White Christmas chocolate log with chestnut filling, covered with white chocolate and cream cheese frosting

A delicious and so good looking Festive dessert which will make you proud to treat your guests with it after a beautiful Christmas dinner!!

Recipe of Ioanna Stamoulou,

Greek version of "Olive" magazine of "Proto Thema" newspaper (2012)

Ingredients (for 6-8 people)

For the cake:

1 tbsp of butter, melted

4 eggs, separate whites from yolks

1 pinch of salt

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

¾ cup of all-purpose flour

¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 shot-glass of Cognac

For the filling:
1 tbsp of butter, melted
200 gr. of boiled chestnuts, net weight

1/2 cup of evaporated milk (perhaps a bit less)

125 gr. of dark (or milk) chocolate, cut in pieces

150 ml of crème fraîche (35% fat)

For the frosting:

200 gr. of white chocolate, cut in pieces 

200 gr. of plain cream cheese

350 ml of crème fraîche (35% fat)

2 tbsp of icing sugar, sifted

silver sugar chips for decoration

Method:
Preheat the oven to 175ºC. Cover the bottom and the sides of a 25 X 35cm oven tray with baking paper.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the egg whites along with the salt and beat until you have a fluffy meringue. Add in the bowl half of the granulated sugar and continue beating until the meringue is firm.

Empty the meringue into another bowl and leave aside. In the mixer bowl add the egg yolks, the vanilla and the rest of the sugar. Beat the ingredients for at least 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is fluffy and pale in colour.

    

Turn the speed to the lower point and slowly add in the bowl the flour in turns with the cocoa powder and the melted butter. When these are incorporated into the mixture stop beating and then incorporate the meringue into the flour mixture (in 2-3 doses), gently stirring the meringue with a rubber spatula.

    

Empty the mixture into the oven tray. Put in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until it is nicely coloured. Take the tray out of the oven and using the baking paper carefully transfer the cake and turn it on a clean kitchen towel. Take the baking paper carefully off the cake and roll the cake into a roll along with the towel. Leave the cake to cool down and to stabilise its roll shape.

    

In the meantime, put the dark chocolate into a bowl and warm the crème fraîche in a small saucepan on low heat. Before the cream starts boiling empty it over the chocolate and after a few seconds stir with a wooden spoon to help the chocolate to melt completely.

    

Transfer the boiled chestnuts, the melted butter, the Cognac and half the milk (you'll use as much as needed to mash the chestnuts) into a blender and whiz until the chestnuts are mashed and blended well with the rest of the ingredients. Gradually add into the blender the chocolate mixture and you continue to whiz until you have a homogeneous mixture. Leave in the fridge to chill and get firm.

    

For the frosting, melt the white chocolate with the "Bain-marie" method and then mix with the cream cheese to come together. In the bowl of the mixer, beat the crème fraîche along with the icing sugar until they get a syrupy consistency. Add the white chocolate mixture and continue beating until the cream is homogeneous and firm. Leave in the fridge to chill until you'll need it.

    

To assemble the log, unfold the cake carefully on a clean surface and spread the chocolate/chestnut filling evenly. Fold back into a roll and carefully transfer on a serving platter.

Cover the top and the sides of the log with the white chocolate cream and create a wood-like texture by marking along the length of the log with a fork.

Decorate on top with the silver sugar chips.

Leave the log in the fridge to chill well before you serve.