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This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand which will be a definite challenge.
I was very pleased with this challenge, especially considering I have only made one of the six components prior to this project. This is why I am a member of this group, to be challenged to bake outside of my comfort zone. This task however, did seem to be quiet large. So I enlisted my husband’s help in the process. Unfortunately, he ended up with the largest part of the challenge: the DISHES! This was a 6-step process that needed to be mapped out in advance. I did not fully read the entire instructions and planned a few things in reverse order. One would think I should have learned my lesson by now. However I am just a skimmer, plain and simple. I can’t read and absorb the entire thing until I am doing it step by step.
A few tips I will always use when making this yule log again.
Make these first in this order:
1. Creme Brulee (freeze then cut)
I had a very difficult time with this portion of the log and will omit it completely next time. First, the parchment paper rose up into the Creme Brulee. Second, it took almost 3 hours to cook. I have a VERY UNRELIABLE oven. Even with a thermometer, it is impossible to keep it at a low temperature. Thirdly, once cooked and removed from the paper that had settled in the center of my Brulee, it was very gummy and eggy. Not only that, but all of the vanilla bean seeds sunk to the bottom of the Brulee. Possibly my fault, the taste was not desirable. Lastly, it became icy in the freezer and never really thawed enough to be soft and smooth like the mousse.
Step #3 for the Creme Brulee: Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff….. if you do this with such a small amount in a large mixer like mine, this is what you get, spun sugar.
2. Mousse (refrigerate at least 1 hour)
My chocolate for the mousse seized 3 times before I said to hell with it and used it anyway. Oddly enough, once added to the gelatin, it came right back to the perfect smooth-shiny consistency it should have been all along. The mousse was divine. It melted in your mouth and was so velvety it quickly became my second favorite component in the dish.
3. Praline insert (freeze then cut)
Very tasty with rice crispy treats. However, next time I will smash them before mixing and omit the praline all together; you can’t taste it. The layer was too hard to cut through and hurt your teeth to bite it even 30 minutes out of the freezer. A thinner piece may help with this in the future.
Then assemble these 3 items and freeze for 2-3 hours until set.
Now make these:
1. Dacquoise Biscuit (allow to cool and cut)
Was amazing; In fact my favorite part of the whole log. I had no problem with the recipe as it was. I ground my own almond meal due to the fact that I could find none locally.
2. Ganache Insert (pipe on previous frozen Yule log)
Again, a divine part of the log. You can really taste the caramel in this and it is both smooth as well as rich and creamy in the mouth. I made a second batch of this and rolled them into truffles and latter dipped into the leftover almond meal.
Finish assembly and FREEZE UNTIL NEXT DAY.
Lastly make Icing, remove log from mold and coat.
I used the white icing as a way to tone down all of the rich chocolate elements. This was my least favorite thing and came out feeling like jello. It did not melt in your mouth; you had to chew it. Not to mention that it was not spreadable once it hit the frozen log. I raced to make a dark chocolate version and topped my log with it. Smooth and shinny and delicious.
We were, overall, very happy with the final product. My husband and I ate the whole thing with-in a week. We will be making this again! Thank you to our hosts and writer of this fine recipe!
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