Let us Prepare for Holidays Step 4

The “tronchetto di Natale “ takes the form of  the block of wood, symbolizing Christmas. The wood was taken from the thickest part of the tree and kept waiting for Christmas Eve, when it was placed in the fireplace to heat symbolically Infant Jesus

The wood was burning up the New Year, so it was generally extracted from fruit trees such as oak or chestnut, which ensured a slow combustion, and the whole tradition has its origins in ancient pagan custom of propitiating, through this rite, the fertility of all the fruit trees.

Tronchetto di Natale

Prepare the cookie dough on a baking pan 40 x 35 cm.

Prepare the custard by adding the sifted cocoa powder and let it cool.

Stuff the roll of cookie dough, spreading the cream over the entire surface but leaving a few cm gap at the edgesCarefully roll up the cake, wrap it with greaseproof paper and place in refrigerator to cool at least an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the ganache cream.
When the roll has cooled down and compacted, remove the parchment paper and place them plays  on a serving  plate , cut across the two ends of the roll, and set them aside: with cream ganache completely cover the cake (except the underside!) and then join the two ends of the cream previously cut, and laid one on top of the cake and the other side, to give the characteristic shape of the piece of wood.

 The parts cut opposite to the  diagonally cut   must join  the trunk

Cover with cream ganache  the side surfaces of the parts that have just attacked and leave  visible the diagonal sides cut in the shape of spirals, which represent the cut section of the trunk of a tree .
Now, with a fork,  practice lines on the cream from one end to the other , to simulate the bark of the trunk.