A Classic French Holiday Dessert: Bûche de Noël

By Caitlin Dysart, Pastry Chef of 2941. Photography by Reema Desai. From The Last Bite in our Winter Holiday Issue 2015.

Bringing the Whimsy of France to Your Holiday Table

The holiday season can be rough when you work in the restaurant industry, but my child-like love for all things Christmas really helps me get through it. I get excited for the music, the decorations, the family traditions and—most importantly—the baking. As a pastry chef, I have to plan ahead for the holidays, I’m drafting menus and sketching desserts as soon as Labor Day hits.

One of my favorite holiday desserts is the classic Bûche de Noël, or Yule Log Cake. We serve this traditional French treat for Christmas Eve every year at 2941. It’s a simple roulade made of sponge cake rolled with cream and covered in icing and it’s made to resemble a literal version of a yule log.

The real joy of making a bûche de noël is in the decorating. Variations range from the traditional and rustic to sleek and modern. Every year the great patisseries of France release their version of the bûche and I’m always taken aback by their stunning and playful takes on the classic.

I decided here to really exaggerate my favorite feature of a traditional bûche de noël: the meringue mushrooms! These little crunchy cookies take me back to my childhood, when my mother would make them for our annual Christmas party. They’re fairly easy to make, add a great texture to the dessert and, when clustered together in various sizes and colors, create a really stunning look that’s sure to wow your holiday guests.

Feel free to experiment with different decorations: You can use marzipan to make holly leaves, coconut to mimic snow, or chocolate shavings to create a bark texture. I have selected a simple flavor profile for this cake, with a cocoa sponge, whipped crème fraîche and dark chocolate frosting. I also incorporated some marmalade to add a tart counterpoint to the rich chocolate. Just as with the decorations, add your own twist to the flavors with different spices or fillings. The possibilities are really endless, so once you’ve mastered the technique, you can look forward to create a new bûche de noël each holiday season.

Bûche de Noël

Yield: 1 cake, serves 8

Cocoa Sponge

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Confectioner’s sugar, as needed

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 16- by 12-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the yolks with ⅓ of the sugar. Whisk until the yolks are pale yellow.

Prepare a meringue with the egg whites and remaining sugar: In the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and whip, on high speed, until the meringue is stiff and shiny.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the whipped egg yolks and fold gently to combine. Fold half of the meringue into the batter. Fold in the remaining dry ingredients, followed by the rest of the meringue.

Spread the cake batter evenly in the prepared baking sheet. Bake for approximately 5–7 minutes. The cake will be just dry in the center.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately remove it from the baking tray. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the hot cake. Carefully flip the cake over, so that the bottom of the cake is facing up. Gently peel the parchment paper off of the cake. With the long side of the cake in front of you, carefully roll the cake with the parchment paper away from you into a log shape. Allow the rolled cake to cool to room temperature. (If the edges of the cake are crispy and won’t roll, trim them off before rolling.)

Rich Chocolate Frosting

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons warm water

6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

6 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

Stir the cocoa powder into the warm water to dissolve. With an electric or standing mixer, beat the butter with the confectioner’s sugar and salt until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the melted chocolate, followed by the cocoa mixture. If preparing the frosting ahead of time, store in the refrigerator until needed. When you are ready to use it, bring the frosting to room temperature and beat until smooth.

Whipped Crème Fraîche

If crème fraîche is not available or you desire another flavor, substitute in equal parts with yogurt, sour cream, ricotta or mascarpone.

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup crème fraîche

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Either by hand or using a standing mixer, whisk together all ingredients until stiff peaks form. Keep cool.

Meringue Mushrooms

The meringues can be prepared up to 2 days in advance; store in an airtight container.

3 egg whites

¾ cup sugar

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

3½ tablespoons cornstarch

Melted chocolate, as needed

Preheat oven to 200°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the confectioner’s sugar and cornstarch. In the bowl of a standing mixer, begin whisking the egg whites on medium speed. Once the egg whites are foaming, gradually add the sugar. Whip on high speed until the meringue forms stiff peaks.

