Vegan
Christmas is not Christmas without a yule log.
This was the first-ever attempt at making a yule log and it turned out perfectly.
This recipe creates a decadent, spongy vegan yule log filled with a silky smooth filling, coated in a scrumptious rich dairy-free chocolate ganache. Are you drooling yet?
Yule logs are a sponge cake rolled up with your desired filling. I went traditionally with a chocolate & vanilla yule log and it’s perfect for around this time of year. It goes down a treat with a coffee/tea or glass of milk (dairy-free of course).
This yule log is:
- Scrumptious
- Full of flavour
- Rich
- Fun to make
- A show stopper
The sponge is super quick & easy to make and is light, full of chocolatly flavour and bakes within 10 minutes!!!
This ‘pretty as a picture’ yule log would be the perfect centrepiece at a Christmas party, festive dinner etc.
Make sure you remember to leave a slice out for Santa, I’m sure you would be on his ‘good list’ for life- haha!
This cake looks absolutely stunning, tastes exquisite and is perfect for sharing.
Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking time: 18-20 minutes
Makes: 1 yule log
Level: Medium
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Ingredients for the sponge
- 240ml of dairy-free milk
- 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- 210g of self-raising flour
- 100g of caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon of cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 60g of coconut oil (Melted)
Ingredients for the filling
- 100g of dairy-free butter
- 160g of icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Ingredients for the chocolate ganache (coating)
- 100g of dairy-free butter
- 115g of icing sugar
- 1 & 1/4 tablespoons of cacao/cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 50g of dairy-free chocolate
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Method (sponge)
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line a 25 x 38 x 2.5 cm jelly roll baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.
Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cacao powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
Mix well to combine.
4. Add the melted coconut oil to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.
6. Pour into the lined tray and level with an offset spatula, making sure to spread it to the corners.
Make sure to tap the tray on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
7.Pop the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
You will know when it’s done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and it is springy to the touch.
8. Lay a large piece of baking paper on your work surface, sprinkle over cacao powder and invert the sponge onto the paper, peel way the original baking paper.
9. Trim the edges of the sponge with a sharp knife.
10. Roll up (from the longer edge) using the paper, rolling it up with the paper inside. Set aside to cool.
Rolling it up with the paper inside helps the cake not to stick to itself.
Set aside.
Method (filling)
1. Cream the butter in a bowl, on high speed until creamy. I use my stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment.
2. When your butter/margarine is creamy & light in colour, add in the icing sugar, vanilla extract.
Whizz together until fluffy & fully combined.
Add a splash of milk if the buttercream is too thick.
3. Once the sponge is cool, unroll and spread a thin layer of the filling then re-roll tightly without the paper inside.
Pop into the fridge while you make the ganache (coating).
Method (chocolate ganache)
1. Melt the chocolate, then set aside to cool.
2. Cream the butter in a bowl, on high speed until creamy. I use my stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment.
3. When your butter/margarine is creamy & light in colour, add in the icing sugar, cacao powder, vanilla extract & melted chocolate.
Whizz together until fluffy & fully combined.
Add a splash of milk if the buttercream is too thick.
4. Transfer the yule log to a serving plate or tray and using anoff set spatula or knife, spread the ganache all over the yule log.
I used my spatula to create bark texture by creating lines. It looks really realistic and effective.
I decorated mt yule log with a sprinkling of snow (icing sugar) and added on some homemade gingerbread cookies- Get my recipe here.
Go all out and serve with some sparklers, perfect for New Years!
Store in a sealed container in the fridge and best eaten within a few days.
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The Little Blog Of Veganⓒ All Rights Reserved. 2020
What a beautiful Yule Log! Perfect for Christmas ♥
Aww thankyou so much! 🙂 x
Hi, just wondering if you could use any milk such as coconut instead of almond milk? Cannot wait to make this!!
Hello, I would think so, any dairy-free milk! I tend to go for almond & soy as its thicker than coconut milk. Sometimes coconut can be quite watery. Aww thankyou so much!! Make sure to let me know how you get on and tag me in photos on social media 🙂 Happy baking x
The coconut milk didn't curdle and was very watery, when I went to roll the log it broke so I think that was the problem. I will def try again with almond milk! The sponge was still tasty though 🙂
Thats what i thought would happen! I ALWAYS stick to almond, it just works for some reason haha 😛 You can always DM me on any social media or email me if you need any advice or help 🙂 x
Thank you, I am determined to have this perfected for Christmas!! I will let you know how I get on!
I've always wanted to make both gingerbread men and yule logs for Christmas, even though I wasn't raised on either one. They seem to be the most festive treats out there I think, so that's why they're at the top of my "baking bucket list" and yes, I have one of these lol
Yes haha! Aww thankyou so much! Anything gingerbread & chocolate is right up my street, YUM! x
What chocolate do you use for the ganache (dark, semisweet, etc.)? Thank you!
Hello, I use a 70% dark chocolate but I'm sure you could use your favourite chocolate! 🙂 x
Thank you!
I am about to make this, but I was just wondering what pan size you used? Thanks!
Hi from the west coast of the US! Before going vegan, I used to make a yule log every Christmas, so I was super excited to find this recipe! I made it today and it turned out great. I do have one suggestion – try coating an old kitchen towel in cocoa powder and use this to roll the cake. I find it works great and results in less cracking. Next time I may tweak the recipe a bit to come up with a more cream-cheese type of filling, similar to my non-vegan cake. Thanks for the recipe – cheers!
Hey Holly, this looks fantastic! I have a quick question before I start baking 😀 How can I us AP flour instead of self raising? I am guessing that I need to add about 2 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to the AP, but I am wondering if that would cause a bitter, soapy taste.. Thank you <3
1 cup AP flour to 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda + 1/2 of salt should taste right.
What size pan please?
Made this and the family LOVED it! What a fab recipe, will be using it again xx
Yay! Im so happy you liked it! Merry Christmas x
How do you flip it without it breaking apart? Made this today and it was nice and spongy and came out of the oven beautifully. Problem happened when I tried to flip! It fell completely apart. Any tips or tricks on how to do this?
Hello, oooh. For me it was practice.
I like to put a large board ontop of the tray, tip the tray over so the cake is on the board, and then remove the tray so it comes out clean and unbroken.
Hope that helps- haha! x
Hello! What pan size are you using for this recipe? THANKS!!!
Hello! What pan size are you using for this recipe? THANKS!!!
The best yule log I've ever made. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I used oat milk in the recipe, and it broke into pieces, but still great.Next time I'll use soya milk as it seems to make things bind 🙂
This look amazing would it work with gluten free flour?
Hi There, made this and was amazing. Can it be frozen?
Thankyou so much! It can!!! Always defrost fully before enjoying x
What size pan did you use?
Any other tips to stop the sponge from cracking as you roll it? Thanks
Using a cloth instead of the paper helps. I haven't tried using a damp cloth yet but I've heard it also helps.
What did you do to stop the coconut oil becoming solid again when you're mixing?
Great recipe. Really rich and delicious. My wife isn't vegan and always has chocolate log and was impressed. I had a bit of cracking when unfolding but didn't use coconut oil (melted dairy free spread instead) so that might explain that. Also, I found I needed 1.5 times the amount of ganache, but maybe that's because I like a thick frosting! Overall really good.
Author
Aw thank you so much x
Thanks for the recipe! I tried with GF flour and couldn't get it to roll so our cake was stacked instead. Kids didn't seem to mind 🙂
Author
aw, well at least it tasted delish! I dont tend to use gluten-free with cakes, especially roll cakes as they are already super tricky- haha! x
Hi .. What flour would you suggest if I was to make it gluten-free ?