Salted Caramel Yule Log Recipe
Salted caramel is one of those flavours which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. And quite rightly so, I think, it’s the most delicious combination and goes beyond the usual food fads. Sweet caramel with the tang of sea salt should be used wherever possible in a pudding based forum *get me*. Introducing it into a Christmas classic dish is a genius idea, well done to the Christmas edition of the Good Food Magazine for sharing it with me. Not everyone likes the rich, dark taste of Christmas pudding, so this Salted Caramel Yule Log makes a brilliant, sweet, soft alternative.
The usual Lucy Loves style is to create kerfuffle free desserts, but at Christmas, let’s make a bit of a bloody effort for goodness sake. This Salted Caramel Yule Log is relatively drama free it just requires a couple of stages and several washing ups of your mixer. Our dishwasher has broken so I did outsource some of the washing up to a rather disappointed looking Clyde. He was rewarded later with several slices of the dessert, however, so I made it worth his while. This is a roulade style dessert with a mouthwatering caramel buttercream icing. Mine didn’t really look much like a log, but as Clyde always tells me, my finishing errs on the sloppy side. However, you could just skip the need to make it look like a log and serve as a standard roulade to avoid any artistic errors or additional kerfuffle. The end result it divine, regardless of whether it looks as if it should be stumbled upon in a forest or not. The sponge is soft, the filling is creamy, salty and sweet and the buttercream could be eaten straight from the bowl, if good manners were not an issue.
Fingers crossed, once I’ve finished work this week, I can set to cooking up a Christmas storm in the kitchen for our visiting friends and family. This recipe will be at the top of my to-do-list, mainly so I can find a quiet moment alone with the huge bowl of salted caramel buttercream and a glass of something festive. That’s my idea of a Merry Christmas.
A simple line up despite the stunning end result. I used the Carnation caramel, however, you could use any caramel or salted caramel spread you can find in your super market. If your caramel is pre salted, just leave out the additional sea salt.
Make a start by lining your rectangular Swiss roll tin and pre heating the oven to 180 degrees fan assisted. Now, take the eggs and sugar and beat for 3 to 4 minutes in your stand mixer until lighter in colour and texture and fluffy.
Next, fold in the vanilla extract, plain flour and baking powder. Fold carefully until no streaks of flour are visible.
Pour into the lined tray and spread out into the sides and corners. Level as best you can and then pop in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes until golden and spongey to the touch.
Leave the sponge to cool for a couple of minutes then roll up, with the long side facing towards you and the paper still attached. Leave it to cool completely, rolled up.
Now for the filling. Spoon out 100g of dulce de leche and whip the double cream until it holds soft to firm peaks.
Unroll the sponge and try to flatten as best as possible then spread the caramel or dulce de leche on, add a pinch of sea salt, then spread on the cream. Or do it the wrong way round like it did, if you like.
Roll the sponge and filling back up, carefully, and rolling as tightly as you can. Quite a bit of my filling splurged out, so I just ate it. Just do your best as the end result will be slathered in butter cream so don’t worry too much.
Cut an end section off, around a third, to create a stump for your log and place both pieces on your serving plate.
Return to your stand mixer or large bowl and make the buttercream by beating together the soft butter and icing sugar until lighter in colour and well blended.
Add the rest of the caramel or dulce de leche, with a pinch of sea salt and beat again until smooth and a wonderful golden caramel colour.
Now, start to cover your whole log with the smooth caramel buttercream, whilst trying not to eat great big mouthfuls at the same time. Smooth on with a palette knife then add texture to make it look a little like bark with a fork. Garnish with some berries and mint to add interest, and some edible glitter or icing sugar if you like.
Mine looked more leg of lamb than yule log, but believe me when I tell you this is such a delicious dessert. Soft, sweet with just a touch of sea salt, creamy, this is a spoiley festive treat.
If you have non Christmas pudding eaters at your festive table, this Salted Caramel Yule Log may be the recipe for you. This is so divine, however, I don’t think you really need an excuse to make and eat this, in fact, from here on in, I may just cover everything coming into my eye line in this Salted Caramel buttercream.
Lucy x
Salted Caramel Yule Log Recipe
Serves around 8 to 10, slice size dependent
You will need a rectangular Swiss Roll tin and a hand or stand whisk
Sponge
3 eggs
100g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
100ml double cream
100g dulce de leche or caramel spread
a pinch sea salt
Icing
200g soft butter
400g icing sugar
200g dulce de leche or caramel spread
a pinch sea salt
Berries, mint, edible glitter or icing sugar to decorate
Take your 24 x 32cm Swiss Roll tin and line with baking paper and butter or spray well. Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees fan assisted.
In your stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand whisk, beat the eggs and caster sugar until lighter in colour and texture. This will take 3 to 4 minutes and the eggs will be pale and thick.
Fold in the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract until there are no streaks of flour left. Pour into your lined tin and level the top then put in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes until the sponge is golden and spongey to the touch. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes. Remove from the tin then carefully roll up, with the long side facing you, with the paper still attached and leave to cool, rolled up, while you get on with the filling.
Whip the cream until you have soft peaks and put the caramel in a bowl. Once the sponge is cool, unroll and try to flatten out slightly. Spread on the caramel in a even-ish layer, sprinkle with sea salt, then spread on the whipped cream. Carefully re-roll, don’t be alarmed if some of the filling splurges out, just eat it. Cut a chunk off the end with a sharp knife for the stump of the log then place the whole thing, including stump onto your presentation plate.
For the buttercream, in your mixer or in a bowl with a spoon, beat the soft butter and icing sugar until smooth. Beat in the remaining caramel then sprinkle in a pinch of sea salt, beat again until smooth and and even in colour.
Cover the log with your buttercream then smooth using a spatula or palette knife. Use a fork to make it look like a log then decorate with berries and mint leaves, edible glitter or icing sugar. Chill until serving. This should keep for a day or two in the fridge if you have any leftovers.
1. So envious of your friends and family.
2. Is a slice or two of pudding ( delicious as it is) for Clyde to deal with a mountain of washing up?
Come and join us!? And Clyde says yes, it was so worth it. Merry Christmas to you all. Lucy xx