Gently fold the cornstarch mixture into the meringue.

Place the meringue into a piping bag with a medium plain pastry tip. On 1 baking sheet, pipe the stems: pipe straight lines of various lengths, from 1 to 3 inches, making the end of each line a fine point (you will later use this point the attach the stem to the cap of the mushroom.)

On the other baking sheet, pipe the mushroom caps: pipe mounds of meringue ¼ inch thick in various diameters, from ½ to 1 inch wide. If you would like to create red caps, as pictured, set aside ⅓ of the meringue and color with powdered food coloring.

Place the piped meringues into the oven and bake until dry, approximately 2 hours.

To assemble the mushrooms, “drill” a hole into the bottom of each cap using the tip of a small paring knife. Dip the tip of a stem into melted chocolate and insert into the hole in the cap. Place on a plate and allow the chocolate to set before placing on the bûche.

The Assembly

Unroll the cake. Spread an even layer (about ¼ inch thick) of the whipped crème fraîche over the cake. Along the long edge of the cake, spread a line of marmalade or jam.

Carefully re-roll the cake, pushing it away from you, using the parchment paper underneath the cake to facilitate rolling the cake and filling into a roulade. Trim the ends of the roulade to create clean edges.

Spread the chocolate icing evenly over the cake, creating a rustic texture. If preparing the bûche ahead of time, store in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve the bûche, remove from the refrigerator and place the meringue mushrooms on top.

Last Minute Shop Local Guide for Foodies

by EdibleDC Team

We're on the hunt for last minute gifts--aren't you? Team Edible has made a list of our some of our favorites. You can't go wrong with #buylocal!

Secolari Olive Oil

With shops in DC and Bethesda, as well as Columbia and Towson, the oils and vinegars here are some of the best quality you will find. And addictive! Delicious flavors like basil and rosemary oils and grapefruit basalmic; any home cook would be thrilled with these delightfully packaged gift sets. Check out their truffle salt too!

Local Artisan Cheeses

Cheese--a perfect hostess gift. Don't know what to bring to your next holiday gathering? How about a spread of local artisan cheeses? Here is a list of some of our favorites you can pick up at Stonyman Gourmet Farmer:

• Appalachian - Meadowcreek (Galax, VA)
• Bay Blue - Chapel's Country Creamery (Easton, MD)
• Catoctin - George's Mill Farm (Lovettesville, VA)
• Cheddar, Cave Aged - Hawk's Hill Creamery (Street, MD)
• Chesapeake Cheddar - P.A. Bowen Farmstand Cheese (Brandywine, MD)
• Esmontonian - Caromont Farm (Esmont, VA)
• Grayson - Meadowcreeek (Galax, VA)
• Monacacy  Gold - Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Co. (Boyds, MD)
• Rainey's Dream - Chapel's Country Creamery (Easton, MD)
• Tomae - Shepherds Manor Creamery (New Windsor, MD)
• Goat Cheese - Firefly Farms Creamery (Deep Creek, MD)

Local Booze

Who doesn't love a nice bottle in their stocking and especially when it comes with an endearing local story? Greenhill Winery & Vineyards has a ton of great local varietals including a blanc de blancs (sparkling wine) perfect for the holiday season.

The Virginia Distillery Company is producing some excellent scotch style malt whiskey that would be a great addition to any bar. And it's brand new--so add in the cool factor there too!

American Plant

Great gift ideas come from nature and American Plant has everything you need. Not to mention their Tinge Boutique. This is a true one-stop-shop for stocking stuffers and gift exchange presents ranging from jewelry, tabletop decor, throws and other small furniture items. And of course gorgeous plants.

Best Bees

Give the gift of local honey or better yet all-inclusive beekeeping services and support our pollinators. Best Bees fully takes care of everything and it's a great gift for a family for the kids to learn or as part of your corporate responsibility initiative utilizing the office rooftop. How great is this gift?

