set aside. Combine the egg yolks, ⅓ cup sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until very thick and very pale yellow.

In a clean mixing bowl with a clean whisk, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the remaining ⅓ cup sugar and beat until fairly stiff. Place the egg yolks over the egg whites and sift half the flour/cocoa mixture over the beaten eggs. Fold together. Fold in the remaining flour/cocoa. Gently pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. The top will spring back when lightly touched. Immediately cover directly with foil and place on a rack to cool completely. When ready to assemble, it will roll out easily.

Make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed until just smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in the heavy cream 1/4 cup at a time. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until stiff peaks form, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat just to combine.

Make the frosting: Place the butter and salt in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and beat until well combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl a few times, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Slowly stream in the heavy cream while beating. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy and easily spreadable, about 2 minutes.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Remove the cake from the pan, invert over parchment paper. Peel off the bottom paper. Add filling to the whole extension of the cake, then roll from the long side. Place in the fridge preferably overnight to completely set the rolled cake.

Cutting at a diagonal, cut about two inches off of one end. Place the log on a serving plate. Spread a few tablespoons of frosting onto the end of the cut-off and stick to the side of the log. Spread the remaining frosting all over the cake roll, leaving the ends exposed.

Run fork tines through frosting in one direction to give the appearance of bark. Trim the un-cut end of the log to expose a perfect swirl. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.

Just before serving, decorate the log with your choice of goodies.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I love the method of cooling the cake completely, covered with aluminum foil. It rolls like a dream and the cake is not at all soggy from the steam generated during cooling. I am quite fond of the cream cheese filling, a nice contrast with the chocolate sponge cake.

The decorations are a lot of fun to plan and make. I used Royal icing piped as transfers, made several days earlier, and meringue mushrooms which are of course a classic.

We wish you a wonderful Christmas!

ONE YEAR AGO: Merry Christmas

TWO YEARS AGO: Christmas Sourdough

THREE YEARS AGO: Christmas Sourdough

FOUR YEARS AGO: Star-Shaped Sun-dried Tomato Bread

FIVE YEARS AGO: Cranberry White Chocolate Tart

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THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Potato Galettes a l’Alsacienne & Book Review

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Caramelized Carrot Soup

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Miso-Grilled Shrimp

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Pain Poilane

13Dec2025

FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE

Posted in Cake, Chocolate Bonbons, Cookies, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Today it is all a celebration of chocolate, so appropriate for the season, don’t you think? Let’s start with another winner of a recipe by Helen Fletcher.

MEXICAN BROWNIES

To get the recipe, pay a visit to her site, where you can get step by step pictures to guide you through the process. One of the tips she gives is pouring the smooth icing on the brownie after flipping it so that the bottom side is up. That ensures a super flat surface for glazing. It is all in the details, my friends!

Moving on, a Celebration Cake I made for the chef who is behind the homeless meals, a person I admire so much! Works tirelessly to offer free meals 7 days/week.

CHOCOLATE CELEBRATION CAKE WITH RASPBERRY FILLING
(inspired by many sources)

for the cake:
1 + 3/4 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
3/4 cup (70g) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

for the buttercream:
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 + 1/2 cups ( 420g) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup ( 45g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 to 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the filling:
Raspberry jam (store-bought or homemade)

for optional decoration:
Brazilian brigadeiros (click here for recipe)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 7-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans, or use baking spray.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before filling and frosting.

Make the frosting:
On a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 4 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Adjust consistency with more powdered sugar or with heavy cream. Place in a piping bag fitted with appropriate icing tips for the decorations you desire.

Place the first cake on a circular cardboard, add a circle of buttercream as a dam around the perimeter, fill the center with jam. Place second cake on top, repeat the process. Place the last cake on top, cover with a thin crumb cake layer of buttercream and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Finish the buttercream icing, add brigadeiros if so desired, or any other decorations.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I donated this cake whole, so we have not tried it, but I have used this recipe before and it is really a delicious, very moist, intensely chocolate-y cake. The raspberry jam goes very well with it, although it is also outstanding with some salted caramel as the filling.

CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS, DA VINCI STYLE

These turned out so cool, I was super happy with them. My sister Norma pointed out they reminded her of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions, so that’s the reason for the name. I used a silicone mold I’ve had for many years to make the decorations with dark compound chocolate, later brushed with luster powder copper. I used a very light green to tint the chocolate for the molds.

Finally, I close this post with a series of chocolate cookies decorated according to a tutorial from Tunde Dugantsi. Simple white Royal icing, good practice for fine line piping. It would also work well on gingerbread cookies, keep that in mind. I used my default chocolate cookie recipe for those (find it here).

