| 1 | ** the filling and frosting ** beat the smoothly melted chocolate into the meringue, along with the vanilla, rum, and soft butter. |
| 2 | Remove two-thirds of the mixture to a bowl and refrigerate; this is the frosting. |
| 3 | Beat the additional half stick of soft butter into the remaining meringue this is the filling. |
| 4 | ** filling the cake ** unroll the sponge sheet and slice a quarter inch off the long sides so that the cake will roll easily. |
| 5 | Spread the filling over the top of the sheet. |
| 6 | Roll it up from one of the small ends and you have made the log shape. |
| 7 | Neatly slice a narrow slanting piece from each end of the log. |
| 8 | With a small knife dig a hole in an upper side of the log and insert a piece of the scrap to simulate a bump or a branch. |
| 9 | Place the log seam-side down on the serving board and slip double sheets of wax paper under the edge of each side and the two ends-to catch frosting spills. |
| 10 | ** frosting the log ** beat 2 or more spoonfuls of sifted cocoa into the frosting mixture to make it a spreadable consistency. |
| 11 | (reserve 2 spoonfuls of frosting for the mushrooms). |
| 12 | Leaving the two ends free, frost the cake using a flexible metal spatula, then scumble it with the spatula and a fork to give it a rough barklike look. |
| 13 | ** ahead-of-time note: refrigerate the log if you are not contin- uing; it will keep nicely for a day-if you can find a non-mashing cover for it. |
| 14 | ** final decorations, just before serving ** the mushrooms. |
| 15 | With a small knife, pierce a hole in the bottom of each meringue mushroom cap, insert a bit of the frosting (or softened butter) into the hole and then the pointed end of a meringue stem. |
| 16 | Arrange the mushrooms in tasteful clusters upon the log and sprinkle the log with a dusting of confectioner"s sugar to give a snowy effect. |
| 17 | Dust the tops of the mushrooms with cocoa powder tapped from the sieve. |
| 18 | The caramel veil. |
| 19 | Bring the sugar to the simmer with the corn syrup and one-third cup water in a small saucepan; when the mixture is completely dissolved and clear, cover tightly and boil to the caramel stage. |
| 20 | Let it cool two to three minutes, until it forms thick strands when lifted with a fork. |
| 21 | Then dip the fork into the syrup and wave it over the broomstick, to form long hanging threads of caramel. |
| 22 | The finale. |
| 23 | Lift the caramel strands off the broomstick; drape them over the yule log. |
| 24 | Decorate the serving board with sprigs of holly if you wish, and the buche de noel is ready to serve |
