How To Roll and Decorate a Bûche de Noël

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Put green meringue in a piping bag fitted with a &frac38;" star tip. Start with a 1 ½"-wide star, then pipe two more stars on top of the first, each ½" smaller than the last, to form a three-tiered Christmas tree. Repeat steps to make additional trees.

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Put plain meringue in a piping bag fitted with a &frac38;" round tip. Pipe several 1 ½"-wide mounds and ½" x 1 ½" sticks to form mushroom caps and stems. Once the meringue pieces have baked and cooled, fit stems into bottoms of caps.

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Place hot cake on a large kitchen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar; dust cake with more sugar. Starting with one narrow end, roll cake and towel together into a tight cylinder; let cool completely. Gently unroll cake.

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Brush rum syrup evenly over the cake with a pastry brush. Using an offset spatula, spread buttercream evenly over the cake, leaving a 1" border along the top edge so that the roll will close neatly and the buttercream will remain inside.

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Starting with the edge nearest you, roll the cake, taking care not to apply too much pressure, so the buttercream stays inside the roll. Transfer the cake roll to a serving platter, seam side down, and chill to set.

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Using a serrated knife, cut 3" off one end of cake at a 30° angle. Trim other end of cake to make it flat. Remove angled end and spread its flat side with buttercream--this will help it stick to the top of the cake.

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Position the angled "stump" halfway between the center of the cake and the trimmed end so that it sits securely--frosted, flat side down--on top, to suggest the cut branch of a log.

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Spread ganache over the surface of the cake and the stump; leave the ends of cake and the top of the stump exposed. Run the tines of a fork along the ganache parallel to the length of cake.