This Christmas Cake takes some planning with cooling times and numerous steps.  For the first go-around, I had some friends over to help me bake, so we took a few shortcuts. But I still couldn’t finish it in the time we had allotted.  So if you’re planning to make a yule log for the holidays, clear your calendar. Plan to make the meringue mushrooms ahead of time and set aside a good 3-4 hours for baking the cake and assembly. I love the concept of this festive dessert recipe and have used a couple of different fillings, both buttercream frosting, and chocolate mousse. Other Bûche de Noël cakes are filled with thick custard. So this time, I filled my cake with chocolate buttercream! It was a thing of beauty when I cut my first slice. Whew. Everyone gave this Yule Log rave reviews!