Hi everyone! Here’s the recipe of the first Yule Log, or Bûche de Noël of the year! And this is one of a very talented French pastry Chef, Julien Delhome. This Log is made up of a Hazelnut Crunchy Base, a Hazelnut Biscuit, a Thyme/Lemon Praline Rolled Cake Insert, a Milk Chocolate Mousse and a Gianduja Glaze. It is decorated with some puffs filled with praline and chocolate leaves. This recipe takes some time but the result is 100% worth it and you’ll impress your family and friends!

For this recipe you can either use a store bought Yule log mold, or make your own as I will show you. If you do your own, you’ll need to buy a large box of Pringles Chips ~22,5cm long (a good excuse to eat chips ?)

Organisation:

D-3: Make the Praline, Make the Feuillantine (if homemade), Make the Gianduja (if homemade)

D-2: Make the Swiss Roll Cake (for the insert), Make the Hazelnut Biscuit, Make the Crunchy Base, Make the Ganache

D-1: Make the Icing, Whip the Ganache, Assemble the Insert, Assemble the Yule Log.

D-Day: Glaze the Log, Make the Puffs and the Craquelin, Make the Chocolate Leaves

For a 22,5cm long and 8cm in diameter Yule Log:

Hazelnut Biscuit:

• 32,5g of hazelnuts
• 27,5g of brown sugar (1)
• 7,5g of icing sugar
• 0,5 pinch of salt
• 8,75g of egg whites (1)
• 10g of egg yolks
• 30g of butter
• 15g of flour
• 0,75g of baking powder
• 1 egg white (2) + 4g of sugar (2)

Feuillantine: (for the crunchy base; you can also buy it if you can)

• 50g of butter
• 42g of sugar
• 25g of flour
• 15g of egg whites (= half an egg)

Hazelnut Crunchy Base:

• 50g of feuillantine
• 50g of homemade praline
• 40g of dark chocolate
• 1 pinch of salt

Praline (for the crunchy base, the insert and the decor):

• 70g of almonds
• 70g of hazelnuts
• 90g of sugar
• 22,5g of water
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3g of dried lemon zests (= less than 1 lemon)
• Some thyme leaves

Swiss Roll Cake:

• 100g of eggs (= 2)
• 8g of flour
• 18g of corn starch
• 14g of butter
• 16g of granulated sugar

Chocolate Ganache:

• 300g of full liquid cream
• 84g of milk chocolate
• 3,12g of powdered gelatin (or sheets)

Gianduja (for the icing; you can also buy it)

• 35g of hazelnuts
• 35g of icing sugar
• 35g of dark chocolate
• 0,5 pinch of salt

Icing:

• 145g of sugar
• 100g of water
• 120g of full liquid cream
• 40g of dark chocolate
• 60g of gianduja
• 8g of powdered gelatin (or sheets)

Puffs:

• 1 egg
• 24g of butter
• 50g of water
• 4g of sugar
• 0,8g of salt
• 32g of flour

Craquelin (for the top of the puffs):

• 20g of flour
• 20g of sugar
• 16g of butter
• 0,5 pinch of salt

Chocolate Decor:

• 50g of dark chocolate

We’ll start with the praline:

1. Peel the lemon and cook the peels at 70°C for at least 1h-1h30. The peels must become very dry.

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2. Roast the almonds and hazelnuts at 150°C for ~10min until they golden. Let them cool down. Also roast the thyme leaves for a couple of minutes.

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3. Cook the sugar and water until it reaches 116°C. Add the roasted nuts and thyme leaves.

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4. Mix constantly until all the sugar caramelizes. The sugar will first become white and granulated and then it will caramelize.

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5. Spread over a silicone mat and let it cool down.

6. Once cooled down, mix the caramelized nuts with the lemon peels. Taste and add some thyme if you need to. The praline must be very smooth and liquid.

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7. Store in a jar until use.

For the feuillantine:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F normal mode.

2. Cream the softened butter with the sugar. You must take the butter out of the fridge at least 1h30 before starting.

3. Add the egg white and mix. Add the flour.

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4. With a brush, spread the mixture over a baking paper into wide strips. Go over the same strip several time to create a thin layer.

5. Cook for only a few minutes. You must watch them very closely. The strips must be golden.

6. Let them cool down and then unmold. Keep in an air-tight container until use.

For the Gianduja:

1. Mix the roasted hazelnuts with the icing sugar until you get a smooth paste.

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2. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (or microwave).

3. Add the hazelnut paste to the chocolate and combine. Fill some silicone molds with this mixture and freeze until it hardens.

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For the hazelnut biscuit:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F fan-assisted.

2. Melt the butter and let it cook, while stirring, until it browns and stops crackling.

3. In a bowl, mix the hazelnut powder with the sugar (brown and icing) (1).

4. Add the egg white (1) and the egg yolks.

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5. Add the butter and mix.

6. Also add the sifted flour, baking powder and salt.

7. Whisk the egg whites (2) with the sugar (2) until they form very soft peaks. The texture must be similar to shaving foam.

8. Incorporate the egg whites to the previous mixture and mix carefully with a spatula.

9. Pour the dough into a cake mold and cook for ~10min. The cake must be golden. My cake mold is 25,5x13cm.

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10. Let it cool down and unmold. If you make it a day ahead, wrap with cling film so it doesn’t dry out.