Trickling Springs Creamery

Again, on  your way to a party? Trickling Springs' local shop at Union Market is full of ideas for treats. Their incredible line up of local, fresh, eggnog, chocolate milk and holiday-inspired ice cream flavors will make holiday visitors and party goers swoon.

Michele's Granola

This has become our new addiction - we throw a heaping spoonful to our yogurt for a hearty breakfast. They've launched a holiday sampler pack that offers flavors like pumpkin spice and cranberry pecan. Also, you can pick up bags at Trickling Springs in Union Market and at Whole Foods too.

Spice & Tea Exchange

The perfect gift for that avid cook who is always hunting down those rare spices. They have awesome ideas--stores in Alexandria on King Street and downtown Annapolis.

Balducci's Food Lover's Market

Get all your holiday meal shopping down with Balducci's and send locally curated gift baskets to your friends and family. They have an excellent selection of local VA wines!

Casey Health Institute

Give the gift of health with Casey Health Institute's "Wellness Baskets" filled with healthy treats, wellness tips, lotions, and equipment for yoga, meditation, back care, nutrition, fitness and more...

Bethesda Women's Farm Market

Operates through the winter and has incredible vendors and crafts like these gorgeous wreathes -- started in 1932 by farmers' wives selling preserves, baked goods, and produce. You can also find Stoneyman Cheese there as well!

EdibleDC Magazine Subscription

EdibleDC Magazine is a local small women owned business with a mission to promote eating locally and seasonally -- we publish quarterly on sustainable paper with soy ink. Give the gift of growing our local foodshed and sharing delightful stories about farmers, chefs, artisans with friends and family.

Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe

Cookbooks are such a good gift for foodies, and always many new ones out for gifting. Here our some of our favorites that you can quickly pick up at Kramerbooks & Afterwords in Dupont Circle or buy online or at other shops in the DMV:

• The Virginia Table - celebrates the artisans who make Virginia great ranging from cider and wine to chefs
• Seasons to Taste - local chef Jonathan Bardzik shares his favorites
• Soup for Syria - soup recipes from international chefs, the proceeds of the book support the Syrian refugee crisis
• NOPI - is the newest iteration of best selling cookbooks from Yottam Ottolenghi, we just love all of them
• The Southerner's Cookbook-from Garden & Gun, fun, authentic recipes that speak to many parts of our region

Charitable Gift Ideas

There are so many great charities, here are just a few!

• Oxfam
• FreshFarm Markets
• DC Greens
• Future Harvest CASA

Virginia Sparklers Rise to the Occasion

By Jennifer Knowles , special to EdibleDC

Photo by Victoria Milko

Sparkling wine is extremely well suited to the table. Its complexity and texture make it an amiable partner to a whole world of cuisines, especially when using seasonal vegetables. While choosing a sparkling wine means deciding what will work best for your specific purposes, consider your local options this year.

Having worked with Virginia wines very closely for the past five years, I have been continuously impressed and excited about the sparkling wines making their way to the retail scene. Interest in this category is steadily rising as more producers try their hand at this challenging style of winemaking.

Photo by Victoria Milko

Still wine is made during one main fermentation and can be released within a year, or less, after harvest. Sparkling wines go through two fermentations and also need lengthy aging before release, which ties up both winery space and equity. Of course there are many other facets that contribute to the cost of these wines, but I know from experience that our Virginia bottlings can stand tall next to their counterparts from California, France and beyond. Although the sparkling wine chapter in the tale of Virginia wines is just starting to be written, it is one filled with stories of passionate local winemakers willing to take a chance on a wine that often plays a large part in our fondest memories of celebration and joy.

THIBALT- JANISSON

The words “sparkling wine” and “Virginia” cannot be spoken in the same sentence without the mention of Claude Thibaut, the man who helped forge the future for bubbly in the commonwealth. After studying in the heart of the Champagne region of France and cutting his New World teeth at both J and Iron Horse in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley, Claude was brought to Virginia by Patricia Kluge in 2003 to try Champagne-method wines at her estate outside of Charlottesville (now the site of Trump winery). In 2005, he began his own winery in partnership with the Janisson family from Champagne and has been focused solely on sparkling wine for a decade.

