For me, Christmas is the memory of Christmas dinner at Grandma's. There's turkey, meat pie and her famous Yule log with fudge. The log for which everyone fought to have a slice from the end because there was no more fudge.
I am an only child and an only grandchild. Needless to say, for me Christmas ended with a solid sugar rush. I never saw Santa come down the chimney, but one year I remember eating so many Yule logs that I could see the sounds and hear the colors.
Honestly, for me, the holidays don't make me want to be sensible. I want to eat big portions, I want to eat fat, and I want to spend January 1st judging myself harshly every time I look in the mirror.
So I took my grandmother's recipe and improved it, BBQ version.
Delicious recipe that is not for the faint of heart… Seriously, if you suffer from high cholesterol, heart problems or diabetes, it might be best to just enjoy the recipe photo.
Servings: 8-12
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients :
Genoese:
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
5 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Sugar Topping:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup of 35% cream
2 tbsp corn syrup
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
Candy Bacon and garnish:
300 grams of sliced bacon
1 cup of Quebec BBQ Cake seasoning
Dozen dry gingerbread or ginger cookies.
100 g of 70% dark chocolate
***For a completely crazy result, the BBQ steps can be done in a smoker or with an accessory that allows smoking such as an A-Maze-N, a Smokenateur or a smoke box.***
Preparation of Candy Bacon and topping (can be made in advance):
- Preheat BBQ to 300 degrees F.
- Mix the bacon slices with the Quebec BBQ Cake seasoning. Place them on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet on indirect heat.
- Meanwhile, if you are a purist, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. If you are the type to like simple solutions: Place a mixing bowl with the dark chocolate in the BBQ. Stir regularly until it is well melted.
- Turn the bacon regularly during cooking until it is crispy or even brittle.
- Dip bacon in melted dark chocolate and place on parchment paper until chocolate hardens.
- Chop the candy bacon into small pieces. Reserve half in a bowl and the other half in a resealable plastic bag.
- In the plastic bag, add the cookies and, using a rolling pin and all the hatred you have accumulated during the year, crush the cookies into crumbs.
- Reserve everything in the refrigerator.
Preparation of the sponge cake:
- Preheat BBQ to 375 F.
- Line a 17 x 20-inch baking sheet with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a second bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer until the eggs triple in volume. Stir in the oil and vanilla.
- Gently incorporate the dry ingredients into the egg mixture while folding the mixture with a spatula.
- Spread the mixture on the baking sheet and place on the BBQ for indirect cooking for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and it comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes. For more even cooking, raise the baking sheet with an aluminum drip pan so that the sheet is in the middle of the BBQ.
- Turn cake out onto a clean dish towel. Remove parchment paper from top. Roll up warm cake with dish towel. Let cool completely.
Cream Sugar Topping:
- In a saucepan, bring all ingredients except butter to a boil, stirring continuously until mixture is smooth.
- Remove from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.
- Using an electric mixer or a whisk and a lot of elbow grease, add the butter 1 to 2 cubes at a time. Beat until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour and spread about 3/4 of the cream sugar into the unrolled cake with a knife. Sprinkle with chopped Candy Bacon. Roll up the cake immediately.
- Carefully dip each end of the log into the fudge and place on a serving plate. Pour the remaining mixture over the log so that it is completely covered.
- Sprinkle the candy bacon and biscuit mixture on top of the log.
- Place the log in the refrigerator at least one hour before serving.
