Snackmas Day 13- The Battle of the Yule Logs

The time has come. It is the thing that Christmas dreams are made of.. It is the highlight of the season.. It is mine and Hannah's main talking point from January until its arrival in stores.. It is of course, the Chocolate Swiss Roll, the Yule Log, the Bûche De Noël! Call it what you will and hold on tight as we've got a trio of the cocoa rich, sausage shaped delights as I bring you the battle of the Supermarket, Yuletide Cakes!

Asda Extra Special Hand Finished Belgian Milk Chocolate Yule Log

Asda are well are truly in my good books - They were the first of the Supermarkets to release their version at the very beginning of November! I managed to refrain from buying one until recently when things got all to much and I caved at the expense of £3.

Indulgent, buttery sponge smothered in glossy milk chocolate and creamy Belgian milk chocolate ganache, finished with a sweet snowfall.

Guess how this smelt? You've got it it - Chocolatey! I cut myself a good chunk and although it didn't crack or crumble, I was a bit confused as to where the spiral of the roll was - It was all a bit flat and lack lustre! The texture of the cake was superb in being very soft and squidgy, which I can only assume is why it had collapsed slightly, but nothing to write home about in terms of flavour other than a very muted chocolate. Thankfully the ganache was the star of the show and boy, did it shine.. Rich and full of cocoa, surprisingly not too sickly or overly sweet, the gooey "icing" both inside and out of the log was heavenly. There was also a thin layer of set chocolate boosting the intensity further as well as adding a contrasting bite to all the soft elements. How crucial the snowflake sprinkling of powdered sugar was, I am not sure given its purely aesthetic purpose but aside from that, this was pretty brilliant - A 3.5 out of 5!

Sainsbury Luxury Chocolate Yule Log

I was uncertain if Sainsbury's actually did their own "premium" range Yule Log - I can't ever remember seeing one previously so was very happy to find a stack of these plonked at the end of an aisle with a big "Manager Recommends" sign plastered above it. Who am I to argue with the Manager so off to the express checkout I went with my £4 in hand.

Chocolate flavoured sponge filled with chocolate flavoured buttercream, covered with milk chocolate and Belgian milk chocolate fudge icing with a sweet dusting.

Folks, we have a spiral! It may not be that easy to distinguish but you can certainly see that things were much more structured that the squat offering above.. And I know exactly the reason why - The sponge was so much drier! It really was like eating the sort you use when washing up rather than the edible type and this time, even the chocolate filling couldn't rescue it. Although it was fudgy as stated, it wasn't anywhere near as smooth and tasted ridiculously cheap and artificial with a horrible sweetness that was a struggle to get down considering the lack of overall decent flavour. I am not sure if Sainsbury's just decided to ice their regular, cardboardy Swiss Rolls or what but this really was a poor excuse of a Yule Log - Its a 1 out of 5 from me.

Tesco Finest Belgian Chocolate Yule Log

I won't lie, this is the Yule log that has changed lives - It has been about for a few years now and has always blown me away. The packaging this year is different which unsettled me slightly when buying it for £2.50 as more often than not, when the design changes as does the goods!

Our chocolate sponge is made to an all butter recipe for a deeper flavour. It's rolled with chocolate buttercream and covered in milk chocolate, then hand finished by our skilled bakers. Rich and creamy Belgian chocolate makes the perfect glossy ganache frosting.

Now that is what you call a Yule Log - The roll was tight with a visable concentric spiral which hadn't been squished or forgotten about all together. As half expected, both texture and taste of the sponge itself was perfect in being moist and buttery with chocolatey tones. Complimenting this was the thick, smooth ganache with its rich, indulgent tones that were creamy but not to much to handle. The quality of the Belgian chocolate was second to none and made the cake feel very "real" and homemade verses an obvious shop bought equivalent. As seen in the Asda version, thin bits of chocolate were apparent throughout, once again, topping up the flavour as well as contrasting the textures. Its a 4.5 out of 5 from me. 

We have a winner.. The Tesco Finest Belgian Chocolate Yule Log reigns almighty! Who would have thought that the cheapest would be the closest to a Fairytale of New York? Not me thats for sure! Asda have done a mighty fine job in coming a close second so if you can't get to Tesco then that is also a good route to go down.. Just please don't bother with Sainsbury's - Clearly their Managers know nothing!

One thing I also have to note is that each of these Yule Logs are designed to feed 8 people which I can assure you won't happen especially since either end consists of about 1 inch of icing. I encourage you to fight over this part on our Winner and then continue to brawl over your size portion of cake itself - What is Christmas without a domestic after all? Personally, I can't think of a more worthy cause..