Blancs de Chardonnay NV (around $30 retail)

100% Chardonnay from the Monticello AVA, this is the wine served at many White House dinners. Aged for two years in the bottle, it shows green apple and crisp Bosc pear aromas along with a balanced toastiness and a long lemon-peel finish.

FIZZ NV (around $20 retail in NOVA only, no DC retail right now)

Fizz was made in a more fruit-forward style specifically for mixing. It has a richer texture and marries perfectly with both fruit juices and liquors for any drink that calls for sparkling wine.

HORTON VINEYARDS

Dennis Horton is a pioneer in the world of Virginia viticulture and was the first to bring many of the more esoteric grapes to the region, including a grape from the Northern Rhone Valley in France called Viognier. The only other area growing Viognier at the time was Northern California and they were often treating it more like Chardonnay, which with higher acidity can stand new oak barrel aging and the creamy tones imparted by malolactic fermentation. Dennis saw the lower natural acidity of the grape, as well as its floral aromas and marzipan-like flavors, and tried to maximize freshness in the resulting wine. In 1998, the weather was so hot and dry that the Viognier crop became unwieldy and the need to cut back clusters arose. So not wanting to sacrifice the beautiful fruit, he decided to create a sparkling wine with the younger, less ripe fruit, and he continues today.

Horton Sparkling Viognier(about $25 retail)

After aging in the bottle for 18 months, this 100% Methode Champenois Viognier is redolent of pear blossoms and crisp white peach balanced by a slight bitter almond note on the palate that brings an unusual and welcome texture to the wine. It is quite dry but also has a lovely balance of fruit that makes it perfect with charcuterie and cheese paired with fruit compotes and mustards.

VERITAS WINERY

Andrew and Patricia Hodson founded their winery at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2002 and after bringing in Claude Thibaut to consult with them on a crazy idea to make bubbly wine, they ventured out on their own in 2010. This is truly a family partnership: The Hodsons’ daughter Emily created the winemaking “team” with her father after finishing her Master of Enology degree at Virginia Tech and Patricia makes her mark in the vineyards. There are many reasons to visit Veritas, including The Farmhouse, an adjacent B&B that also houses the talents of Chef Andy Shipman, who brings the farm to the table utilizing bounty from local Nelson County farmers.

Scintilla (about $30 retail)

Predominately Chardonnay with a touch of Merlot juice pressed on the skins, Scintilla was a term created by Emily to describe the “little bright dots of light” that are interwoven within the fabric of the wine. Aged for 24 months in the bottle, classic aromas of crushed hazelnuts and yellow apple are lifted with the scent of Mirabelle plums and balanced by crisp acidity and a beautiful creamy Meyer lemon–like finish.

Mousseaux(about $30 retail)

The name of this rosé sparkler comes from the term used in the Samur region of the Loire Valley of France for their wines made with Cabernet Franc. This is 100% Merlot and produced with the time-intensive saignée method where the color is bled’ from the skins of the grape during maceration. It is aged for 18 months and the pale salmon color belies its amazing complexity. It is richer than the Scintilla and a bit more fruit forward showing light strawberry and white Rainier cherry aromas balanced by pomegranate acidity and red apple flavors on the palate. Perfect for those who love dry styles of Prosecco, but want more flavor.

Jennifer Knowles is wine director of The Jefferson DC. She was wine director at The Inn at Little Washington and named Best Sommelier by the International Academy of Gastronomy. She is deeply involved with the Virginia Wine Council and is a regular judge o the annual Govenor's Cup.

Shuman’s Jelly Cake Serves Up Generations of Memories

A Much-Beloved Cake Returns to Toast the Season

By Hope Nelson, special to Edible DC

Some sweets are simply synonymous with the holiday season. Peppermint bark? Check. Fruitcake? Well, yes, against our collective better judgment.

Around Alexandria, there’s another sweet treat that always finds its way to the dessert table around Christmastime: Shuman’s jelly cake.

