December 17, 2015
Rob
0

Double chocolate and vanilla yule log

Aaah it’s that time of the year again! Christmas is in the air and there are a few traditions that I really look forward to:

  • A walk in the snow
  • Eating panettone
  • Listening to “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey 😛

Well, this year I’m going to break all the traditions.

Maybe because it’s still 15° C outside and any snow seems veeery far. Or also because I started creating my sourdough starter more than a month ago… and after several failures, the sourdough is not ready yet, so bye bye panettone dreams (note: sourdough is THE fundamental ingredient for a panettone).

Moreover, thanks to David Letterman, last year I discovered “Baby please come home”, a Christmas song that wins above all (and which is massively famous in the US but not here), so bye bye Mariah Carey too!

So what’s left with no traditions? Stealing other traditions, of course… like the French yule log (or Swiss roll or bûche, whatever you want to call it).

Recipe-Vanilla yule log-clementine-21

For this year, I decided to invent my own recipe for a bûche de Noël and I’m pretty satisfied with the result. I am not very confident yet when it comes to creating a recipe, but I followed a very practical approach. From what I understood about pastry in these years, a good cake must have:

  • A spongecake or a base baked layer
  • A syrup to moisten the spongecake
  • A filling (a mousse, a ganache, a cream…)
  • Something crunchy on the inside
  • Something crunchy on the outside
  • A minimalist decoration (usually some chocolate cutouts)

Recipe-Vanilla yule log-clementine-16

So that’s it, I read a few recipes here and there and made a plan: I re-used the flourless cocoa spongecake and bitter syrup from my chocolate log from two years ago, I invented a white chocolate vanilla ganache with clementine juice based on the pistachio ganache of this year’s éclairs, then chopped a bit (a loooot) of top-quality dark chocolate (70%) and sprinkled it everywhere. I finally rolled the cake, topped it with a simple Chantilly cream, a few bits of cocoa crumble (delicious!) and chocolate cutouts.

Now, the cutouts were probably the most difficult part because chocolate has to be tempered and I don’t find it easy at all at home. Basically the chocolate has to be melted and reach 45°C, cooled down quickly (by adding more finely chopped chocolate) to 28°C then brought back again to 30-31°C, without passing 32°C. Going above 32°C will destroy the crystallization of chocolate and therefore the whole tempering process would have to be started again. If you are stressed at the sole idea of tempering chocolate, imagine how stressful it is to take pictures during this delicate process! (This is basically to justify why I don’t have any photo of my chocolate tempering attempt).

Long story short, I am definitely in love with this bûche! It is definitely simple compared to how crazy pastry chefs go in designing their yule logs, but it tasted amazing! Especially after one day, the clementine flavour had time to sit and diffuse in the spongecake and filling, making the cake light, surprising and Christmassy! Happy holidays everybody! 🙂

 

Chocolate, vanilla and clementine yule log

Print recipe

Ingredients

Flourless chocolate spongecake

110gEgg yolks (5 egg yolks)
90gGranulated sugar (for the egg yolks)
1Clementine or tangerine zest
160gEgg whites (5 egg whites)
90gGranulated sugar (for the egg whites)
50gUnsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

Cocoa syrup

20gUnsweetened cocoa powder
130gWater
40gGranulated sugar

Vanilla and clementine ganache

250gHeavy cream
1/2Vanilla bean
120gWhite chocolate (a good one!)
20gClementine or tangerine juice
1Clementine or tangerine zest
150gDark chocolate (coarsely chopped)

Crumble

50gSalted butter
50gBrown sugar
40gPastry flour
7gCocoa powder (sifted)

Decoration

100gHeavy cream
30gMascarpone cheese (optional)
15gGranulated sugar
Chocolate cutouts (optional)

Directions

Flourless chocolate spongecake

1
Whip the egg yolks with sugar and the clementine zest on high speed until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is foamy (around 8-10 minutes)
2
Start whipping the egg whites on medium speed. When they become foamy, add the sugar little by little. Continue whipping until the egg whites form stiff peaks then set aside.
3
Whisk the sifted cocoa powder in the egg yolk mixture
4
Blend 1/3 of the egg whites to the egg yolk and cocoa mixture with a spatula
5
Carefully incorporate the rest of the egg whites using a spatula and performing an upward movement from the side of the bowl to the centre
6
Cover a 30x40cm tray with parchment paper (even on the sides) and pour half of the batter. Start spreading it with an offset spatula.
7
Pour the remaining part of the batter and keep on spreading it so to have a flat 8mm layer (in the corners as well!)
8
Bake at 180° for 13-15 minutes then let the cake cool down in the tray on a wire rack. Sometimes it helps to roll the spongecake on itself when it's still warm (and keep it rolled for a few minutes), to prevent it from breaking afterwards.

Cocoa syrup

9
Mix sugar, cocoa powder and water and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Let cool down at room temperature.

Vanilla and clementine ganache

10
Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan with the vanilla seeds. Before it reaches the boiling point, remove from the heat and set aside for 15 minutes to let the vanilla steep.
11
Reheat the cream and pour it onto the white chocolate in three times, stirring gently every time.
12
Stir in the clementine juice and zest. Strain in a clean container then store the ganache for at least a couple of hours in the fridge (or better overnight).

Crumble

13
Place the cold diced butter, the flour, the sugar and the cocoa powder in a bowl
14
Quickly mix the ingredients with the tip of your hands until you obtain a coarse, sandy mixture
15
Place the sandy mixture on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes at 180°C then let cool down at room temperature.

Assembling the cake

16
Invert the cake on another clean sheet of parchment paper sprinkled with sugar before to prevent sticking. Remove the original sheet of parchment paper.
17
Moisten the cake with the cocoa syrup
18
Whip the cold ganache on high speed for a few minutes until it becomes thicker and spreadable (watch out, if you overwhip it the fat in the cream might separate).
Spread the ganache evenly on the spongecake. The ganache layer should be as tall as the cake. Leave a 3cm border on all sides.
19
Sprinkle with coarsely chopped chocolate
20
Hold one end of the parchment paper (on the small side) and use it as a help to roll the cake. Freeze the cake for around 20 minutes.
21
Whip the heavy cream with the mascarpone cheese and the sugar at high speed until it forms soft peaks
22
Remove the yule log from the freezer and adjust its shape with your hands if needed. On top of it, pipe the whipped cream in a long zig-zag stripe using a St. Honoré piping tip.
23
Add a few pieces of chocolate crumble and the chocolate cutouts on top
24
Optional: take a small quantity of edible silver powder with the tip of the knife, then blow on it to colour the sides of the log.

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