To watch every episode of America’s Test Kitchen commercial free, join our All Access membership program:
A fluffy, tender cake that rolls effortlessly around a plush, stay-put filling, and most of the work can be completed days in advance? It’s a Christmas miracle.
Get our Yule Log recipe:
Buy our winning large saucepan:
Buy our winning whisk:
Buy our winning baking sheet:
Buy our winning 7 Quart Stand Mixer: our best-buy mini muffin tin:
Buy our winning Victorinox Chef’s Knife:
ABOUT US: The mission of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Founded in 1992, the company is the leading multimedia cooking resource serving millions of fans with TV shows (America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation), magazines (Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country), cookbooks, a podcast (Proof), FAST channels, short-form video series, and the ATK All-Access subscription for digital content. Based in a state-of-the-art 15,000-square-foot test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, ATK has earned the trust of home cooks and culinary experts alike thanks to its one-of-a-kind processes and best-in-class techniques. Fifty full-time (admittedly very meticulous) test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days tweaking every variable to find the very best recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques. Learn more at
If you like us, follow us:
Related posts
50 Comments
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This recipe blew me away. I may never make this, but man did I love watching you make this. How tired the ladies were at the end, understandably, but it looks amazing
That was by far the best yule log iv seen on youtube. It looks spectacular. Will give it a try. Love from mumbai, india
As usual, since I typed up the recipe for my own use, I figure I'd share it here as well. (ATK: pls feel free to delete if this is not OK.)
Espresso cream
Ingredients:
1 C heavy cream
1 Tbsp espresso powder
2/3 C (5.3 ozs) granulated sugar
1/4 C water
1 Tsp corn syrup
4 ozs cream cheese
1 C cold heavy cream
Steps:
Bring cream to simmer. Whisk in espresso powder. Remove from heat, cover with lid. Set aside.
Heat sugar, water, corn syrup & whisk together, bring to simmer.
Heat on medium high, bring to boil, heat without stirring for 6-8 minutes until straw color.
Reduce heat to medium low and swirl, another 4-7 minutes, until copper penny color. Remove from heat.
Add heavy cream mixture and quickly whisk.
Add cream cheese to cream mixture and let sit for a few minutes to soften.
Whisk cream cheese into cream mixture, until mostly smooth.
Pour into cold heavy cream. Whisk. Chill. Can make up to 4 days ahead; keep in fridge.
Meringue mushrooms
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
2/3 C sugar (I used 1/3 C)
Steps:
Whisk egg whites on low for about one minute until foamy.
Add cream of tartar and salt.
Whisk on medium high for one minute until soft peak and gradually add sugar.
Whisk on high for 3-4 minutes until stiff peaks.
Spoon into piping bag with 1/4-in tip and pipe mushrooms onto parchment paper on baking sheets.
Bake in 200 ° in oven, racks in upper and lower thirds, for two hours.
Turn off oven and leave mushrooms in oven for another 30 minutes.
Can be made two weeks in advance.
"Dirt"
Ingredients:
2 ozs bittersweet chocolate
6 Tsps unsalted butter, melted in microwave
1 C (5 ozs) all-purpose flour
1/2 C (3 1/2 ozs) packed dark brown sugar
1/2 C (1 oz) cocoa powder, natural or Dutch process
1/4 tsp salt
Steps:
Whisk together chocolate and butter.
Mix in flour and sugar: make a crumbly dough.
Line sheet pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.
Crumble and spread "dirt" on pan.
Bake at 350 ° for 15 minutes, stir half way through.
Let cool in sheet pan on wire rack.
Chiffon cake
Ingredients:
5 1/3 ozs cake flour
5 1/2 ozs (3/4 C) granulated sugar (I used 4 ozs, 1/2 C)
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 eggs, separated
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 C water
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Steps:
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add egg yolks, vegetable oil, water , and vanilla extract.
Whisk together until there are no lumps.
Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar on medium low for about one minute until foamy.
Whisk on high for 1.5 – 2 minutes until stiff peaks.
Whisk 1/3 of egg white into cake mixture.
Fold in rest of egg white.
Spray half-sheet pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, then spray with cooking spray.
Put batter into pan, spread batter to sides of pan.
Tap pan on counter to release air bubbles.
Bake at 350 ° for 12-15 minutes, rotating half way through.
Running paring knife around edge, invert cake onto wire rack.
Cover with damp kitchen towel, top with another wire rack, invert.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:
6 ozs bittersweet chocolate (at least 60% cacao)
2 tsps corn syrup
3/4 C heavy cream
Steps:
Bring heavy cream to a simmer, pour over chocolate, let it rest for one minute, whisk. (Avoid whisking too much which will incorporate air into ganache.)
Assembly
Ingredients:
Ground pistachio
Step:
Whisk espresso cream on high for 1-2 minutes until fluffy like whipped cream.
Unroll cake, spread on espresso cream, leaving 1/2 inch border.
Wrap in plastic wrap; chill in fridge for at least 20 minutes. Can make two days ahead.
Cut off "branch" of log at 45 degrees, about 1 1/2 inches long on short side.
Glue branch to log with ganache.
Spread ganache onto log; make bark marks with fork.
Chill in fridge for 20 minutes to firm up ganache.
