Keto Cannoli Bûche de Noël

This is a grain-free, white-sugar-free version of my own original Cannoli Bûche de Noel recipe from a few years back. I didn’t change much aside from the type of sweeteners I use [Swerve products for granulated and icing sugar] and the substitution of almond flour for white. The main shift comes with the greater number of eggs in the cake. Resultantly, the cake is a bit “stickier,” so I swapped my usual tea-towel to roll the warm cake with cocoa-dusted parchment!

Now, my decorative keto meringue mushrooms were not as fluffy as the traditional sugar-based ones [and they’re about 10 times “sweeter” tasting] but they certainly do look lovely on the cake!

I also took a cue from VeenaAzamov‘s yummy eggnog yule log and made some gorgeous “bark” out of 95% chocolate. She’s got a great video tutorial there on how to!

[Nutritional information will follow. For now, I wanted to get this recipe out there for those in need!

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Keto Cannoli Bûche de Noël

Ingredients

Keto Chocolate Jelly Roll

• 2/3 c almond flour
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 room temperature eggs separated
• 1/4 c Swerve granulated to be added to the beaten egg yolks
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 c Swerve granulated to be added to the soft peaked egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla
• parchment for baking and cocoa powder & a clean kitchen towel for rolling the cake

Keto Boozy Syrup [Optional]

• 1/3 c Swerve granulated
• 1/3 c water
• 1/4 c rum brandy, or (non-creamed) spirit of choice

Keto Cannoli Cream Filling

• 15-16 oz container of ricotta cheese Strained if runny. I used the smooth ricotta meant for cannoli filling
• 3/4 c powdered Swerve
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp orange extract [optional]
• 1/2 c [optional] shaved/finely diced/or processor pulsed 80-95% chocolate [reserve the rest for garnish] I used about 2/3 bar of Lindt 95% chocolate

Keto Chocolate Mascarpone Icing

• 16 oz cold mascarpone cheese
• 3/4 c powdered Swerve
• 2+ tbs milk or cream 2-4, depending on consistency
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled

Additional Optional Decor

• powdered Swerve
• diced pistachios or other nuts
• fresh or toasted coconut, shredded or flaked

Keto Make-Ahead Meringue Mushrooms

• 2 egg whites room temperature
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup Swerve granulated
• 1/4 cup chopped 95% chocolate
• 2 tsp cocoa for dusting [optional]

Keto Chocolate Bark

• 2 bars Lindt 95% chocolate 80 grams per bar, substitute 80+% chocolate if desired

Instructions

Keto Chocolate Jelly Roll & Construction

• Heat oven to 375.
• Grease a 15x10x1 baking or jelly roll pan.
• Line it with a parchment rectangle cut 1/2 inch smaller than the pan (14×9).
• Sift the almond flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl or onto another sheet of parchment.
• In a mixer or in a bowl, by hand, beat eggs yolks and vanilla until thick and yellow.
• Add the 1/4 c granulated swerve and beat on high until dissolved.
• Set the mixture aside, removing to a clean bowl if necessary.
• Wash the mixer bowl and beaters.
• Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium until soft peaks form.
• Add the 1/2 cup granulated Swerve slowly and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Fold the egg yolk mixture into the beaten egg white mixture quickly with the mixer or with a spatula.
• Quickly, but gently, by the quarter cup, add the flour mixture, just incorporating with the beaters or a spatula.
• Spread batter into the pan as evenly as possible and smooth as much as possible with a spatula or icing spreader.
• Bake 12-14 minutes until centre springs back when pressed lightly with a fingertip.
• While the cake is baking, dust a large clean piece of parchment generously with cocoa powder.
• Remove baked cake from oven and immediately loosen edges of the cake from the side of the pan with a knife. [The cake may look a bit bubbly or even mountainous! No worries! It will flatten out with the folding, anyway!]
• While the cake is still warm, invert the pan onto the large fresh piece of parchment dusted with cocoa.
• Peel off the original baking parchment.
• Gently roll the wider length of cake jelly roll style in the cocoa-dusted large, fresh piece of parchment. You want a long slim roll, not a short, thick one.
• Wrap the paper-rolled cake in a tea-towel if desired and cool rolled cake completely on a wire rack. [You can store the cake like this for up to one day or re-roll the cake in wax paper and wrap wax-paper-rolled cake in foil and freeze for 2-3 weeks.]
• While the cake is cooling, prepare the Optional Keto Boozy Soak, the Keto Cannoli Cream Filling and the Keto Chocolate Mascarpone Icing. You may also prepare the Keto Chocolate Bark and Keto Make-Ahead Mushrooms, if desired, if you haven’t done so already.
  
