This Vegan Yule Log Cake is the best Christmas cake! A chocolate cake is rolled up with a chocolate mousse filling, then decorated with ganache, meringue mushrooms, and sugared cranberries. You won’t even notice it’s dairy- and egg-free.
Looking for more Christmas dessert ideas? You’ll love this Vegan Peppermint Mocha Cake, this Vegan Pumpkin Roll, and The Most Amazing Vegan Pecan Pie!
Christmas is a time for celebration, and the best way I know how to celebrate is with lots and lots of desserts! Batches of Vegan Shortbread Cookies and Vegan Toffee are always on my baking list, but nothing gets me as excited about dessert quite like this Vegan Yule Log Cake. It’s a seriously impressive cake rooted in Christmas tradition.
A yule log cake, or bûche de noël, is a traditional European Christmas cake made by spreading buttercream or mousse over a chocolate sponge cake, rolling it up, and covering it with chocolate ganache.
My bûche de noël does break some traditions since it isn’t made with dairy or eggs, but you’d never know it! I even decorated it with vegan meringue mushrooms, sugared cranberries, and fresh rosemary for that realistic “log in the woods” look.
I’ll be honest and tell you that this is definitely not the quickest or easiest recipe on my blog. But if I can do it, so can you! Just follow the instructions carefully, and you’ll have a beautiful vegan Christmas log cake you can make for years to come.
Why you’ll love this vegan bûche de noël
- The best Christmas cake – While we decorate sugar cookies and build gingerbread houses, some European countries celebrate Christmas by baking a yule log cake. It’s certainly one new tradition I’ll be bringing to our house from now on!
- Rich and chocolatey – This cake is all about the chocolate! From the light, airy sponge cake to the mousse filling to the ganache frosting, it’s seriously decadent.
- Make it ahead – I won’t lie, a vegan yule log does take time and effort to make. Luckily, you can prep it wayyy in advance, so there’s no need to rush.
How to make a vegan yule log cake
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Start with the chocolate cake. Whisk the cake batter ingredients together in a large bowl, then pour it into a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Meanwhile, lay a large dish towel on the counter and dust it with cocoa powder.
As soon as the cake is done baking, carefully and swiftly flip it upside down onto the dish towel. Peel off the parchment paper. Slowly and gently roll the hot cake in a tight roll in the towel. Let it cool completely in the towel.
Now you can move on to the chocolate mousse filling. Melt the chocolate, then add it to a blender along with the rest of the mousse ingredients. Blend until smooth. Chill the mousse in the fridge.
Carefully unroll the cake and spread the mousse filling evenly over the top. Carefully roll it back up without the towel, then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for 1 hour.
Handle with care
It’s normal for there to be some cracks in the cake after unrolling (mine always has some). Still, you’ll need to handle the cake very carefully so it doesn’t fully break. As long as you spread the mousse on quickly and carefully, no one will notice any cracks or breakage.
Next, make the ganache frosting. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate chips in a bowl and let them melt. Whisk until smooth, then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes to keep it smooth.
Make the meringue mushrooms. Make my Vegan Meringues and attach the “stems” to the mushroom caps with a little ganache. For the mushroom caps, use a piping bag and make larger kisses and for the stems, pipe them small and up a bit, like tall skinny kisses. Sprinkle them with a little cocoa powder.
To shape the vegan yule log, cut off about 3 inches of the log at a slight diagonal (this will be the “branch” on the log). Use some ganache frosting to attach the branch to the large log.
Spread the ganache all over the cake and drag a fork over the frosting to create lines that look like bark.
Decorate the cake with the sugared cranberries, rosemary, vegan meringue mushrooms, and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Refrigerate it until you’re ready to serve, then slice and enjoy!
Plan ahead
This is the kind of cake I like to dedicate several hours or days to because I know I can’t rush the steps. Make sure you have lots of time to spare before you start on it. The more love you give it, the better it will turn out!