Served at Shuman’s Bakery for more than 100 years, the cake (and its recipe) disappeared from the city when the bakery closed its doors in 2004. But in 2010, a new generation of the Shuman family resurrected the business – and the jelly cake – by opening an online store, and business has been booming ever since.

The resurrected Shuman’s started innocently enough – by some conversations over the dinner table, said Shuman’s Patrick Hagan.

“We started a Facebook page, and before you knew it, we had 100 or more Facebook fans, so we thought we’d look into it a little more in terms of restarting it as a family business,” Hagan said. “… We started up in November 2010. There was immediate response, and it’s grown every year since.”

The jelly cake, often cut into small diamonds for serving, is deceptive in its delicate appearance. But don’t let its short stature fool you – this treat packs a flavorful punch. Shuman’s jelly cake is created from three layers of pound cake, bound together with layers of red currant jelly in between. Topped with powdered sugar, many holiday-party hosts have found it’s a show-stopper during the festivities.

“I think it looks like Christmas, for one thing, to a lot of people. Some people have called and said they decorate the jelly cake with holly,” Hagan said.

And this time of year, the jelly cakes are moving through the bakery like, well, hotcakes. “We do as many as 100 a day” during peak season, Hagan says, and the final product is shipped far and wide. Shuman’s offers free delivery around Alexandria and ships worldwide – the bakery has had orders from almost every state, plus Ireland, Germany, and Afghanistan, just to name a few.

Have a hankering for a jelly cake? The folks at Shuman’s will be working up until 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve to ensure you get your fix. To order, give them a call at 703-683-1876 or check out their website at https://www.shumansbakery.com.

Hope Nelson is a tofu-loving food writer who's happiest in the kitchen (or watching college football). She lives in Alexandria, Va., with her husband, Mike, and their cat, Lucky Abigail. Check out her food blog at www.kitchenrecessionista.com or email her any time at hope@kitchenrecessionista.com.

Savory Spiced Holiday Nuts from Peg's Salt

  A delicious and addictive nut mix, perfect for entertaining and gifts! Peg's Salt is is a blended salt seasoning with over 20 spices. A woman-owned business, Cass Cannon launched Peg's Salt in 2012 and makes her product in Greenwood, VA from her mother's family recipe. Peg's Salt is all small batch made, and contains no sugar, fillers, MSG, gluten, or GMOs. It is also a perfect stocking stuffer for home cooks.

Available at all area Whole Foods Markets, Arrowine and Westover Market in Arlington, through Relay Foods and online at www.pegssalt.com.

Peg's Salt Savory Spiced Nuts

Ingredients • 2-1/4 cups (18-ounces) assorted unsalted nuts (E.g., raw peanuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans and almonds) • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper* • 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar • ½ tsp. white sugar • 2 teaspoons Peg’s Salt • 1-1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt and melted butter.

Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter while still warm. Mix with rubber spatula to keep nuts intact while coating them.

Return nuts to baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until nuts are semidry and the spice mixture slightly caramelizes, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Nuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

*If you really like spicy, adjust cayenne up to ½ tsp. according to taste.

Will You Have Food for Tomorrow?

By Mike Koch, special to EdibleDC

A few weeks ago I was among the attendees at the New York Times “Food for Tomorrow” conference at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Tarrytown, NY. It was the second annual event of its kind, bringing together food writers, food and agri-business entrepreneurs, academics, politicians, nonprofit leaders and, yes, a handful of farmers. I was honored to be among them and found the content both challenging and stimulating.

Four ideas persist as rattling presences in my mind:

One: We would do well to eat less meat—better said, we should only eat meats we procure from known, sustainable producers. The horrors and environmental impact of animals raised in “concentrated animal feeding operations,” also know as CAFOs, are well documented.

Two: We should eat seasonally and mindfully. Technology and innovative growing practices are extending the boundaries of our traditional regional growing season. But again, know from where your food is coming and vote with your food dollars to support the growers in your own community.