Add crumbly chocolate dirt to plate, sprinkle with ground pistachio.
Stick mushrooms into side of log.
Sprinkle log with powder sugar.
Weird intro, but very cool dessert
I baked this recipe today as my first attempt at making a yule log and it was a dream to bake and eat! No cracks and presented beautifully!
Excellent 🎉👍
I made it for our Christmas dinner dessert and it turned out perfect! It was fun and easy to make. Thank you!
I made this for Christmas. It was a hit. Thank you!
So tired of hearing Car-mull mispronounced as Care-uh-Mell.
If you need to be hoyti-toyti about pronouncing it with 3 syllables, even that is Car-rah-mell, not Care-a-mell.🙄
I worked all afternoon and the filling broke! Separated. What did I do wrong? Maybe I burned the caramel?
We made this for Christmas Eve and it was a WINNER. Marie Paraino suggested this and no surprise, she was spot on🎄🎄🎄💥💥💥
Came here strictly for the rolling technique. Some say to roll and refrigerate, others (like this video) say to leave it on the counter to cool. I opted for this video because I worried the cake sitting in the fridge would dry it out. Zero cracks and it rolled, unrolled, and rolled with filling like a charm. Tomorrow I'll apply the ganache and other accoutrements. Thanks for the help!
I’m on the downhill slide. Filling in the fridge waiting to be whipped. Meringue mushrooms in the dehydrator cooling. Cake in the oven baking. Dirt in a mason jar. All that’s left is making the ganache and assembly. You ladies did an awesome job giving me the confidence to tackle such a daunting project. I can’t wait for Christmas Day to share it with my family. Thank you!
Just about to embark on this Yule Log journey. Wish me luck! I am holding out hope it will look that good. And for those who dislike coffee, I would suggest scraping one vanilla bean into the hot cream mixture and let it steep for the 15 minutes. This will help round out the caramel flavor and give it an added dimension that the coffee would have been providing. Perhaps cut back on the sugar by a 1/4 ounce if it is too sweet without the coffee.
A sprig of mint would’ve been perfect with that yule log.
Not since Jacques and Julia have I seen 2 people better suited to cook with each other. A fan for years.
You have given me the confidence to try this for my Christmas dessert. Who doesn’t love caramel coffee?
Your plate is too small.
You two together are magic in the kitchen.
Needs more chocolate.
Fantastic ❤
oh wow! that is the best looking yule cake! patience and time ! thank you !!
Love this channel. Super underrated.
everything seemedd to go well until I unwrapped the cake and it was cracked in several places…Ugh
Looks yummy! Always wanted to try bûche de Noël, but never could overcome my inertia.
lovely ladies, could you please introduce an alternative ingredient to corn syrup for preventing crystallization?
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Its very ATK to say "toadstool mushrooms are not accurate, what you would REALLY see on a log is bracket mushrooms"
Corn syrup is an INVERT sugar, not an INERT sugar.
I wish there were some options for the filling. I'm not fond of coffee. Maybe a chocolate caramel filling?
Me watching this with bf: “Corn syrup.” (They add corn syrup.).
BF: You’ve seen this before?
Me: no, I just know ATK.
Me: A chiffon cake.
BF: So you HAVE seen it?
Me: Nope, that’s just how I’ve been making mine.
Also I have never “trained” the roll on a chiffon cake and they don’t crack. That said, I’ll try the damp towel next time.
I haven’t ever seen a Yule log..much less tasted one. This looks good. I am a little concerned about the espresso tho, as as I don’t like coffee.
Here's a tip I learned long ago: for a really stable ganache, make a "ganache montée". Add 6 grams gelatin to 18g water and bloom. Stir into the hot cream. This ganache will hold up at room temperature for hours and hours and is beautifully pipeable.
Wow nice recipe both of u maam beajutiful nice hair merry x mas GOD BLESS
This is a looker
Another beautiful recipe from Andrea Geary! Thank you, Andrea!
both the most adorable chefs….I couldn't possibly cook so amazingly, but this cake was so gorgeous, it was worth watching this. Thank you for the most delightful evening to read and listen to you both!
I could eat the entire log in 1/2 hour!!!
how do you remove the parchment paper at the last step?
What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It's log, log, log
It's log, it's log,
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good."
Everyone wants a log
You're gonna love it, log
Come on and get your log
Everyone needs a log
log log log
Beautiful! Not something I would attempt to make, although I know I’d love to taste it. Thank you, ladies! I’ve downloaded the ATK app and the Cook’s Country app! Love your shows. Happy Holidays to all the staff at both shows! 🎄🧑🏻🎄
I'm stumped no more.
That log looks fantastic! 🍴🪵
@AmericasTestKitchen when making the caramel espresso creme ahead do you need to worry about a skin forming?
Love your videos can you make coconut cake
That is amazing. My mouth is watering.
It only Americans could get to grips with the metric system 🙈
That’d be really good with some ice cream!
Wow. Just wow! What a perfect recipe. And I love seeing you two in the test kitchen together. Excellent episode. Happy holidays, ATK❤
Always great recipes, but could you PLEASE include international measures (gram, liter, centigrade). Thanks!
OMG That was fantastic! I am trying that this week. Mmmm thanks