Frequently asked questions
The key is to roll the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. A hot cake is softer and more malleable, whereas a cooled cake will be too dry to roll without cracking. Just put your oven mitts on, dust your towel with cocoa powder to prevent sticking, and invert it with confidence! Do this, and rolling won’t be a problem.
Remember: Dry cakes crack the easiest, even fresh out of the oven. Follow the ingredient measurements carefully and only bake until a toothpick comes out clean (or with a few sticky crumbs attached) to ensure a moist chocolate sponge cake.
A few cracks are totally fine. Just fill them in with ganache or cover them with frosting.
Sort of. Both a yule log and Swiss roll are rolled cakes filled with whipped cream, mousse, or chocolate frosting. The only big difference is that a yule log cake is decorated to look, well, like a log in the woods.
It will be rich, but yes, you can swap the ganache frosting for my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting if you’d like.
I only tested the chocolate cake with all-purpose flour, but a quality 1:1 gluten-free flour should work quite well.
Absolutely! You can fully decorate the yule log, loosely cover it with plastic wrap, and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before serving.
You can also wrap the rolled cake (rolled with the mousse filling) in a tight layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 to 2 days before decorating.
Feel free to make the meringues and ganache a few days ahead of time, too. Keep the meringues in an airtight container on the counter and the ganache in a sealed container in the fridge.
Vegan Yule Log Cake (Bûche De Noël)
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder dutch processed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Mousse Filling
- 1 1/2 cups dairy free chocolate chips
- 10.8 ounces Mori Nu silken tofu
- 1/4 cup vegan cream or high fat oat milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips
- 1 cup coconut cream*
Instructions
Prepare the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 10×15 inch sheet pan with parchment paper that sticks up about an inch on all sides for easy removal later. Spray the parchment paper with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Now add the milk, vinegar, oil, applesauce and vanilla and mix with an electric mixer (or just a whisk) until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, lay a large, thin, clean dish towel on the counter and dust with a few tablespoons of cocoa powder, all over the towel. This will help the cake not to stick to the towel.
- When the cake is done baking, remove from the oven and, using oven mitts, carefully and swiftly invert the cake onto the dish towel. Peel off the parchment paper that was on the bottom of the cake.
- Starting with the shorter end of the cake, begin tightly rolling the hot cake in the towel. Do this process slowly and gently. Let the cake cool completely rolled up in the towel at room temperature. This will take about 3 hours, so plan ahead.
For the Chocolate Mousse Filling
- While the cake cools, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Alternatively, melt over a double boiler on the stovetop.
- Let the chocolate cool for 5 minutes, then add to a high powered blender along with the silken tofu, cream or milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Place the mousse in a bowl and let it chill for 30-60 minutes to firm up in the fridge.
- Very carefully and slowly unroll the cake, using a spatula to help release any parts that are sticking. If there are some cracks or tears, don't worry, you can patch them up with the ganache frosting.* Important: Handle the cake very carefully so it doesn't fully break; it will be fragile. Mine always has some cracks as I unroll it but if you get the mousse frosting on there quickly and carefully frost it, no one will ever notice! Remember, it will be covered in ganache as well so don't freak out if you see some cracks or breakage.
- Spread the mousse filling evenly onto the unrolled cake, then roll it back up without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap, seam side down, and place in the refrigerator for another hour.
Make the Ganache Frosting
- Add chocolate chips to a medium sized bowl.
- Pour the cream in a microwave safe cup or bowl and microwave for 1 minute until warm but not boiling. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes so it remains smooth and even.
Decorate the Yule Log Cake
- Once the ganache is ready and the cake cooled, use a large serrated knife to cut off about 3 inches of the log cake at a slight diagonal (for a branch). Use a little ganache frosting to attach the branch to the large log.
- Spread the ganache all over the cake, then use a fork to create lines that look like bark.
- Decorate with sugared cranberries and rosemary and meringue mushrooms (instructions in Notes), if desired. Sift a little powdered sugar over the cake if you'd like.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. The cake can be prepared up to 3 days before serving. Loosely cover with plastic wrap if storing for a few days.
