Berry Christmas Chocolate Log Cake

Christmas to the French is what Chinese New Year is to the Chinese. It's holiday season, and a time for family reunion. Another similar trait is that each French family eat and do the same thing every year for Christmas, just like the Chinese. Or so I believe.

On the eve, by default tradition, my family would gather for steamboat. The double steamboat would have a spicy tom yum soup base on one side, and chicken base on the other side. Steamboat ingredients consist of abalone, pork, beef, fish, squid, mushrooms, lots of vegetables and balls (meat balls, fish balls, sotong ball...). Then, you go to the temple to wish for good luck for the new year.

Lunch on the first day of the new year would be leftovers from the night before, as well as food offerings to ancestors, like roast chicken, roast pork, steam fish...There's no guesswork necessary to know the menu for lunches and dinners for the first few days of the festivities, though each family have their own variations.

For Christmas, I was to discover the same thing happening for the French. Christmas service at the church on the eve before the big reunion dinner on Christmas. The yearly menu is fresh oysters (yum yum), salmon, prawns and fois gras. Dessert comes in the form of the yule log cake. Then, there's the Christmas presents exchange, just like there's ang bao giving for the Chinese.

Christmas day itself, there's always the roast turkey.And leftover log cake (or even a second one with a different flavour). For snacks, there's chocolate truffles, just like the Chinese have their new year cookies and pastries.

The log cake recipe is from Rémi's mom. Berry mousse and chocolate topping are from Christelle Le Ru. Decorating the log cake was fun. I even found recipes for making meringue in the shape of mushrooms, but didn't go to the trouble of doing it.

Berry Christmas Chocolate Log Cake
Serves 6

Cake roll (roulade):
3 eggs, yolks and white separated
100g sugar
80g flour
pinch of salt

Berry Mousse:
100g mixed berries, pureed
50g icing sugar
juice of 1 lemon
100ml fresh cream (for whipping)
50g mixed berries

Chocolate Topping (chocolate ganache):
150g dark chocolate
100ml fresh cream

Start with making the chocolate topping and berry mousse first as you need to use them immediately when the cake is done.

Puree 100g mixed berries (we used blueberry, raspberry and strawberry). Sieve to remove the seeds and mix with icing sugar and lemon juice. Whip the fresh cream. Gently fold the whipped cream into the fruit purée. Carefully mix mixed berries into the cream and refrigerate.

For chocolate topping, melt pieces of chocolate over a water bath. Boil the fresh cream and pour over the melted chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is creamy. Leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture is smooth and forms a pale yellow ribbon when lifted.

Beat egg whites separately until it is thick and foamy. Gently fold in half the flour, followed by half of the egg whites. Repeat for the remaining half until the mixture is well mixed.

Pour the mixture into a tray (about 35cm by 30cm) lined with greased baking paper. Cook for 10 minutes until golden brown.

Flip out the cake, spread the berry mousse immediately, leaving about 2cm clear on all sides. Roll up from the short end.

Coat the cake roll with the chocolate topping and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with mixed berries

Tips:
- For ideal results in whipping cream, make sure your cream, beater and mixing bowl are COLD. Refrigerate them for half an hour if necessary.
- For better success in making the egg white meringue, bring eggs to room temperature if they come from the fridge.