Velvet. Velvet is the word that comes to mind when I think about this marvellous creation sitting in front of me, half eaten, by me... Oops. Indulgent, velvety and luxurious. A very special and the perfect dessert to serve on the dinner table this Christmas. Christmas, this year, is looking a little different for us all for obvious reasons but no need to compromise on the simple joys that comes with a table of great food.

My partner and I accidentally indulged in a rather large quantity of Bailey's the night before (again oops..) and I was left with a trickle. Now I am fully aware that I could have just tipped it back and be done with it, but I was left with some white chocolate from a previous bake so I thought that called for some kind of kitchen creation. I am not a big lover of white chocolate myself but I thought the Baileys won't let me down. I immediately thought "cake". But i didn't have any butter and didn't have a lot of sugar left, so it was slim pickings. A swiss sponge - the type you would use to make a yule log, swiss roll - doesn't require any butter and only a little sugar. Seeing that you don't coat your swiss roll in a white chocolate and baileys ganache, it could be well suited to those wanting a less calorie dense desert! So no butter + not a lot of sugar = Yule Log - BONUS!

If you have been following The Noo Noo Project lately, then you will know that my kitchen has become the hotspot for all gingerbread-making with all the gingerbread cottage kits I've been sending out. Reducing less and using what you have is a really important concept in my cooking and baking so with some left over scraps of gingerbread i decided to incorporate this into the design of the cake. And of course, you can't just have a random garnish so I also added a layer of Lotus Bischoff Paste from my cupboard to the roll with the ganache to tie in those gingerbread flavours. So essentially, all I bought from the shop was double cream. If your scraps and leftovers mean White Chocolate and Baileys Yule Log then I'm all for it, aren't you?

3 INGREDIENT SWISS SPONGE

- 4 eggs

- 100g caster sugar

- 100g self raising flour

METHOD

Tip your eggs and sugar into a large bowl and using an electric whisk, whisk the mixture on high speed for 5-7 mins. You want to get the mixture really think, fluffy and creamy. Stop whisking when you reach "ribbon stage". This is the term used to describe a whisked mixture when you pick up the whisk and the mixture holds its "ribbon" shape for a few seconds before disappearing into the mixture again.

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees celsius and line a shallow rectangular baking tray with baking parchment.

Using a sieve, sift in your weighed flour. This sponge is all about its air, so we need to ensure we handle this stage delicately and as gently as we can to maintain all of that air we just spent 5 minutes whacking into the eggs! Using a flexible spatula go round the edge of the bowl incorporating and folding the flour into the eggs and sugar. Once you have gone round, cut down the middle and fold the middle, bottom to top. So you want to fold in the mixture alternating a full circle fold followed by a half circle fold. I find this the most efficient way to get rid of any flour pockets. Just fold in the flour, gently!

Pour the fluffy cake mixture into the lined baking tray and using the bag of a spoon push the mixture out to the edges. Do not be tempted to tap the bubbles out of the tray. Handle with care. We want those bubbles. Make them feel welcome. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until just golden and a skewer comes out clean. If it goes too golden it will harden and be really hard to roll. It needs to be soft and pillowy. Oh so pillowy.

Once baked, with the longest side closest to you, roll the sponge still hot and in the baking parchment. Rolling it warms and in its paper will create almost a "memory foam" effect and it won't crack when you roll it for real, with the filling.

3 INGREDIENT WHITE CHOCOLATE AND BAILEYS GANACHE

- 4 tbsp baileys

- 200g white chocolate

- x1 284ml carton double cream

METHOD

Melt the white chocolate and baileys in a medium sized bowl in the microwave. Do it in 10 second intervals to closely watch the chocolate and make sure it doesn't burn. Mix vigorously in between each go in the microwave. If the white chocolate goes grainy at any point, just add a drop more of baileys and mix that in to bring it back together.

Whisk your cream so its whipped and holds its shape. Be careful not to over whip your cream or you will end up with butter. Take a third of the whipped cream and fold into the chocolate. Once incorporated, add another third and fold. When incorporated add the final third. You should have yourself a very velvety mixture. Now before you eat it all, place it in the fridge to set a little as it will be too runny to spread. Remove the paper from the swiss sponge.

ASSEMBLY

I baked off some gingerbread that I cut and had then ready and cooling. I used a little square of white chocolate I kept aside, melted it and placed in a small piping bag to pipe some details to create a little wintery Gingerville. I set the biscuits aside and took my ganache out of the fridge. It chilled for an hour or so and was ready to use.

You don't need biscoff, you could totally leave it, or put nutella in there, whatever you want. Spoon on a (generous) dollop of Lotus Bischoff paste and spread across the sponge, going all the way to the edges. Follow it with a layer of the ganache, ensuring that it is no thicker than 2mm. You don't want it to spill out of the sides as you roll the sponge.

With the longest edge closest to you, begin to roll the sponge. Finish with the fold on the bottom so that you can't see it. Cut diagonally two thirds of the way down the log. Position this piece against the larger piece to create a branching log effect. It may look strange and perhaps a little messy without the ganache on top but don't worry we'll cover that all up. Place both the ganache and the cake in the fridge for 15 mins to firm up once more.

Once a workable consistency, smooth on the ganache over the log. I like to use a palette knife but the back of a spoon or a table knife works well. Smooth and fill any gaps. Using a fork, run the fork along the sides and top to detail the log. I used my finger for this, or you could use a spoon, swirl the centres of the ends of the log to once again, give it some definition that a log would have. I arranged my gingerbread town pieces along the yule log and oh it did look so cute!

So there you have it. This took me altogether about 45 minutes, definitely no more than an hour. It is so simple and easy for such a delicate and indulgent centrepiece for your table at Christmas. This was a complete whim and I think I may just revisit this recipe for the Big Day so that I can share it and enjoy it with my loved ones (seeing that the Government don't make too many more changes!)

Gina ~ The Noo Noo Project x