Caramel Pecan Buche de Noel

Can you believe Christmas is already over? I had so much to do this year the week before that I really waited until the last minute to do all my shopping. Still, the way the holiday fell this year I somehow felt like I had more time prior to Christmas day than other years. We drove back to Cincinnati Saturday morning and I started baking pretty much from the moment I arrived. I made double and triple batches of all my favorite cookies and was contemplating whether or not to just leave it at that. 

Since I finished all my shopping Sunday, I decided I had enough time to attempt something a bit more ambitious: a buche de noel (that's yule log, for those of you who have long forgotten your high school French). I think I made one of these many years ago, but it had definitely been awhile. I was inspired by this recipe to make it a flavored log, and boy was it worth it. This recipe was pretty time-consuming start to finish, and I definitely had a freak out moment while making the frosting because it took way longer than the recipe instructed to set, but the end result was so worth it. I think the meringue mushrooms made the entire thing--so realistic, don't you think? Then I got really fancy and smushed up some gummy drops and cut out leaves and petals to make an edible pointsettia garnish.

Our dinner Christmas night was so rich, but everyone managed to eat a lovely hunk of log, drizzled with some caramel sauce and accompanied by none other than Graeter's butter pecan ice cream. 

And now, we diet.