2 years ago I discovered a quick and easy recipe for the festive Chocolate Yule Log cake. The recipe originates from The Big Book of Cakes & Cookies - Hannah Miles. This cake always goes down well and people are always very impressed with it. But it's honestly, the easiest cake to make!

3 large eggs

85g caster sugar

85g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

55g plain chocolate 

2) Next you want to fold in the sifted flour and baking powder. It's best to fold this in so you don't lose the air that was created from whipping the sugar and egg. 

3) You then need to melt the chocolate and stir it into the mixture. 

4) Pour the mixture out onto a rectangular tray. The recipe advises that the tray should be 30 x 20 cm, however, I had to improvise with a larger tray. Try and spread the mixture evenly around the tray and bake for 10-12 minutes at 180 Celsius/ 350 Fahrenheit. 

5) Once cooked, you need to turn it upside down onto a piece of greaseproof paper like the below and let it sit for 10 minutes with a tea towel rested on top.

6) Then you need to roll it from one short side to the other, in a swiss roll style. Wedge the roll between two surfaces to allow it to cool entirely in this shape.

8) The easiest way to decorate the log is to use use a palette knife or a spatula to spread the icing on top. As you can see it gives a good effect for the ridges of a log. I then use a fork to make it look more like bark. It works so well and the great thing about it, is that you don't have to get the lines looking perfectly straight as they look more life like when they're uneven. 

9) I completely forgot this step, but for the extra wow factor, dust a little icing sugar across the top of the cake for a Christmassy look.

Let me know if you try this recipe! I also highly recommend the book. It's probably my most used book that I own and all the recipes are easy to follow too. 

What is your favourite dessert to bake? I'd love to know!