MAKES 4| IBS-FRIENDLY | VEGETARIAN & VEGAN

Change up a classic Christmas dessert with these scrumptious and sparkling gut-friendly mini chocolate yule logs. Yule be addicted!

After a show-stopping dessert for your Christmas Day table, want an edible gift for a friend or need scrumptious treats for your party buffet? Here’s a chocolatey delight yule all love… (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

A twist on the classic festive cake, these mini yule logs feature a light and fluffy hazelnut-flavoured chocolate sponge centre coated with silky smooth dark chocolate and hazelnut buttercream sprinkled with icing sugar. Silver edible glitter adds a sparkling finishing touch.

And, the wow factor doesn’t stop there. The yule logs are completely dairy-free so are gentle for lactose-sensitive stomachs and suitable for people with dietary requirements. Plus, the dark chocolate packs an extra gut-boosting punch; our gut microbes ferment chocolate into anti-inflammatory compounds that help keep us healthy. Dark chocolate is also a good source of magnesium which helps to reduce inflammation in the gut.

It’s important to note that people with IBS can be sensitive to aquafaba, the water from canned chickpeas, usually used in vegan recipes as an egg replacement. The carbohydrates that make aquafaba a good binding agent are high in galactans, which is a FODMAP. So, if aquafaba has triggered symptoms for you previously, consider using an alternative egg substitute suggested here.

Anyway, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here’s everything you need to know to make them for yourself…

Warning: you may not want to gift these and could end up eating them all for yourself.

Ingredients

Cake

• 3/4 cup aquafaba (from 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas)
• 100g Coconut sugar
• 60g plain flour
• 20g 70% dark chocolate
• 20g Hotel Chocolat Hazelnut Spread (made prior) or shop-bought hazelnut chocolate spread
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• oil for greasing
• icing sugar for dusting

Buttercream 

• 200g icing sugar
• 120g Hotel Chocolat Hazelnut Spread (made prior) or shop-bought hazelnut chocolate spread
• 60g dairy-free spread
• 1tbsp hot water (not boiling)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C or 390°F and using a pastry brush, lightly brush a mini loaf tin with oil. I used this silicone mini loaf tray.
2. Pour the aquafaba into a food processor and blend for roughly a minute until it turns white and fluffy (ignore this step if you are using an egg alternative). Then add the coconut sugar to the aquafaba or egg alternative and process again until fully combined.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, hazelnut chocolate spread and vanilla extract to the food processor and gently process until all the ingredients are fully mixed.
4. Pour and divide the cake mixture into the mini loaf tin moulds, then tap gently against the tray until the mixture is level.
5. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the sponge springs back up when pressed.
6. Remove the cake from the oven, then leave it to cool for 5 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, make the buttercream frosting by mixing the ingredients with a whisk until light and fluffy. If the mixture seems a little stiff, whisk in the hot water.
8. Once the logs have cooled, carefully push the bottom of each silicone mould to remove them.
9. Using a knife or an offset spatula, spread the buttercream over the logs, then run a fork lengthways over the outside to create a bark-style pattern.
10. Dust with icing sugar, spray with silver edible glitter and serve.

TOP TIPS:

• If using pre-made Hotel Chocolat Hazelnut Spread, remove from the fridge 30 mins before using it.
• Having a lot of people over? Simply keep doubling the ingredients to make more yule logs to suit your requirements.

Love this? Have a festive recipe you want to share? Get in touch.

Recipe adapted from: bonsan.co.uk