COOKING FOR THE QUEEN AT CHRISTMAS

winston [Music] winston [Music] come back with that leg of lamb there's a custom that dates back to the 12th century in england that on christmas eve a huge log of wood would be brought into the house placed in the half and drizzled with mulled wine oil and salt lit a few prayers would be said and then as the cinders floated away those cinders were supposed to protect the house from evil spirits now things have evolved since then and then it went to a smaller log that would just decorate the traditional christmas table and after that it evolved into making a chocolate yule log the chocolate yule log a rolled sponge filled with buttercream back then and then decorated with buttercream as well was a real tradition and it was in the royal family too only at buckingham palace and for the raw family it was coated with a chocolate ganache it's no secret that the queen loves chocolate instead of using the buttercream the traditional method for coating the yule log at the palace in the royal kitchens we made a chocolate ganache now the chocolate ganache is actually the recipe that we use for the queen's birthday cake every year too and the darker the chocolate the better for the queen you heat the cream just bring it to a boil melt the chocolate and then whisk the two together and you get this gorgeous ganache you have to start making this part first because we need this to set up so make it the day before and then it sets up and it's beautiful for spreading on the chocolate sponge once it comes out of the oven to make the sponge i separate eight eggs whites and the yolks and we're gonna mix some sugar into the oats it then goes onto the machine and i'm going to whisk this until we get like a saby on like a ribbon stage so it whisks away like crazy and when you lift the whisk out it leaves a trail on the top you have to get to that stage because that gives it the body and the substance to absorb then all the starches [Music] once we've reached that savvy on stage where it leaves a really nice ribbon on the top then we can take that one out and leave to one side next we want to whip the egg whites until stiff once the eggs are ready i'm then going to sift some cocoa powder and some potato starch and mix those two together i use potato starch in this because potato starch holds more water than wheat starch and when you're baking that's always a good thing because it stops things from drying out once you've got the egg yolks and the sugar whipped until the savvy on stage the egg whites whipped until stiff and then the cocoa powder and potato starch all combined it's just a case of bringing it together we add a little egg white first of all into the yolks and just fold that in and this loosens the mix so that we don't lose all of those beautiful air bubbles and it makes the sponge nice and light and airy once we've done that then we can add the cocoa and potato starch unfold that too after that it's the rest of the egg whites and it's literally just cut and fold cut and fold don't whisk it beat it you'll knock all of the air bubbles out of it it's just cutting and folding you know i traveled all over the world with the royal family and to all the different residences but christmas at windsor castle it was just something special walking in the winds of wonderland as we used to sing in the kitchens i don't know if it was the christmas with the queen christmas in a castle or you know the the victorian menu but it just made it so magical [Music] we had all the royal family there at windsor castle all the the aunts and uncles too the kent and the gloucesters and of course the children were all young we had beatrice and eugenium william and harry zara and peter in the nursery it was such a lively fun place once we've got everything folded in i've greased and floured a baking tray and then i'm going to pour everything onto there after that i just spread it all out onto the tray christmas for the chefs started early back at buckingham palace we'd have to make all the christmas cakes and the christmas puddings we made christmas cakes for the royal nursery and also for the royal dining room once it's all flattened out it goes into the oven 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes just until it's nice and firm christmas day was a really busy day in the royal kitchens up at five six in the morning because we had to get the turkeys in the oven we got a hundred staff to feed and then after that we had the royals to feed as well we roast two huge 25 pound turkeys so big you couldn't even close the door two turkeys for the royal dining room and then one for the nursery i love this photograph of the turkeys at windsor castle in the kitchens just waiting to be carved for royal lunch in the evening was a banquet a huge buffet and the chefs will be there carving at the buffet a traditional buffet a victorian buffet a buffet of balls head foie gras on crew decorated ham beef tong cold salmon lobster and of course lots of mince pies as well and then wedged in between those two meals would be afternoon tea where the royal family would have christmas cake and lots of chocolates scones of course it was afternoon tea and the chocolate yule log there was no wonder everyone was in such a happy and party mood there was so much food to eat and everyone was having fun a castle even the corgis got into the party spirit right winston once the sponge comes out of the oven it's really crispy on the top but really soft underneath and we're going to take a knife and just run that around the edge of the tray and this just helps it stop sticking because i'm going to invert it onto some parchment paper that i've got here ready and i put a little sugar on top of the parchment paper too and this will help to stop the sponge from sticking once it's on the parchment paper then we can lift off this piece and that lets all the steam escape so we don't end up with a soggy sponge there gorgeous let that cool and then we'll put the ganache on the top now the sponge is cold it's important that we trim the edges if we don't do that they get really crispy on the outside and you don't roll very well [Music] don't throw away the edges especially with a little leftover ganache those chefs in the kitchen they're like hawks around this next the ganache it's set up nicely and we can spoon it onto the paste so we spoon the ganache that has set up nicely onto the sponge and then just spread it around be careful you don't tear the sponge if the ganache is set too firm pop it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds just so you get a nice consistency make sure you get a nice even layer and it's not too thick or it won't roll then the fun part rolling it lift up the parchment paper and fold in on itself and then pull it back once you've done that lift again and fold in on itself and give it a little squeeze just along the edges and then again fold in and over all the way until you form that beautiful brown shape there we go and brush off the sugar next we're going to take our chocolate log and then put it onto a wire rack and cover it with chocolate but before i do that i want to cut a little piece off this end and no it's not to eat it's to make the log look really pretty and the same off this end too carefully lift that chocolate log onto a wire rack and then using a little bit of the soft ganache that we've got left we can put a little on the bottom and put that onto the top of the chocolate log you see it's starting to take shape and then a little on that end and pop that in there too my chocolate yule log just need to cover it now with some chocolate ganache we don't have to wait until the second ganache cools down because we want it to run all the way over the chocolate log and cover it so pour that beautiful chocolate ganache all over the chocolate sponge once that's completely covered then we'll leave it to set until the chocolate hardens up and then we can decorate it i have a little royal icing that i've put into a piping bag just to pipe onto the log and a little marzipan with some green color in and then pushed through a sieve makes fantastic moss the traditional chocolate yule log that i prepared for the royal family at windsor castle christmas off to the dining room with the christmas cakes and the mince pies oh it looks like winston's been busy too winston's made his own chocolate log too i'm sorry though dogs can't eat chocolate so i have to take this off you i'll bring you an extra plate of turkey when we carve it the chocolate log could go up to the dining room for three or four days and it stayed moist inside the chocolate ganache protects it from all the air and the dry which is sort of drying out the ingredients and making it all nasty but of course using potato starch that keeps it nice and moist inside so that when we cut into it this gorgeous chocolate ganache chuckle at your log thanks for watching hope you've enjoyed the video give me a like thumbs up leave a message below a nice comment tell me your traditions at christmas and what you do over the holidays don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already see you again soon

Channel: Darren McGrady

Views: 158,221

Keywords: Royal family, Food, British food, The Queen, buckingham palace, foodie, celebrity chef, eating royally, prince william, prince harry, queen, britishroyals, royal, royalty, Delish, Darren McGrady, Royalchef, yummy, delicious, food, royal eats, british food, Gordon Ramsey, Balmoral, windsor castle, queens food, food network, dinner tonight, recipes, dallas, dallas caterer, wedding caterer, corporate caterer, The Crown, Downton Abbey, Christmas, Christmas gifts, yule log, chocolate log

Id: h-yRm2a8d98

Length: 13min 19sec (799 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 14 2020