Chocolate Log Christmas Cake - Bakemas Day 24

It’s Christmas Eve and the last bakemas post of the year is here! Although I am kind of looking forward to a day off I’m pretty bummed I have to stop with the festive bakes...Christmas bakes in January...anyone? Okay maybe not.

ANYWAY

So today’s recipe is a little different, my mum has been trying to get me to do this post or something like it since last year’s massive Christmas cake bonanza, I think between us we made and decorated 6 Christmas cakes? One standard Christmas cake, four post boxes and a chocolate log...just to clarify we didn’t eat all those cakes, we gave three away and the rest were for different sets of family and friends for gatherings. The main thing I think we got out of it was deciding never to make that many cakes again, seriously the amount of robins I had to make was a little ridiculous, but the other thing I got from it was how delicious Christmas cake is with chocolate icing on, I know, who’d a thunk it!

Yes I’m that person that thinks the icing on the Christmas cake is just too sweet and I don’t like it when it’s thick but the chocolate icing pretty much solves all those problems. It’s still sweet but the chocolate tones it down a bit and doesn’t make you feel like you’re just eating pure sugar even though you kind of still are, and who doesn’t love chocolate! If you’re a long time reader you’ll know I add chocolate to about 75% of the food I make and now it seems Christmas cake isn’t getting away without a little chocolate being added either.



So this isn’t a recipe for the cake, I actually don’t have the Christmas cake recipe we use up on here but I mean if you’re looking to decorate a Christmas cake on the 24th of December I’m assuming you’ve already made your cake, plus the fact you’re supposed to make proper Christmas cake months in advance. I guess this is more of a chatty “this is how I’m decorating my Christmas cake this year you can do it like this too if you like, or maybe it’ll give you inspiration for next year and hey maybe you should try chocolate icing on your Christmas cake” post, which I’ll be honest feels a tiny bit like cheating but my mum is adamant it’s not so here we are. I have progress shots (because I wanted to make this feel a little less like cheating) and the recipe for the icing which honestly is just how it went this year because it’s always a ‘that’s the rough recipe we’ll just wing it’ with stuff like this, but it’s there if you need it or to base yours off.

If you want to make the robins and are a little stumped...pun not intended...or maybe I’ll just pretend that it was. I colour roll out icing with cocoa powder for the body and colour the yellow and red with paste food colourings but you can just buy the pre coloured icing if you want. I was going to take progress photos but I got a little too engrossed in the robins and forgot, whoops! You just need a ball for the body a pair of wings, little beak, Santa hat, stick everything together with a little water (if you have a small unused paintbrush that makes things a little easier) and I use some of the leftover white icing in a little piping bag for the eyes.

Anyway, let's get to the...last recipe of bakemas.

For the icing
2 egg whites
450g icing sugar
½-1 tsp glycerine
1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

You will also need
Apricot jam
300-400g marzipan
1 flake
Robins

To make the icing whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy, gradually sift in the icing sugar and mix in. Add in the glycerine then beat until the icing is stiff.
Take roughly ⅓ of the icing out the bowl and set aside in another bowl.
With the remaining ⅔ sift in the cocoa powder and mix until combined.
Note: If the mixture gets too stiff add a little more egg white

To decorate the cake shape into a log shape, roll out the marzipan relatively thin, warm some apricot jam and spread over the cake with a parsty brush then cover the cake in the marzipan.
This doesn’t need to be really neat just make sure the whole cake is covered.
Spread the chocolate icing over the marzipan then run a fork along the sides to make it look like a log. Roughly cover the board in the white icing to look like snow, cut up the flake and place in front to look like little logs, add your robins on and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Christmas cake is great to make this because cutting bits off and mushing them together doesn’t affect the eating experience as much as with sponge but you can use sponge cakes instead. We baked our cakes in tin cans, just make sure they’re thoroughly cleaned and line and wrap them like you would when making a standard Christmas cake.


So this is it, I feel like we're breaking up, or some massive life event is over, maybe it is...it's probably just because I'm not running around like a mad woman and things are, in the grand scheme of things, under control so I have time to actually appreciate this moment.
So this is it, farewell, adios, I guess I'll see you next year bakemas!

Merry Christmas everyone!