Any chance you are craving a beautiful baking project to bring to a Christmas party this week? Make this Baileys and Buttercream Buche de Noel.
I have always been intimidated just by the thought of a Buche de Noel. Make a cake and roll it up? What the heck. Who can do that? Guess what? You can do that. I did this with my middle schooler. We were totally high fiving each other every step of the way.
Don’t let pretty projects intimidate you!! There’s always a way to cover up any little hiccups (like extra frosting or powdered sugar!). And, worst case scenario, it’s a total disaster and you are forced to eat chunks of broken Buche de Noel.
This project is best thought of in stages. First, you will need to make the actual chocolate cake. The cake is made with basic cake ingredients but you will separate the eggs to give it more of a sponge cake consistency. This cake is also cooked in a jelly roll pan (like the one in the first photo above) so the cooking time is really short! The second stage is the whipped cream – enter BAILEYS. Yum. Baileys Irish Liqueur is definitely a tradition in my house. The third stage is the chocolate buttercream frosting. Frosting covers all flaws, friends. Our Buche de noel totally cracked while we were rolling it. Oh, well! More frosting.
Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you are all baking something amazing with people you love this holiday!
Baileys and Butter Cream Buche de Noel
Baileys and Buttercream Buche de Noel
Do you need a beautiful Christmas dessert? Make this Baileys and Buttercream Buche de Noel!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1/2 c dark or semi-sweet chocolate melted, and cooled
- 4 eggs separated
- 3/4 c sugar
- 1 t vanilla
- 3/4 c gluten-free flour I used Pamela's GF bread mix flour
- 3/4 t baking powder
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 c boiling water
Baileys Whipped Cream Filling
- 1 c whipping cream
- 3 t sugar
- 1 T Baileys
- 2 T espresso or dark coffee
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 c butter
- 1/2 c cocoa powder
- 4 c confectioner's sugar powdered sugar
- 2 T espressor or dark coffee
- 4 T heavy cream or milk
- 1/8 t salt
Instructions
Instructions for Cake
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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Separate room temperature eggs. Beat egg yolks and add sugar and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add cooled chocolate.
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In a separate bowl, combine gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt. Add egg yolk mixture. Stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup of boiling water until the batter is stiff.
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Whip egg whites to stiff peaks. Scoop some stiff egg whites into chocolate mixture. Stir to lighten a bit. Lightly fold in the remaining egg whites to chocolate batter.
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Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Spray with non stick cooking spray. I used a 12x17 pan.
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Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
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Remove cake from the oven. Loosen the corners and let the cake rest for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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Cover the cake with a clean kitchen towel - a lightweight bread towel if you have one - and carefully turn the pan upside down to release the cake onto a cutting board. Remove the parchment.
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Starting with the short end - start rolling the cake! Roll the cake and towel together. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
Instructions for Baileys Whipped Cream
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Whip the cream until soft peaks start to form. Add Baileys, sugar, and espresso. Whip until thick.
Instructions for Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
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Melt butter. Add cocoa and salt and stir until smooth. Add cream. Mix together. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until smooth. When the frosting is too thick to stir, add the espresso or coffee until it reaches a good BARK consistency.
Putting the Cake Together
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Unroll the cake. Carefully. It might crack. Don't worry too much. Spread the Baileys whipped cream in the middle of the cake - not quite to the edge - leave about a 1 inch margin. Roll the cake back up - without the towel. I rolled the cake back up on a clean jelly roll pan because I was too nervous to transfer it to another serving dish. I simply served the buche de noel from this pan. Still beautiful!
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Chill the cake layered with whipped cream. Make the buttercream frosting - make sure the frosting is cooled and spreadable. Frost the cake horizontally to make it look like bark on a tree. Use extra frosting to cover any cracks. Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar over the top to look like snow! Chill. Slice to serve. Enjoy!
For more fun holiday dessert recipes …
Check out the Bailey’s recipe page – if you are over 21!
Homemade Baileys (For Coffee or Sipping!)
Dark Chocolate Ganache Without Cream
Hi Erin,
This recipe sounds delicious and I want to make it, except that I am not sure where you can get gluten-free chocolate. What kind of chocolate do you use?
Great question! This is a link to a list of mainstream gluten-free chocolates – https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/gluten-free-candy – and all Nestle chocolate chips are gluten-free – except for the butterscotch ones.