Mocha Logs Recipes

MOCHA YULE LOG

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom of a greased 15x10x1-in. pan with parchment; grease parchment. Sift flour, cocoa and salt together twice. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating on high speed until thick and lemon-colored. Fold in flour mixture., Add cream of tartar to egg whites; with clean beaters, beat on medium until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until soft glossy peaks form. Fold a fourth of the whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites. Transfer to prepared pan, spreading evenly., Bake until top springs back when lightly touched, 12-15 minutes (do not overbake). Cool 5 minutes. Invert onto a tea towel dusted lightly with cocoa. Gently peel off parchment. Roll up cake in the towel jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack. , For filling, in a bowl, dissolve coffee granules in cream; beat until it begins to thicken. Add sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Unroll cake; spread filling over cake to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up again, without towel; trim ends. Transfer to a platter, seam side down. Refrigerate, covered, until cold., For frosting, beat all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cake. Using a fork, make lines in frosting to resemble tree bark. Refrigerate until serving.

MOCHA LOGS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat butter and coffee granules for 1 minute. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Roll dough into 1/2-in.-thick logs; cut into 2-in. pieces. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Or use a cookie press fitted with a star-shaped disk to press dough into 2-in. logs 1 in. apart on baking sheets. , Bake at 375° for 8-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. , In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip ends of cookies in chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Sprinkle with walnuts. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

MOCHA LATTE LOGS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in sugars until well blended. Beat in melted chocolate, vanilla, egg and 1 tablespoon coffee powder. Gradually beat flour into butter mixture until well blended.
• Roll dough into ball; flatten ball slightly. Cut dough into 8 equal wedges; roll each into 18-inch long rope. Cut each rope into 6 (3-inch) pieces. On ungreased cookie sheets, place pieces 2 inches apart. Using tines of fork, make lines along each log by pulling gently down length of each piece.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until firm but not browned. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.
• Place waxed paper on counter under cooling rack. In small, deep microwavable bowl or measuring cup, microwave cream uncovered on High about 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in 2 teaspoons coffee powder until dissolved. Using wire whisk, beat in powdered sugar until no lumps remain. Dip one end of each log into glaze. Place on cooling rack, allowing glaze to drip through rack, until glaze is dry, about 30 minutes.

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE MOCHA YULE LOG

Steps:

• Whip together 1 1/2 cups of the heavy cream, the confectioners' sugar and espresso powder in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Spread a heaping tablespoon of the whipped cream onto one side of 39 chocolate wafer cookies (wipe the spoon clean with a rubber spatula between dollops). Spread the whipped cream out on the cookies with a small offset spatula. Stack 5 cookies on top of each other. Repeat with the remaining cookies (including the one without whipped cream) so that you have 8 stacks total. One of the stacks will have a cookie on top with no whipped cream; this stack will be the top stack.
• To build the log: Lay out a piece of plastic wrap about 20 inches long on the countertop. Working across the entire length of the plastic wrap, lay one of the cookie stacks on its side. Gently press the remaining 7 cookies stacks together, end to end, finishing with the top stack, to make one long cookie log that's about 15 to 18 inches long. Wrap the log up in the plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• While your stack is chilling, make the ganache: Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the remaining 1 1/2 cups heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir until completely melt. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer and refrigerate until completely cool, about 30 minutes. Just before frosting, whip the ganache until it just begins to loosen up, turns lighter in color and is spreadable, 30 to 45 seconds. It's important not to overwhip or it will become grainy.
• Cut a 2- to 3- inch diagonal piece from the top end of the log and place it on top of the log at an angle; this will be the branch. Spread the ganache over the log to cover it completely. Heat a metal fork. Use the tines and the back of a the fork to draw a bark pattern in the ganache, running it along the surface in short strokes.
• To make the mushrooms: Shave the tops of 6 of the meringues with a rasp grater until they are smooth and round and resemble mushroom caps. Smooth the tops with a wet finger. Mix together 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar with 1/4 teaspoon water in a small bowl to make a glue. Smear a little of the sugar glue on the bottom of each meringue and stick a marshmallow to it to make a stem. To make a shorter stem, simply cut the marshmallow in half with kitchen shears. Let the mushrooms sit for 30 minutes until the sugar water has hardened. Dust the tops with cocoa powder.
• Decorate the cake with the mushrooms, rosemary, mint and cranberries. Shave the remaining meringue over top of the cake to make snow. Slice the cake on a diagonal for serving.

