The traditional Maltese Christmas log is one of the most loved Christmas dessert recipes on the Maltese Islands.
Chocolate log is arguably the most popular Christmas dessert recipe in the Maltese islands. With a huge Christmas spirit and some lovely NOVI Chocolate from Whatsinstore, we made a Maltese Christmas log which is very, very chocolatey.
With a different array of nuts and candied fruit, most of us love the simplicity and the customisation according to our tastes and preferences. Although often compared to a Yule Cake due to its striking exterior appearance, its differences in the interior are very apparent.
Yule log cake is made from chocolate sponge cake and whipped cream filling, quite similar to a roly-poly (or a roll cake) and quite popular in countries such as France, Belgium, Canada, Vietnam and Lebanon.
The traditional Christmas log combines morning tea plain biscuits, unsweetened cocoa powder, condensed milk and a selection of nuts and candied fruits. Both desserts are covered in melted chocolate and are similar to a tree log (hence where the name originates).
Maltese Christmas log is not only very easy to make, but also requires no baking. This makes it a great Christmas time activity to do with kids. The only heating required is to melt the cooking chocolate over a bain marie. If you’d rather skip this step completely, opt for a chocolate spread. If you opt to use chocolate spread instead, we recommend using Novi CremaNovi. We loved the texture and the hazelnut taste of this spread.
For our Maltese Christmas log, we decided to coat our log with Novi Milk Chocolate (melted over a bain marie). Keep in mind that you will need to let the Christmas log to set overnight for an extra night – if you opt for this method.
If you’re feeling particularly chocolatey, a great idea would be to use a layer of Novi CremaNovi spread over the log, topped up with a layer of Novi Milk or Novi Dark chocolate melted. You can check out Whatsinstore’s website for their range of Novi cooking chocolate bars or chocolate spreads which you can choose from.
We enjoy adding some alcohol to our Christmas desserts to make them all jolly. However, should you prefer to keep this Maltese Christmas log recipe alcohol-free, please feel free to do so.
We decided to include a selection of hazelnuts and walnuts because they are very pleasantly appealing against the chocolate log mixture and because we enjoy the taste. Feel free to choose whichever nut you prefer, including almonds, pecans and cashew nuts.
We love adding dates to this mixture to give the log more volume and consistency.
Let us know which nuts and candied fruits you add to your Maltese Christmas log this year. Will you be making your own Christmas log, and will you be buying one ready-made? Do you think that Christmas log is Malta's most popular Christmas dessert?
If you’re interested in more Christmas dessert recipes, look at our Christmas Gingerbread tart recipe, which stole the show for us this year.
Ingredients:
450 ml condensed milk
300g Novi Milk cooking chocolate
1 packet tea biscuits
100g candied cherries
75g hazelnuts
75g walnuts
50g dates
50g sultanas
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp rum (optional)
½ tbsp ground cinnamon
½ tbsp ground cloves
½ tbsp freshly ground nutmeg
Method:
Crush the tea biscuits by placing them in a small bag or tea towel and rolling over it with a rolling pin until they reach a fine consistency.
Crush the hazelnuts and walnuts into thick chunks. Roughly chop the dates. Grate the nutmeg. Grate 2 chocolate squares.
Combine the hazelnuts, walnuts, dates, sultanas, cocoa powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, grated chocolate squares, and rum in a large bowl.
Mix in the crushed biscuits and stir well.
Slowly add the condensed milk and stir.
With your hands, form a log out of the mixture. Cover in cling film and set aside overnight.
The next day, remove the cling film and set the log on parchment paper.
Melt the cooking chocolate over Bain Marie and coat the chocolate log.
Set aside and chill overnight before serving.
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