ONE YEAR AGO: Three Little Cookies for the Holidays

TWO YEARS AGO: Two Festive Cakes, Part One

THREE YEARS AGO: Broccoli Slaw Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

FOUR YEARS AGO: Vegan Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake

FIVE YEARS AGO: Green Tea Rice with Edamame and Butternut Squash

SIX YEARS AGO: Santa Hat Mini-Mousse Cakes

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Fun with Sourdough

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Pasteis de Nata

NINE YEARS AGO: New Mexico Pork Chile, Crockpot Version

TEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate on Chocolate

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Double Chocolate and Mint Cookies

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Story of my first Creme Brulle’

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Mini-rolls

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Focaccia with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Mediterranean Skewers

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO Fettuccine with Shrimp, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

16Jun2025

THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN TURNS 16!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Cake is pretty much mandatory, right? This blog anniversary caught me by surprise, as we are currently away. I got a bit confused and thought that the big day was later in the month. My plan was to bake for the occasion once we arrived back home. Good thing I double-checked… Full disclosure: this cake was produced in a bit of a hurry as we prepared to leave for a 2-week trip to the East Coast. Without further ado, I share with you today a lemon cake with raspberry filling and Swiss meringue buttercream. Maybe made in a hurry, but with a huge amount of love!

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH RASPBERRY FILLING
(adapted from The New York Times)

¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter, softened
3 cups/385 grams all-purpose flour
2 cups/400 grams granulated sugar, divided
3 medium lemons
1½ cups/360 milliliters whole milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup/60 milliliters neutral oil (I used grapeseed)
4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup raspberry jam (store-bought or home-made)

1 recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream, starting with 400g butter (details here)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray three (8-inch) cake pans with baking spray and line each with parchment paper.

Make the cake: Add 350 grams of the granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, then zest the lemons directly into the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it looks moist and sandy.

Juice the zested lemons into a small bowl. Transfer ¼ cup of juice to a large measuring cup and stir in the milk. Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the cake, reserving the remaining juice for the lemon syrup.

To the bowl with the lemon sugar, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix on low to combine. Add the softened butter to the bowl all at once. Mix on low until the butter is evenly distributed and the mixture looks sandy. Add the oil and eggs to the measuring cup with the milk mixture and mix with a fork to combine. With the mixer on low, slowly stream in the milk mixture. When the batter is moistened, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure there aren’t any dry pockets. Adjust mixer speed to medium and mix for 1 minute more. Divide the batter among the prepared pans, spread evenly and tap the pans on a countertop to release any large air bubbles.

Bake the cakes until slightly risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pans on a wire rack and let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes. Then, run a thin knife along the edges of the pan and carefully turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.

While the cakes cool, make the syrup: Measure ¼ cup lemon juice from the remaining reserved juice. Combine the juice and the remaining 50 grams sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Cook until the sugar has dissolved, then pour into a heat-safe container to cool.

Make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Reserve 1/3 of the amount and dye red (I used Tulip Red). Dye a very small amount with green for the stems. I used Laurel color. Dye the rest of the buttercream with Fuchsia or any other color you like.

Assemble the cake: Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate, top side up. Brush the cake with lemon syrup. Spread raspberry jam over the top of the cake. Repeat with the second layer on top of the filling, top side down, and press gently. Add the final layer. Brush the cake with syrup, then cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of fuchsia frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Frost the cake with fuchsia, smoothing the surface. Let that set for 30 minutes, then pipe stems with green buttercream and a tip 3. Using the tulip red buttercream, pipe the flowers with a petal 101 tip, a border at the bottom with an open star tip (like #20) and a border on top with 1M tip.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Hard to believe it’s been 16 years. Hard to find what to say about it without getting cheesy or highly predictable. So I won’t say much. I’m still having fun blogging, I’m still excited every time I hit “publish” on a new post. I am not stopping quite yet. Let’s step into the 17th year of my blogging journey, and if you’ve been following me for a while, THANK YOU! If you are new here, I hope you’ll find things that inspire you to cook, bake, and be passionate about. Life is too short not to enjoy what each day brings.

Apologies for not showing pictures of the cake cut to reveal the layers and filling. It was donated whole, so I also never got to see it. And that ends up as being part of its charm… Or so I hope…

.
ONE YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 15 years old!

TWO YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 14!

THREE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 13!

FOUR YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 12!

FIVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 11!

SIX YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 10, and a Giveaway…

SEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 9!

EIGHT YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns eight!

NINE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Seven!

TEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen Turns Six!

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Five!

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Four!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Three!

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Two!

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Birthday!

