Easy to Make Yule Log Cake & The Winter Solstice

The past few years we have celebrated the winter solstice because it was a good teaching opportunity, it's fun and it gives up our own little winter tradition apart from Christmas, New Year's, and the Super Bowl. It's just a fun & simple night for us. We eat dinner by candlelight (all other lights, except our holiday lights in the window), we eat a yule log cake for dessert, we might read a story or play a game by candlelight, and we go caroling to some of our neighbors. And if we have snow on the ground I pull the kids in a sled while we go caroling (this year they will be in a wagon.)

Here is the finished Yule Log Cake that we will eat tonight.

Gather your supplies:
1 box chocolate cake (& everything to make that)
Cool Whip (I used chocolate)
Powdered Sugar
Marshmallows (I had medium sized cinnamon ones, but in the past have used mini white ones)
Hershey Kisses
2 cake pans lined with wax paper
Mixer

To make it, mix cake mix as directed. Split between 2 cake pans lined with wax paper (this is VERY important!). Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Allow cakes to cool slightly. Remove from pan with wax paper. Roll cake (like a jelly roll) keeping the wax paper on (this helps the cake keep it's shape until completely cooled.) Put in the fridge to cool for 2-3 hours.

After cooled, gently remove the wax paper. Slightly unroll and fill with Cool Whip (split 1 container between the 2 rolls.

Garnish with "mushrooms" made out of Hershey Kisses and marshmallows. To assemble them, stick half a toothpick in the marshmallow bottom and stick in the cake. To glue the kiss on top I just used a little cream cheese (but you could use frosting, nutella, peanut butter, etc. as glue too).

I also decorated it further by adding a couple snow on the mountain cookies and make Christmas trees with sugar cones decorated with leftover writing icing and made a star out a softened Starburst.


I enjoy this tradition with my family as we celebrate the passing of the shortest day of the year and look forward to more & more sunlight each day for the next six months.