Easy Vegan Yule Log Cake

The traditional holiday yule log cake is a beautiful sight to behold

Sponge cake roll filled and iced with ganache!

If anyone has ever struggled with the vegan roulade cake I have an easy solution for you today! Yes it’s the box cake hack!

OMG How Dare You! But before you get your Bûche in a Bunch

If you have not yet tried my Box Cake Hack, you must click through to that recipe and watch the video explanation as well!

Seriously this is the easiest way to roll up a vegan yule log cake with no cracking and no tears of frustration!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL & EXPLANATION

If you have ever tried vegan roulades you know they are a literal pain in the rear!

Who has time to play around with cracking cakes and spilling fillings!? Not me!

This method will work with any Duncan Hines flavor you like! *not sponsored

Or use this scratch recipe for vegan roll cake by Sara Kidd!

But if you use the box hack, you will only be using 4 cups of batter from full box the recipe for 1- 12″ x 18″ sheet pan

With the rest of the batter just bake it into some cupcakes or something, but do not use all the batter for the roulade or your cake will definitely crack when rolling!

For the filling and icing I went traditional ganache

Because it’s just so darned easy to make, not to mention rich and delicious too!
So pick your cake flavor and get your Yule log rolling faster than you can say “My Bûche is in a Bunch!”

PLEASE READ EVERYTHING BELOW!

I have gotten some pretty heavy flack for this box cake fix straight out of the gate.
Many people berated me for using a store bought egg replacer as the fix it.
They just really wanted me to continue advocating for those other handy items like the can of soda as the ultimate fixer upper for a veganized box cake.
But I cannot advocate for something that while yes technically it works, the result is quite awful in my opinion!

So yes I did use a store bought proprietary blend egg replacer for this hack with the ultimate of ultimate results!
But not without the other ingredient additions and changes to support the structure, help the rise and make this cake even better than you remember a box cake to be!
You can use any egg replacer of your choice as long as you use implement the other ingredient changes to the recipe

Continue to Content

Yield: serves 16ppl

Easy Vegan Yule Log Cake

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Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the Box Hack Recipe~ YELLOW or WHITE CAKE:

• 1 Duncan Hines Cake Box Mix *see notes above!
• Vegetable Oil 1/3 cup
• Water 1 cup
• Plant Milk *I use soy milk 2/3 cup
• All Purpose Flour 1 cup
• Egg replacer 2 Tablespoons **see notes in text article!
• Baking Powder ½ teaspoon
• Granulated Sugar ½ cup
• Apple Sauce 2 Tablespoons

FOR CHOCOLATE CAKE:

• 1 Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake Box Mix *see notes above!
• Vegetable Oil 1/3 cup
• Water 1 cup
• Plant Milk *I use soy milk 1 cup
• All Purpose Flour 1 cup
• Natural Cocoa Powder ¼ cup
• Egg replacer 2 Tablespoons **see notes in text article
• Baking Powder ½ teaspoon
• Granulated Sugar ½ cup
• Apple Sauce 2 Tablespoons
• Double Recipe Vegan Ganache

Instructions

1. Grease & parchment line a 12" x 18" sheet pan & preheat the oven to 350°F
2. The recipe ingredients listed above are the only ingredients you will need, you will NOT include any of the ingredients that the box instructions ask for.
3. Mix all the additional dry ingredients including the sugar into the box cake mix in a large mixing bowl then add all the liquid ingredients including the applesauce.
4. Mix on low to blend together evenly then mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Pour ONLY 4 cups of the batter into the greased & parchment lined sheet pan and spread evenly
6. bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until it is springy to the touch when you gently press the center.
7. Or insert a toothpick to the center and if it comes out with moist crumbs, not raw batter it is ready!
8. Cool cake completely before filling with ganache and rolling up.
9. Prepare the ganache while the cake is baking and allow it to cool and set at room temperature
10. Once the cake is cold and the ganache is to spreadable consistency you can spread half of the ganache over the entire cake (still in the pan!) then gently roll the cake while using the parchment liner as a guide for rolling.
11. Refrigerate the rolled cake to set the filling then icing with remaining ganache
12. Using a fork to make the pattern of tree bark

Notes

Yule Log Cake can be left at room temperature for up to 4 days wrapped loosely to prevent drying.

For longer storage refrigerate for up to 8 days or freeze wrapped well for up to 1 month