Notes
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For sugared cranberries and rosemary – Add 1/2 cup sugar and water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has melted. Let cool for 15 minutes. Spread about 1/2 cup sugar on a shallow plate. Dip cranberries and rosemary in the sugar water and then roll in the dry sugar. Let them dry and sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so.
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Meringue mushrooms – I made my Vegan Meringues, but shaped them in big kisses and little taller stems. Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, just like the cookies. Attach the stem with a tiny bit of ganache once it’s thickened and then sprinkle with a dust of cocoa powder.
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Coconut cream works best for a thick ganache, but you can try a different vegan heavy cream, like Silk brand.
Served this on Christmas Eve – it was a huge success with lots of ooh-ing and ah-ing. In the language of the Great British Baking Show – it’s a true showstopper!
As Nora advises, this cake takes planning, forethought, and a lot of love. I started by making the cake a couple of days before Christmas Eve; I used Nora’s Buttercream Frosting for the filling. A day before, I made the ganache, vegan meringue mushrooms (stored them in an airtight container) and sugared cranberries. After I decorated the cake I covered it with a clean plastic storage bin and kept it chilled in our very cold garage since there wasn’t enough room in the fridge.
It was worth the effort – not only does it look amazing it was delicious. Thank you Nora for another terrific recipe!
Hi Pamela. I loved reading about your cake recipe experience! It sounds really beautiful and delicious! Thank you for taking your time to share your awesome review! I appreciate you loving and using my recipes!
My adult son and I have been making a Buche de Noel cake for Christmas for decades. We began with a gourmet recipe that used butter and eggs and, when I became vegan almost a decade ago, began have been trying various vegan recipes. None (including the original recipe) comes close to being as good, as easy, or as beautiful as this cake. It’s truly fantastic and will be our go-to recipe now. Delish!
Hi Jill. What a fun tradition! I am so glad that you discovered my recipe and that you are loving it! Thank you for taking time to share your glowing review and feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Nora Cooks does it again! The only disaster is the aftermath in my kitchen. I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1:1 flour and it came out fine. The mousse really does help patch up cracks and the ganache and decorations help hide any other imperfections. I’m floored I made such a labor intensive treat that turned out delicious and beautiful. The key takeaway is to give yourself plenty of time and work with everything chilled i.e. the cake, mousse, to the ganache, and the cranberries/rosemary and sage sprigs.
I made this for Christmas Eve. I was worried it would be too rich/sweet. It is rich but it was perfect!! Everyone loved it (I even received follow up text messages asking me to put aside a piece if there was any left – there isn’t :))
I will definitely make this a part of our holiday tradition. As a bonus – I got Nora’s cookbook for Christmas (I held off buying just in case :)). The photos in the book are stunning!!!
Thanks for everything Nora – you are the BEST!!!
I wonder, how long does it take to prepare the Vegan Yule Log?
I would make sure you have several hours to prepare, mostly due to the fact it has to chill at several points. Thanks!
Should the Mori Nu Silken Tofu be firm/extra firm or something else?
I just used the plain silken tofu in the red package, but you can use firm or soft as well.
Beautiful and brilliant recipe! I am going to make this next week; can’t wait. I married into a French family and the Bûche de Noël is always present on December 24th and the Treize Desserts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_desserts that we prepare and share. Many thanks!
Hi Gina. I’m so excited for you and the upcoming holiday baking! I wish you happy baking of the Yule log cake!
Would your vegan peppermint cake recipe work for this Yule log?
Not exactly; you’d have to adjust it for a smaller cake and it might be too moist for a yule log cake. You can add a little peppermint exctract and perhaps a little coffee or espresso powder if you want that peppermint mocha flavor. You could also use the frosting from that cake if you want, or in the middle at least.
Made the cakes today (they are currently cooling), noted the recipe does NOT have oil but instructions do. Please advise! Thanks!
Oh no, I’m so sorry I don’t know how that oil was missing in the ingredients list, but I just fixed it. You were supposed to add 1/3 cup of canola oil, however I bet it will still turn out fine. Sorry again for the mishap!