by Leslie Meier
When he reached the tree, Jack shot a hand out, grabbing the strand of the lights and pulling it as hard as he could.
“Dad!” Page wailed. “He’s—”
But Sonny was up, out of his chair already, sweeping Jack into his great arms. “That’s enough, buddy. Be gentle with the tree.” Jack laughed as his dad lifted him into the air. When the dinner plates were cleared and the coffee served, I brought out the Bûche de Noël, holding the platter for all to admire. Everyone applauded. The moment was just as I’d imagined it.
In the end I hadn’t been able to make the cake by myself. After two more failed attempts, I returned to Mrs. St. Onge and begged for help. She let me do more of the actual baking than she had the first time, though she kept a wary eye on me. Bradley had returned to work, but Gwyn was there and she helped too.
“I’d love to learn to make one of these,” she’d said.
“Perhaps you will be the family member to carry on my legacy,” Mrs. St. Onge told her.
The cake tasted as good as it looked, as I knew it would. After every crumb was eaten, my mother raised her glass. “To old friends and new,” she said. “To the youngest and the oldest. Whatever you believe, may you experience the healing and hope that comes with the holidays, and may you know that after the darkness always comes the light.”
“Hear, hear,” we all said. “Hear, hear.”
Odile St. Onge’s Yule Log Cake
For those of you who tried to follow along as Julia and Mrs. St. Onge made the Bûche de Noël, I have included the recipe here. However, I do not urge you to make it. I deliberately picked the most complex recipe for each element I could find, and then added a few more twists. I wanted to give the two women plenty of time together so the relationship and the plot could play out. My niece Julia, who does make a Yule log cake (and for whom Julia Snowden is named), recommends doing it over multiple days.
If reading this story has given you a taste for Yule log cake, I urge you to make friends with a local baker and put one on order. When you get it, curl up with a cup of coffee, a slice of cake, and a good book.
For the Cake Base
Ingredients
¼ cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter
¾ cup shifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
In a bowl over a saucepan of water, heat the milk and butter until the butter melts. Remove the pan from the heat, leaving the bowl on top to keep warm enough that a finger can remain in the mixture for no longer than 10 seconds.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Separate the yolks and whites of 3 eggs. Beat the whites until they are foamy; beat in ½ cup of the granulated sugar, one Tablespoon at a time, until soft peaks form.
Beat the egg yolks and remaining two complete eggs and remaining ¼ cup of granulated sugar until the batter leaves ribbons on surface when the beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes.
Fold in one-third of the whites, then fold in remaining whites. Sift dry mixture over top, then fold in. Pour in milk mixture, then fold in until blended.
Line a 15- x 10-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the mixture in the pan.
Bake in 350°F oven about 12 minutes until golden and cake springs back when touched.
Loosen the edges with knife. Put a flour-dusted dish towel over the cake. Top it with tray larger than pan. Flip it over and lift off the pan. Starting at a corner, peel off the paper.
Starting at short side, roll up the cake in the towel. Cool it on a rack.
For the Filling
Ingredients
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and divided into
one Tablespoon chunks
6 Tablespoons sugar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
3 egg yolks
Instructions
Melt semisweet chocolate with 2 Tablespoons water in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water over medium heat. Stir to combine, then set aside to cool.
Combine 6 Tablespoons sugar and 3 Tablespoons water in a saucepan; cover and bring to a boil over medium heat, swirling pan several times until sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute. Uncover and continue to boil until syrup reaches 236°F on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes more.
Beat egg yolks in the bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment on high-speed whisk about 3 minutes or until thick and pale yellow.
Reduce speed to medium and gradually pour in hot syrup. Beat constantly about 10 minutes until mixture cools to room temperature.
Beat 12 Tablespoons butter into the egg mixture, 1 Tablespoon at a time, waiting until each is completely incorporated before adding more; continue beating for 5 minutes or until thick and smooth.
Stir in cooled semisweet chocolate and set aside to cool.
To Assemble the Cake
Gather the cake base, the cooled filling, and a jar of raspberry jam.
Carefully unroll the cake base from the dish towel.
Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the base.
Spread the filling over the base.
Roll the cake into a log, starting at a short side.
Starting 1 inch from one end of cake, cut on a piece on the diagonal so it is about 3 inches on the long side. Do the same on the other end. Reverse the pieces, so the diagonal cuts face out, giving the appearance of a cut branch.
For the Frosting
Ingredients
¾ cup whipping cream
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) chocolate,
chopped
4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
Instructions
Bring cream and butter to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to melt butter. Remove from heat.
Add both chocolates; whisk until melted.
Transfer to medium bowl. Let cool at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 1 hour.
Spread the frosting over top and sides of cake and pieces. Using the tines of fork, draw circles on cake ends to resemble tree rings. Draw the fork along the length of the cake to form a bark design.
Jewel Brooch Cookies
Since I’ve included one holiday recipe I’ve urged readers not to follow, I thought I would also include an easy one you’ll enjoy.
Many people make these sorts of cookies and call them by various names, including gems. This version came to me from my grandmother and I think they are particularly good.
Ingredients
1 cup, plus ½ teaspoon floor (yes, really, that’s what the
recipe says)
⅓ cup sugar
½ cup soft butter (Note: ½ cup, not ½ pound. That is the
only way you can screw this recipe up)
1 egg yolk beaten with a fork
½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Mix flour and sugar. Cut in butter like a piecrust. Add egg yolk and vanilla.
Mix with fingers until dough holds together.
Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Roll into balls the size of a marble and set on parchment-lined cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
Make an indentation in the center of each ball with your thumb. Fill the indentation with any jam or jelly. (I use raspberry and apricot.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes about a dozen cookies, depending on the size of the balls. I almost always double the recipe.
Dear Readers,
I hope you enjoyed reading Logged On, as much as I enjoyed writing it.
When Kensington asked me to write Nogged Off, for Eggnog Murder, the first collection one of my novellas appeared in, along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis, I was thrilled. I pulled out all the stops, including every tradition from my little Maine town: Santa comin
g to town on a boat, Men’s Night, the Festival of Trees, and the Saturday when everyone shops in their pajamas. After all, who knew if I’d ever get the chance again?
And then I did.
Luckily, by the time this second opportunity came around, my part of Maine had added a new tradition. The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens had started Gardens Aglow, decorating the gardens with five hundred thousand LED lights. It is spectacular.
I have changed the names slightly here, to the Maine Coast Botanical Gardens and Illuminations, because the actual event is much less rigid than I portrayed. You do need tickets, but you can wander to your heart’s delight. And I have never, ever seen a fistfight. I urge you to go if you have a chance. You will not regret it.
If this is your first meeting with Julia Snowden and the Maine Clambake Mystery series, she made her debut in Clammed Up, when her sister, Livvie, calls her back to Busman’s Harbor, Maine, to rescue their family’s failing clambake business. There are six books in the series, soon to be seven when Steamed Open comes out later this year. In each of the books, Julia gets involved in solving an actual murder, not just one she imagines.
I’m always happy to hear from readers. You can write to me at [email protected], or find me via my Web site at www.maineclambakemysteries.com, on Twitter @barbross, on Facebook www.facebook.com/barbaraannross, on Pinterest www.pinterest.com/barbaraann ross and on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/maineclambake.
If you read Yule Log Murder over the holidays, I hope you accompany it with a nice slice of Yule log cake. And if you make a Bûche de Noël—you are a better baker than I am!
Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, and a Happy New Year!
Barb