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Welcome to my blog!

15May2025

STRAWBERRY LOVE

Posted in Cake, macarons by sallybr

Strawberries are delicious right now, so I share two ideas to put them to great use (apart from just grabbing the fresh fruit and taking a nice juicy bite). Cake or macarons? You decide. You can always make them both!

STRAWBERRY LAYER CAKE

This cake was described by Helen as “a little slice of heaven”, and judging by the feedback I got, it is highly appropriate. For the full recipe with step-by-step photos and detailed explanations, visit her blog with a click here.

My only modification was in the technique, not the recipe. I used the food processor to make the whipped cream, as I was very intrigued about it and have been meaning to try it for the longest time. Basically, add the ingredients (exact amounts Helen used) to the bowl of a food processor and process for a full minute. Stop, check consistency. You may need a few more cycles of processing, each one no more than 20 seconds long. For me, nice piping consistency was achieved with 1 min + 3 cycles of 15 sec. I really like the way it piped.

I got slightly carried away with the sprinkles, as the lid of the bottle malfunctioned on me. There are worse problems in life, so I went with the flow. Literally.

STRAWBERRY MACARONS

For the shells, I used my default recipe, separated in two portions, most of it dyed with a mixture red and orange, a small amount dyed green. I piped the shells improvising a strawberry shape, waited five minutes and piped the leaf area with green. The filling was exactly the same buttercream from Helen’s cake, using freeze-dried strawberries. I made half the amount listed in the cake (so I started with 1/4 cup butter and scaled it all down).

“Seeds” were added with a brown food pen. However, I was not too happy with the look of the greenery on top. I skipped that for some shells and added Royal icing with a leaf tip after baking. I liked that a lot better, so I added the same detail to all shells.

Next time I won’t bother dividing the batter into portions. Will simply pipe all shells with strawberry color, and use Royal icing for the tops.

I hope you liked this duet of strawberry recipes, and in case you’ve missed it, check out my most involved baking project ever, which also centered on this wonderful fruit.

ONE YEAR AGO: Mini-Turkey Loaves with Mushrooms

TWO YEARS AGO: Baking Through the Blogosphere

THREE YEARS AGO: Oriental Style Sesame Slaw

FOUR YEARS AGO: Revelation Veggie-or-Not Egg-Roll Bowl

FIVE YEARS AGO: Covid Update and Stayin’ Alive

SIX YEARS AGO: A Brazilian Hummingbird

SEVEN YEARS AGO: A Cookbook Review

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Carrots, Two Ways

NINE YEARS AGO: Sweet Potato Crust Quiche

TEN YEARS AGO: Chicken Thighs with Artichokes and Capers

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Pea Pancakes with Herbed Yogurt

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Mushroom Stroganoff

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Tomato Sourdough

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Gamberetti con rucola e pomodori

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Flirting with Orzo

3May2025

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH DULCE DE LECHE FILLING

Posted in Cake by sallybr

This post is dedicated to my friend Margie
(she will understand why).

I’ve been making layer cakes every other week to donate on Fridays. A couple of weeks ago I was trying to decide which cake flavor to make and my beloved husband told me “I’ve got one for you!” He then showed me a recipe published in the New York times. It sounded really good and I decided to go for it except that I changed the filling and the frosting. Layers had store-bought dulce de leche and I used Swiss meringue buttercream as the frosting because I’ve been having so much fun making it. The cake turned out with the springtime feel I was hoping for and I heard that everybody loved it. A win-win situation for sure!

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH DULCE DE LECHE FILLING
(adapted from The New York Times)

1 recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream, starting with 400g butter (details here)

Make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Reserve 1/3 of the amount without any dye. That will be used as a crumb layer and for the white flowers. Dye a small amount green for the leaves. Dye the rest of the batter yellow.

Assemble the cake: Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate, top side up. Brush the cake with lemon syrup. Spread dulce de leche over the top of the cake. Repeat with the second layer on top of the filling, top side down, and press gently. Add the final layer. Brush the cake with syrup, then cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Frost the cake with yellow buttercream, add details on the sides wiht a comb if so desired. Pipe roses and leaves. A little pumping of gold luster powder is optional but nice…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The layers baked like a dream, flat and beautiful. Cake smelled amazing, I really wish we could have sampled a small slice. Oh, well… I used my little electric turntable to frost it and again loved the process. Makes life very easy. Thank you, Phil! Your gifts are always perfect! The only thing I would change if I was to make this cake again, is use a lighter green for the leaves. Well, there is one more thing I would change. I would actually brush the layers with the lemon syrup instead of forgetting all about it and staring at the syrup sitting at the countertop next to the fully frosted cake.