Mary Berry’s chocolate log recipe – Christmas cooking tips and advice from the Great British Bake Off star

FOR me Christmas is a time for celebration, for family, for laughter and good food.

I remember the times when I used to prepare everything at home – the turkey, vegetables, stuffing and pudding – and take it to Granny’s on Christmas Eve, ready to be cooked the next day.

Although, these days, most of my Christmases are at home and the young come back to us with their children, so the preparation and organisation doesn’t seem to be getting much less.

So I’ve gathered together my festive recipes and a few snippets of wisdom gained over the years to make your Christmas cooking easier and less stressful.

I wish you very happy cooking, a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.

Christmas chocolate log

Ingredients:

• Chocolate icing and topping
• 2 x 200g bars Bournville chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 600ml double cream
• 4tbsp apricot jam
• Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas mark 6.

An easy Yule log, with a delicious filling.

The apricot jam helps the icing to stick to the cake, and is delicious, too.

Method:

• Lightly grease a 33x23cm Swiss roll tin, and line with non-stick paper or baking parchment, pushing it into the corners.
• For the sponge, whisk the eggs and sugar using an electric hand whisk in a bowl until the mixture is pale in colour, light and frothy. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and carefully cut and fold together, using a metal spoon, until all the cocoa and flour are incorporated into the egg mixture (be careful not to beat any of the air out of the mixture).
• Pour into the lined tin and spread evenly out into the corners. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 8–10 minutes until evenly brown and the sides are shrinking away from the edge of the tin
• Place a piece of baking parchment bigger than the Swiss roll on to the work surface. Invert the cake on to the paper and remove the bottom lining piece of paper.
• Trim the edges of the cake with a sharp knife and make a score mark 2.5cm in along the longer edge. Roll up (from the longer edge) using the paper, rolling with the paper inside. Set aside to cool

• While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Place the chocolate and 450ml of the cream in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted (be careful not to overheat; the bowl must not touch the water). Put into the fridge to cool and firm up (this icing needs to be very thick for piping). Whip the remaining cream.
• Uncurl the cold Swiss roll and remove the paper. Spread a third of the icing over the surface, then spread the whipped cream on top and re-roll tightly. Cut a quarter of the cake off from one end on the diagonal. Transfer the large piece of cake to a serving plate and angle the cut end to the side of the large cake to make a branch. Cover the surface of the cake with the melted apricot jam.
• Put the remaining chocolate icing into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe long, thick lines along the cake, covering the cake completely so it looks like the bark of a tree. Cover each end with icing or, if you wish to see the cream, leave un-iced.
• Dust with icing sugar and garnish with fresh holly to serve.
• Preparing ahead:
• Make completely, filled and iced, up
to 2 days ahead.
• If there is time, it is best made on the day of serving. It freezes well filled, iced or un-iced for up to one month.
• Ideally, it should be frozen filled and rolled but un-iced, then iced once defrosted, which ensures the icing keeps a nice shine. Defrost in the fridge overnight
to serve.