This traditional Black Forest Yule log is a soft and moist chocolate Swiss roll, filled with homemade whipped cream and cherries. It's covered in chocolate ganache and the cutest meringue mushrooms! This is the perfect showstopping cake for Christmas Day.

A close up of a sliced black forest yule log with meringue mushrooms on a white plate.

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Every year for Christmas, I'm in charge of dessert. I usually make some version of a Yule log (or, as my Swiss family calls it, bûche de Noël!). Not only is it a traditional dessert for us in Europe, but I also think it's so whimsical. A chocolate log with tiny meringue mushrooms? What's not to love! I also made a peppermint bark yule log, if you're more of a candy cane lover!

I'm going to be candid and say this is a big project. If you're looking for a just as festive cake but slightly less time-intensive recipe, I recommend trying my peppermint mocha cake.

I recommend watching the video in the recipe card so you can see how to make this yule log, especially if it's your first time making one!

Split into four parts

Chocolate Swiss Roll. This is almost like a chiffon cake. We're separating the yolks from the whites and whipping up the whites until we have a meringue. Adding all that air into the cake will make it more flexible (which we need to make a roll!).
Whipped Cream. Because this is a black forest cake, I chose to add vanilla whipped cream. It also helps that I live in the Northern hemisphere, so it's pretty cold here right now, so my whipped cream won't deflate. If you live somewhere warm, I would suggest swapping it out for cream cheese whipped cream, which is more stable.
Chocolate Ganache. The entire 'log' is then covered in chocolate ganache, and I use a fork to create 'bark'. You can either do regular chocolate ganache or whip it up until it's airy and then cover the log!
Meringue Mushrooms. Ok, totally optional and maybe slightly over the top, but come on, how adorable! Add other decorations like crushed pistachios for moss, sugared cranberries, sugared rosemary, or confectioners' sugar as snow.

Grab your ingredients

All the ingredients needed to make a black forest yule log, weighed out into small bowls.

Eggs: We'll need to separate 5 eggs for the cake. I recommend doing this in a separate bowl just in case a yolk breaks into the bowl of egg whites - been there, it's incredibly annoying!
Cocoa Powder: I'm using Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
Cherries: I found cherries in kirsch at my local grocery store. Kirsch is traditionally used in black forest gateau, so I thought 'perfect!'. Feel free to use cherries in brandy or dark cherries in syrup.
Oil: Using a neutral oil (vegetable or sunflower, for example) will help make this cake moist.

Chocolate Sponge

Start by whisking the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. We'll use this later!

A glass stand mixer bowl with a pale yellow batter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add in a quarter cup of sugar and mix on high speed until you have stiff peaks. Gently transfer the meringue to a large bowl and set aside. In the same bowl (no need to clean it!), whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Beat until pale and thick. My trick for making sure it's ready? Take a rubber spatula and scoop out some of the batter. Trace a figure-8 into the batter. If the figure-8 stays for a few moments before disappearing back into the batter, it's ready.

A glass mixing bowl with chocolate cake batter.

A half sheet pan with unbaked chocolate cake batter.

Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture in two additions. Add the dry ingredients in two additions, making sure you're very gentle and not knocking any air of the batter. Pour the cake batter into a greased and lined 12x17-inch pan (a half sheet pan). Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes.

Rolling Up the Log

Rolling up a chocolate cake in a red kitchen towel.

While the cake cooks in the oven, dust a thin kitchen towel with cocoa powder. Take the cake out of the oven and immediately flip it onto your kitchen towel. Gently peel the parchment paper off. Roll the cake up with the tea towel, this is going to train it to stay in the log shape! Let cool completely.

Black Forest Filling

A rectangular chocolate cake, covered in whipped cream and cherries.

Whip up the heavy cream with sugar and vanilla until you have medium to stiff peaks. Very carefully unroll your cooled cake. Spread the whipped cream over the cake. Add your cherries. Reroll the cake gently. I recommend wrapping the log in plastic wrap and chilling it in the fridge.

Decorating the Cake

A glass jug with chopped chocolate and cream in it.

A white serving platter with an unfrosted yule log.

If you've never made chocolate ganache, I recommend checking out my chocolate ganache frosting recipe for reference! Chop up your chocolate finely. Warm up the heavy cream in a small saucepan so it's hot but not boiling. Pour over your chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. Mix with a rubber spatula until smooth. Let it sit so it thickens up.

When ready to assemble, remove your log from the fridge and take off the plastic wrap. Place your cake on your serving platter or cake stand. To make this more log-like, I sliced off one end at an angle and placed it on the side.

A black forest bûche de noël on a white serving platter, covered in chocolate ganache and meringue mushrooms.

Cover the cake with the chocolate ganache. You can use a fork to create 'bark'. I decorated it with chopped pistachios as moss and meringue mushrooms! You can also use chocolate shavings, rosemary, cranberries, or confectioners' sugar as snow.

Making the Cake Ahead of Time

Here is how you can break up the components of the cake!

You can make the meringue mushrooms up to 3 days ahead of time. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
You can make the chocolate cake one day ahead of time. Just keep it rolled in the kitchen towel in the fridge. You can also fill the cake with whipped cream and cherries and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
The whipped cream can be made one day ahead of time. Store, tightly covered, in the fridge.
The filled and ganache covered cake can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. I don't recommend decorating it with the mushrooms or any other decorations until ready to serve!

A close up of a slice of black forest yule log on a white serving platter.

Want more Christmas desserts?

Ella from Alpine Ella is holding a cake stand with cupcakes on it.

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Thank you!

Ella