Undercover Toad
Cocktails & Recipes

Whisky’ed cocoa and Christmas log cake

A whisky’ed cocoa paired with a wicked gâteau. C’est la fête, share a christmas log cake!

The countdown has officially started in a lot of homes. And currently on TV, there are a lot of movies about snow and gnomes. The weather is definitely cold outside and well deserved family time is on everyone’s mind! It is nice to take the time to unwind and think of nothing but be happy.

Though I have to admit, no time was spent at the jewelry établi.

Picture of a martini glass of dark brown whiskey cocoa cocktail adorned with grated chocolate (in the left front corner). Behind the glass are two mini individual size Christmas logs, one white vanilla flavored and one brown coffee flavor on top of a black rectangular slate plate (in the right bottom corner). The glass and the plate are set on a brown wooden table.
Whiskey cocoa cocktail and Christmas logs

There are countless versions of Christmas log cakes, some created thanks to a lucky mess but all with quite their fair share of success. There is the fruity, the nutty, the chocolaty, the ice creamy, the cake one… plenty to try!

This year, I am baking for guests the vanilla and coffee cake versions. Surely next year I will try other combinations! How does a cinnamon or carrot cake Christmas log sounds to you? Quite interesting and tasty in my view!

Prepping the Christmas log cake

Picture of the different non-branded ingredients required for a homemade vanilla and a coffee Christmas log, with, from left to right: three eggs, a white porcelain bowl of plain flour, a white porcelain bowl of corn flour, a white porcelain bowl of chunks of butter, a cup of coffee extract, a cup of vanilla extract, a cup of vanilla sugar and a white porcelain bowl of white sugar, all on a grey marble table.
Christmas logs ingredients: Plain flour, corn flour, white sugar, butter, vanilla sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, coffee extract

For four small individual size Christmas logs, I have used:

  • 160g of butter (30g for the biscuit and 130g for the butter cream)
  • 7 eggs (3 eggs for the biscuit and 4 egg yolks for the butter cream)
  • 200g of sugar (70g for the biscuit and 130g for the butter cream)
  • 35g of plain flour
  • 35g of corn flour
  • 1 teaspoon of yeast
  • 1 tablespoon of Vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon of Coffee extract
  • 10cl of water

Preheat your oven to 240°C (thermostat 8), and get ready to whisk and mix!

Picture of three bowls, one filled with vanilla butter cream, one filled with coffee butter cream and one filled with cake batter on a grey marble surface on a black wood table.
Christmas logs: Preparation of the vanilla and coffee butter creams and cake batter

For tasty Christmas logs flavored with vanilla and coffee, you will need to prepare two elements: butter cream and biscuit.

To prepare the biscuit.

  1. Take 3 eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Should a tiny bit of egg shell fall into your preparation, grab the bigger half of the egg shell and place it next to the tiny bit. It will only take a second for the little limp to be dragged back into it!
  2. On one side, mix the yolks with 70g of white sugar. Add the plain flour, the corn flour and the yeast and mix, mix, mix! Finally, add the melted butter. That will make the biscuit moist and tastier.
  3. On the other side, whisk the egg whites until they become very frothy. Add gently the egg whites to your first yolk, sugar and flour preparation (prepared during step 2 of this recipe). Use a spoon to incorporate them better.
  4. Pour the finalised mixture on a baking pan covered with baking paper. Bake for 10 min. Once baked, place on a moisten cloth that will help to prevent the cake from drying and breaking during the rolling.

Now this require high master organisation’s skills, but while your biscuit is cooking, prepare the butter creams. If your butter cream isn’t finished when your biscuit is cooked, the moisten cloth will keep you off the hook!

To prepare the vanilla and coffee flavored butter creams.

  1. Put 130g of sugar covered with water in a saucepan on low heat. Once the sugar is melted, let it boil during 2 minutes.
  2. While the sugar melts, in a bowl on the side, put 4 egg yolks with a pinch of salt.
  3. Slowly pour the boiling syrup over the egg yolks and beat until completely cooled.
  4. Add the soft butter and mix it all together. When the cream is very shiny and quite firm, add the extract flavor of your choice! For this recipe, I split my batter into two: one for coffee and one for vanilla!
Picture of a rectangular Christmas log biscuit with coffee butter cream spread on top of it next to a rolled vanilla Christmas log on a black slate plate, on a grey marble surface, on a black wood table.
Christmas logs: Assembling of the vanilla and coffee Christmas logs

Check that your biscuit is still quite moist. If it unfortunately dried, try very carefully putting a bit of water or liquor to moisturise it a bit. Cut your biscuit in 4 small rectangles. Splatter them with the butter cream of your choice. Make sure to plan ahead by keeping a small portion of butter cream to cover your rolled biscuit, if you feel like it!

Roll the biscuit, splatter the remaining butter cream in the newly formed log and add the decorations of your liking. I chose a quite simple version with grated milk chocolate (for the coffee Christmas log) and white chocolate (for the vanilla Christmas log).

Refrigerate, the hardest step will now be to wait!

Prepping the Whiskey cocoa cocktail

Picture of a glass of cold cocoa next to a shot of Baileys Irish cream and a shot of whiskey on a quartz table.
Whiskey cocoa cocktail ingredients: Whiskey, Baileys Irish cream and cocoa

To prepare a Whiskey cocoa cocktail you will need:

  • 0.5 shot of whiskey
  • 0.5 shot of Baileys irish cream
  • Cocoa
  • A Martini glass
  • A measuring jigger

With chocolate and Baileys Irish cream liquor, this cocktail tastes like a liquid cake for everyone’s pleasure!

This is a totally random invention, though I am pretty sure it has already been created somewhere with some interesting additions or variations. This is beginner cocktails’ level when you add whiskey or vodka to soft drinks you already like. Quite easy but so effective.

In a martini glass, pour 0.5 shot of whiskey and 0.5 shot of Baileys Irish cream liquor. Top up with cold cocoa. If you feel even naughtier add a bit of grated chocolate to the party!

Repeat of the first picture of the article in a slightly different picture format: Picture of a martini glass of whiskey cocoa cocktail adorned with grated chocolate (in the left front corner) in front of two mini individual size Christmas logs, one white vanilla flavored and one brown coffee flavor both on a black rectangular slate plate (in the right bottom corner) on a brown wooden table.
Whiskey cocoa cocktail and Christmas logs

Enjoy your holidays with your loved ones, may this Christmas brings you all that you may have required!

Picture of a martini glass of dark brown whiskey cocoa cocktail adorned with grated chocolate (in the left front corner). Behind the glass are two mini individual size Christmas logs, one white vanilla flavored and one brown coffee flavor on top of a black rectangular slate plate (in the right bottom corner). The glass and the plate are set on a brown wooden table.

If you have missed last week recipe, it is over here if you want to go and check it: Carol channing cocktail and Pommes Dauphine.

Leave a Reply