Three: Ask questions about growing and production practices. Buying from a local farmer or producer is good; but is not a guarantee of sustainable practices. Ask the farmer or producers about their practices and expect transparency.

Four: Don’t waste food. Our food system is already wasteful and inefficient enough. Whether food is tossed because it is “ugly” and not considered retail worthy or it is tossed because it is considered unusable, we must hold ourselves accountable to better use of our own food in a world increasingly suffering from starvation and scarcity.

As important as these first-world ideas might be to Mid-Atlantic inside-the-beltway readers, the ideas that have stopped rattling and decidedly stuck are these:

Having “food for tomorrow” is not a guarantee or an American entitlement like Social Security. In much of the world, “food for tomorrow” is not the statement of a long-term goal or a policy aspiration, it is a question. It is a daily and hourly challenge. We need to carefully examine our uniquely American assumption that cheap and abundant food is our right.

And to add to the issue, all food is not equal. In fact, a lot of what Americans eat is not even considered food. It is a great irony that Americans for whom food for tomorrow is a question not only struggle to get food, but are often harmed by the foods they can get in their neighborhoods. Left with no choice, these poor citizens eat the over-processed, over-subsidized, over-fertilized, over-marketed, over-sweetened foods that we New York Times conference delegates no longer deign to call food.

Will you have food for tomorrow?

Weeks before the Stone Barns event, I had been invited to a smaller roundtable discussion hosted by The Atlantic magazine. A smaller but no less credentialed group had been convened to discuss achieving “food and health equity” for Americans—rural and urban—who find themselves residents of “food deserts.”

Ironic in its own twist, a food desert is a place where only this non-food food (meaning highly processed, highly caloric, low-nutrition foods) is available and is wreaking dire consequences on the health and well-being of those who consume it. The arc of our broad conversation went something like this:

All food starts with a farmer. What farmers grow is a product of market economics and government subsidy. Scale confers great advantage and distorts production; it decreases agricultural product diversity. The vast majority of mass-produced agricultural products like corn and wheat and soybeans are destined for processing—lots of it. Processed foods are economically cheap but have great and incalculable costs on our environment and our health care system. Processed foods are made more attractive and addictive and unhealthy by the calculated addition of sugar and fats. Even when real foods are made available in food deserts, consumers have lost their connection with what real food is and simply don’t have the time to or ability to do simple scratch cooking. “Social engineers”—two words I heard paired for the first time in this discussion—must be deployed to re-educate consumers, change their behaviors and overtly connect our food system with our health care system.

Will you have food for tomorrow?

In the arc of that conversation, the air was sucked out of the room when we were reminded by one of the panelists of Abraham Maslow’s famous “hierarchy of needs.” When daily survival is at risk, consumers will happily eat non-food food rather than starve, let alone seek out a farmers market carrot which they have no idea what to do with in the kitchen. Maslow’s hierarchy puts a social twist on the core question: Will you have real food for tomorrow or will your need for survival dictate the choice of non-food food?

On the first Monday of November, we hosted our Farmland Feast. This annual fundraising event earns nearly half of our operating expenses. At FRESHFARM Markets we use these funds to run farmers markets. We use these funds to develop programs that help farmers and producers grow and to make their businesses economically viable. We use these funds to increase consumer preference for seasonal foods, locally grown foods, sustainable foods. We use these funds to increase consumer access to these foods and to teach them how to cook and preserve these foods. We think about increasing the diversity and security of the Chesapeake Bay foodshed, the foodshed of our nation’s capital. Ours is an important mission: In 2012 the average American farm lost nearly $1,400.

Will you have food for tomorrow?

At FRESHFARM Markets, we are dedicated to making sure the answer is a resounding “yes!” for consumers all across the economic and social spectrum.

Mike Koch is the Executive Director of FRESHFARM Markets and founder of FireFly Farms, an artisanal cheese business. A local food advocate and agribusiness leader, Koch has developed new partnership models with milk producers and has spearheaded advocacy and economic development efforts to support agriculture based businesses.