• Gently unroll the cake.
• Using a pastry or basting-style brush, spread the Keto Boozy Soak generously onto the [inside] surface of the roll cake. [I only use about 1/16 of a cup of the syrup. Save the rest for cocktails or desserts!]
• Spread the inside/top surface of the unrolled cake with the Cannoli Cream Filling.
• Gently re-roll the cake.
• Cut a 1/2in-or-thicker slice from the ends of the cake roll to use as knots on the cake. If you just want a festive jelly roll, skip this step.
• Place the larger rolled cake on a serving plate.
• Use Keto Chocolate Mascarpone Icing to attach the “knots” to the cake roll.
• [Optional] Take a small bit of icing and “dirty ice” the cake with a thin layer of icing and let cake sit in the refrigerator for a while.
• Frost cake roll with remaining Keto Chocolate Mascarpone Icing. You do not have to ice the open ends and open knots of the cake. This is a bit tricky, but can be done with a clean icing spreader.
• If desired, use the tines of a fork or an icing spatula to make the icing look like realistic “bark.”
• If desired, cover with chocolate bark shards.
• If desired, sprinkle the ends of the roll and/or the knots/limbs with chopped nuts, or flaked or toasted coconut.
• If desired, dust with powdered Swerve.
• If desired, decorate with Keto Meringue Mushrooms.
• Chill until 10-20 minutes before serving time.
  

Keto Boozy Syrup [Optional]

• Place the Swerve and water in a small pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
• I suggest boiling this for 2-3 minutes, as the swerve tends to re-crystallize when cool.
• Remove from heat.
• Add alcohol and allow to cool.

Keto Cannoli Cream Filling

• Beat the Swerve and ricotta until smooth.
• Incorporate the vanilla and optional citrus extract.
• [optional] Incorporate up to 1/2 c pulverized chocolate bits to taste.

Keto Chocolate Mascarpone Icing

• Beat the cheese, powdered swerve, and vanilla on high until incorporated.
• Incorporate the cooled melted chocolate.
• Gradually, add the milk or cream 1 tbs at a time until the icing becomes as spreadable as you would like.
• You may also add additional powdered Swerve if desired.
• Refrigerate until ready to use to ice the exterior of rolled, filled cake.

Keto Chocolate Bark*

• Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 1 minute bursts at 50% power until melted, or melt over a double-boiler.
  
• Spread Chocolate in a long rectangle on a sheet of parchment and top with another sheet of parchment.
• Roll the parchment in a log, as pictured, and place in the refrigerator.
• Unroll cooled chocolate in parchment and use shards of chocolate to decorate as "bark."

Keto Make-Ahead Meringue Mushrooms

• Heat oven to 200.
• Line two large cookie sheets with parchment.
• Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed until soft peaks form.
• Increase speed and, one tablespoon at a time, sprinkle in the Swerve until it dissolves and the meringue forms stiff peaks. It will be thick and shiny, a cross between marshmallow fluff and taffy.
• Attach a 1/2-inch round tip to a pastry bag or ziploc bag.
• Fill the bag halfway with meringue and make an equal number of caps and stems, as described in the next two steps.
• For the mushroom caps, squeeze meringue into 1.5-in rounds, pulling off to the side to avoid pointy tips.
• For the stems, hold pastry bag upright and squeeze out meringue, creating either an elongated cylinder or a “kiss” shape with a fairly pointy tip, about an inch tall.
• Place the sheeet sin the oven and bake for approximately 1-2 hours, until firm but not brown. You’ll want to rotate the sheets at the first [and third] half hour and swap them at the 1 hour point.
• Let the caps and tips stand for a few moments on the cookie sheets.
• Then, remove the mushrooms on their parchment to wire racks to cool completely.
• When the mushrooms are cool, you may store them in pieces in a spacious air-tight container or assemble right away.
• To assemble, melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over boiling water or in slow bursts at half-power in the microwave.
• OPTION A: Carefully make a small indentation in the centre underside of each mushroom cap with the back of a spoon or the tip of a knife. Working one at a time, fill the hollow in a cap with about a 1/4 teaspoon of melted chocolate. Then, press the top of a stem into the indentation. If possible, cool cap-side down on a tray until the seal is firm.
• OPTION B: Coat the undersides of the caps with a bit of chocolate. With snips or a sharp knife, cut off any of the pointy “tips” of the stems you might have made. Use additional chocolate to attach the stems to the caps. Cool completely until the seal is firm.
• [Optional] Place the cocoa in a tea ball or fine mesh strainer and censor it over the meringue shapes.
• Store in a dry, air-tight container until ready to use.
  

Notes

*The idea and technique for the chocolate bark comes from: https://veenaazmanov.com/eggnog-yule-log-cake-buche-de-noel/. She has a great video tutorial on the subject!