Mange ton gateau!

"Let them eat cake." If that doesn't just sum up the French, I don't know what does. France and anything French is near and dear to my heart ever since I was able to live there as a missionary (I've been home 5 years!). Luckily for me, there are four other sisters in my ward that also served French speaking missions and so we try to get together once a month to indulge in a French menu and speak in French. Today was our Christmas celebration.

My assignment (self-imposed, I must admit) was to make the Buche de Noel, or Yule log cake. And I had a little too much fun.

I found this recipe on Epicurious.com and it sounded wonderful. Really, who wouldn't love a nice sponge cake with marzipan cream filling, ganache (basically pure chocolate) frosting, and cute little marzipan mushrooms? While the recipe wasn't all that hard, I did have to make the frosting twice. Word of advice: always use a double boiler for melting chocolate even if the recipe says otherwise! The cake tasted wonderful, even if I did forget to buy flour and ended up making the cake with mostly whole wheat flour. In the end, the cake was a success and I was successful in sending cake home with everyone, "for the husbands" (wink, wink).

Making this cake was very good for me. I love being successful and creating things, whether it be food, knitting, or otherwise. I was giddy when I went to bed last night after finally getting the frosting on and couldn't wait to show the finished product to my friends. President Uchtdorf, of the First Presidency of the LDS church, had it right when he spoke to the Sisters of the church this last October. Creation does bring "deep satisfaction and fullfilment". Creating this cake has certainly made my week, and even perhaps my Christmas season. Well, perhaps not as much as Anna's Christmas present, but I'll post about that once it is finished and Anna has claimed it as hers.

Merry Christmas and don't forget to eat cake!