I've been dying for an excuse to make all the messes that go along with this cake and when Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito say "this is a slightly showy, purely holidayesque affair" the real translation is: you really don't want go through all the bowls in your kitchen just for any old day, so save this one for when you have the time off from work to take on a. the baking & assembly and b. the ginormous sink-full of dishes.

When the host of our little family dinner shindig hinted she'd like a log cake, but wasn't sure if she should ask knowing it would be quite an undertaking, I practically squealed in delight. I've always wanted to attempt a Bûche de Noël, and since my lovely mother gave me Baked Explorations for my birthday I've been absolutely salivating at the chance to make their cooler more distinctly "Baked" take on this classic.

Chocolate Malt Stump de Noël from Baked Explorations 
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water
1 dozen large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Malted Buttercream and Dark Chocolate Buttercream
Meringue mushrooms, candied cranberries and candied rosemary sprigs, for garnish (optional; see Note)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheets and line them with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all of the short sides. Butter the paper and dust with flour.
   
2. In a small bowl, whisk the 1 cup of flour with the cocoa and salt. In another small bowl, combine the chocolate and espresso. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, combine the egg yolks with 2/3 cup of the sugar. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk and beat at high speed until the yolks are pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture along with the vanilla. Transfer to a large bowl.
   
3. Thoroughly wash and dry the mixer bowl and the whisk. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar on moderately high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar and continue beating at high speed until the whites are glossy, about 2 minutes longer. Whisk one-fourth of the egg whites into the cake batter, then fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain.
   
4. In a small bowl, whisk the melted butter with 1/2 cup of the batter; fold this mixture into the batter. Working in 2 batches, sift the cocoa powder mixture over the batter and gently fold it in. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, spreading it out to fill the pans. Bake for about 18 minutes, until the cake feels springy and dry; shift the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Transfer the pans to racks to cool completely. Run the tip of a knife around the edges, cover with parchment paper and a baking sheet and invert; peel off the parchment on top.
   
5. Spread the Malted Buttercream over the cakes. Using a ruler, cut each cake precisely in half lengthwise, cutting through the paper; you should have four 6-by-17-inch strips of cake. Roll one strip into a tight coil, leaving the paper behind. Roll the 3 remaining cake strips around the coil in the same way to form a very wide, short jelly roll. Set the cake on a large plate, spiraled end up. Frost the outside of the cake with the Dark Chocolate Buttercream. Refrigerate until set, at least 8 hours. Decorate the cake with meringue mushrooms, cranberries and rosemary sprigs and serve, cutting the cake into wedges or horizontal slices.
   

Crumby Notes:

• Although the 1.5 cups of frosting set aside for the outer layer of dark chocolate frosting was  the perfect amount, the rest of the frosting that was leftover for the malted frosting layer was not enough to really and truly cover the cake. I felt like even another 2 cups of frosting would have been perfect, but the amount left to contrast the chocolate cake was really not enough to look and taste good.
• Also, although at 18 minutes your sponge may not look entirely cooked, you really really do not want to overcook this sponge as it will be more difficult to roll. 18 minutes is ideal and no matter how much off your oven may be, anything over 20 minutes is too much as your cake will be more dry and harder to roll  into a log. Even if it may look not quite done, this sponge is more than done at 20 minutes.

~Happy Baking!