MOCHA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Cream butter.
• Add both sugars and beat well.
• Add egg and mix well.
• Add flour, coffee powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and 1/2 c walnuts.
• Mix well.
• Wrap dough in wax paper and chill thouroughly in refrigerator (at least two hours).
• Remove dough from refrigerator.
• Using rounded teaspoonfuls of dough, shape into balls using palms of hands and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 12-15 minutes.
• Remove cookie sheet from oven and working quickly place 3-4 chocolate chips in the center of each hot cookie.
• When chocolate has softened, spread over top and sprinkle with balance of walnuts.
• Remove to wire rack and cool.

SUPER-QUICK MOCHA YULE LOG

Steps:

• Sift 1/2 cup powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in large bowl until soft peaks form. Add cocoa mixture and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Spread 1 side of 1 chocolate wafer with 1 rounded teaspoonful mocha cream; top with another wafer. Continue layering wafers and mocha cream for stack of 5 cookies. Place stack on its side on long platter. Repeat making stacks with remaining wafers and some of mocha cream; form log on platter by attaching stacks with mocha cream. Using offset spatula or rubber spatula, spread remaining mocha cream over outside of log to coat. Cover; chill at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
• Place platter with yule log on work surface. Using fork, gently pull tines of fork along length of frosting on log to create design resembling tree bark. Sift powdered sugar over log to resemble snow. Arrange meringue cookies or Meringue Mushrooms along sides of log. Cut log on diagonal into thick slices. Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

Steps:

• Whip powdered sugar, butter, cocoa powder, salt, and coffee liqueur together in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed. Transfer buttercream into a separate bowl and add mascarpone cheese. Mix until combined; set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Brush a little melted butter over a 13x18-inch rimmed sheet pan. Line pan with parchment paper and brush remaining melted butter on top.
• Combine cocoa powder, salt, and flour together in a bowl; whisk or sift to break up clumps.
• Place eggs in the clean bowl of your stand mixer. Add sugar and whip until fluffy, thick, and very light in color. Add 1/2 of the cocoa powder mixture and vanilla extract; mix on low speed for a few seconds. Beat in remaining cocoa mixture on low for a few seconds. Switch to high speed; stop once mixture is moistened but not fully blended. Pull off the whisk attachment and whisk batter with it until evenly blended.
• Pour batter onto the prepared sheet pan and spread out with a spatula, leaving some room around the edges. Tap pan on the counter to knock out the large bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry and edges start to pull away from the sides, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Dust a clean kitchen towel with enough powdered sugar to cover an area slightly larger than the sponge cake. Remove cake from the oven. Run a knife around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top. Run a spatula under the parchment paper to make sure it's not stuck to the pan.
• Quickly flip pan on top of the sugared area to invert the cake. Remove parchment paper and dust cake with more powdered sugar. Gently roll cake up inside the towel; allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Unroll cake and dollop buttercream on top, reserving some for later. Spread frosting to the edges. Roll cake up over the frosting, using the towel to lift it if needed. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top. Wrap log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Combine chocolate chips and hot cream in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate melts.
• Make an angled cut 3 inches from one end of the log. Place log on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Apply some buttercream to the angled slice and attach it to one side. Spread a layer of ganache all over the cake, except for the swirls. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up ganache.
• Carve lines into the ganache using the tip of a knife to create the appearance of tree bark. Refrigerate until completely chilled before serving. Dust with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.