For the crunchy base:

1. Melt the chocolate.

2. Combine the 50g of feuillantine (homemade or bought) with the 50g of homemade praline, the salt and the melted chocolate.

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3. Place this mixture in your cake mold and press to spread it (I’ve used the same mold as for the hazelnut biscuit). Freeze until it hardens.

For the Swiss Roll Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/374°F fan-assisted.

2. Separate the eggs.

3. Whisk the egg whites with half the sugar until they form soft peaks. They also mustn’t be too firm.

4. Whisk the egg yolks with the other half of sugar until they whiten and thicken.

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5. Incorporate very carefully the egg yolks to the egg whites and mix with a spatula.

6. Melt the butter and let it cool down.

7. Add the sifted flour and corn starch and gently mix with a spatula.

8. Finish off by adding the butter and mix.

9. Spread the dough over a baking tray covered with baking paper to a rectangle of 24x10cm. Cook for 8-10min. The cake must be golden.

10. Let it cool down before unmolding.

11. Roll the cake lengthwise and wrap with cling film.

For the ganache:

1. Hydrate the powdered gelatin in 6 times its weight in cold water. Let it sit for 10min.

2. Melt the chocolate.

3. Bring to boil half of the liquid cream (150g).

4. Pour the boiling cream in 3 times over the chocolate and mix vigorously.

5. Add the hydrated gelatin and the other half of cold cream (150g).

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6. Wrap with cling film (it must touch the surface) and refrigerate.

The assembly day:

1. For the homemade mold, cut a rectangle, about 5-6cm wide as shown in the picture. Close the end with the lid and wrap with cling film to prevent leaks.

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2. Cut a circle of the same diameter as the box in a rhodoïd sheet (or plastic sheet). Place it inside the mold. Now cut a strip of the same length as the box and wide enough to cover the inside walls of the box.

3. Spread a generous amount of praline over the swiss roll cake (~24x10cm) and roll tightly.

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4. Whip the ganache at medium speed until it thickens. It must have a texture similar to shaving foam, so not too firm.

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5. Cut the crunchy base in a rectangle of 20x4cm. Do the same for the hazelnut biscuit. The thickness of the biscuit must be around 0,8mm-1cm.

6. Pour half of the ganache into the mold.

7. Add the swiss roll cake insert and slightly press. The insert must be 24cm long, so cut the edges if needed.

8. Cover with the rest of the ganache.

9. Add the hazelnut biscuit and the crunchy base. Press until the cream is at the same level as the crunchy base.

10. Freeze overnight.

For the craquelin:

1. Mix the softened butter with the salt, flour and sugar until it forms a ball.

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2. Spread it between two parchment paper to a 3mm thickness. Freeze until use.

For the choux pastry:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F fan-assisted.

2. In a saucepan, place the butter cut into small pieces, the water, the sugar and the salt.

3. Heat over medium heat and stir so the butter melts. Once the butter is melted, increase the heat and bring to boil.

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4. Off the heat, add the flour in once and stir.

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5. Cook over medium heat for 1-2min and mix to dehydrate the dough. The dough is ready if when you mix it doesn’t split into many pieces.

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6. Place it in a bowl and stir to let the remaining steam evaporate.

7. Add the previously beaten egg little by little and mix between each addition. To see if you’ve added enough eggs, draw a path in the dough, if it closes slowly it means there are enough eggs. You can also take some dough with your spatula and it should be very shiny.

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8. Place the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip (1cm in diameter).

9. Pipe small puffs of 1,5cm diameter. Don’t press too much because if there is too much dough they will be too big.

10. Cut discs of 1,5cm in the craquelin and place them over the puffs (I cut the craquelin with a pastry tip).

11. Cook for ~10min, don’t open the oven until they are golden. The puffs must have no white spots left.

12. Let them cool down.

For the glaze:

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

2. Melt the dark chocolate with the gianduja.

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3. In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water until it reaches 103°C.

4. Add the cream and heat until 103°C again. Between 102°C and 103°C it takes some time, but be patient.

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5. Pour it in 3 times over the melted chocolate and mix vigorously. Add the gelatin.

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6. Wrap with cling film (it must touch the surface) and refrigerate at least 12h.

For the chocolate decor:

1. Melt the chocolate.

2. Pour some over a guitar sheet (or plastic sheet) and spread it to create a very thin layer.

3. Refrigerate.

It’s (finally) time to finish the Log!

1. Melt the glaze in a bain-marie. Take it off the heat from time to time so it doesn’t heat too much.

2. Once the glaze is completely melted, pour it into a high container and let it cool down to 20°C. You can either freeze it or refrigerate. Don’t forget to stir it from time to time.

3. Unmold the Log and place it on a tray with a piece of aluminum or a container underneath.

4. Glaze the Log with the 20°C icing and make sure that the edges are nicely coated.

5. Fill the puffs with the praline and sprinkle with icing sugar. Place them harmoniously on the Yule Log.

6. Also decorate with some thyme leaves and the chocolate decor.

Your amazing Yule Log is ready! Let it defrost at room-temperature for 1h-1h30 or in the fridge for 2h30-3h.

Please feel free to ask all your questions in the comment section and don’t forget to send me pictures of your realisation on my email address: partage@justonemorecake.com or send me a DM on my Instagram account: blog_justonemorecake

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Your realisations!

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