Hi everyone! Here is a second recipe of Yule Log that would be perfect for the festive season, it’s a lemon praline Yule Log. It’s made up of a Financier biscuit soaked with fresh lemon juice, some lemon praline, and a smooth praline mousse. This Buche is covered with a shiny caramel glaze and decorated with some hazelnuts and white chocolate. This is a very delicious and light dessert, perfect to end a copious meal. All the recipes come from French pastry Chefs or Blogs.
For a 25,5x13x7cm Yule Log:
Financier:
- 60g of butter
- 90g of egg white
- 90g of icing sugar
- 60g of powdered hazelnuts
- 30g of flour
- the zest of one lemon
Lemon Praline: (for 330g, you’ll have some left)
- 115g of almonds
- 115g of hazelnuts
- 150g of sugar
- 37g of water
- 1,5 pinches of salt
- 12g of dried lemon zests (= 2 lemons)
Praline mousse:*
- 3 egg yolks
- 125g of praline
- 250g of whole milk
- 250g of full liquid cream
- 8g of powdered gelatin (or 4 sheets of 2g)
- the zest of half a lemon
*In the original recipe, they added 50g of sugar, but I’ve decided to remove it, so the dessert is less sweet.
Caramel glaze:
- 250g of sugar
- 250g of full liquid cream
- 10g of powdered gelatin (or 5 sheets of 2g)
Decoration:
- Some hazelnuts
- 100g of white chocolate
- The juice of one lemon
Let’s begin with the dried lemon for the praline:
1. Peel the lemon and try not to take too much of the white part. Cut them in thin slices.
2. If you have time, you can let them dry at room temperature between two kitchen papers for 2 days. Otherwise, you can cook them at 70°C fan-assisted for a couple of hours. I haven’t tried this technique so I can’ tell you exactly how many hours, but according to several blogs, it takes about 1h30. The lemon slices are dried enough when they break easily.
3. Mix them in a blender until you get a thin powder.
Now for the praline:
1. Roast the hazelnuts and the almonds 10-15min in a 150°C preheated oven.
2. In a saucepan heat the sugar and the water over medium heat until it reaches 116°C.
3. Add the hazelnuts and almonds and mix. A thin layer of white sugar will coat the nuts.
4. Keep mixing until all the white sugar caramelizes. You can reduce the heat if needed.
5. Once everything has a nice golden color, place it in a pan covered with parchment paper and let it cool down.
6. Put the caramelized nuts with the lemon powder in a food processor and mix until it turns into a liquid and smooth paste. This can take more or less time depending on the power of your food processor, I suggest you mix by 5/10s-interval so your food processor doesn’t get damaged.
As you can see, I haven’t mixed the zests before, but I don’t recommend doing that because there are still some pieces left after blending everything. 
7. Place it in a jar and refrigerate.
Let’s make the Financier:
1. Melt the butter over low heat, once melted, keep cooking it while whisking until it browns. This is called a hazelnut butter. Let it cool down.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl; the flour, the icing sugar, the powdered hazelnut and the lemon zests.
3. Add the egg white and mix.
4. Finish by adding the melted butter.
5. Pour this preparation into a mold of the desired size. You can also spread it on a silicone sheet, but be careful, the cooking time will be different.
6. Cook the biscuit in a 170°C preheated oven (fan-assisted) for 10-15min. If you didn’t use the mold, the cooking time will be shorter. The biscuit is cooked when the edges begin to golden.
7. Let it cool down before unmolding it.
Last preparation, the praline mousse:
1. Hydrate the gelatin for 10min in 6 times its weight in cold water.
2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the praline (and the sugar if you use some).
3. Bring to boil the milk. Once it has boiled, pour it in three times over the egg mixture and mix well.
4. Bring back everything to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, while stirring, until it reaches 84°C.
5. Add the hydrated gelatin off the heat.
6. Wait until the temperature goes down to 35°C. Stir it a few times to avoid a skin from forming at the surface.
7. When the cream is close to the right temperature, begin to whip your liquid cream with the lemon zest. Increase the speed gradually, it must be whipped enough but not too firm.
8. Incorporate the praline cream into the whipped cream gently using a silicone spatula.
It’s time to assemble the Yule Log!
1. Pour some mousse at the bottom of your mold. I used a cake mold and it worked perfectly.
2. Cut your financier in half and soak them with fresh lemon juice. Place one half on the mousse. If you used a baking tray, you have to cut 2 pieces of the good size in it. Spread generously a layer of praline on the biscuit.
3. Cover with mousse until it reaches halfway up the mold. Add the other half of financier, soaked with lemon juice and covered with praline.
4. Finish by pouring the remaining mousse and smooth the surface.
5. Freeze overnight.
For the glaze (you can make it the same day or the day before):
1. Hydrate the powdered gelatin in 6 times its weight in cold water.
2. In a wide pan, put a third of the sugar. Let it caramelize over low heat. You can mix with a wooden spoon the parts where the sugar has already caramelized. When all the sugar has caramelized, add the second third. Continue until you’ve used all your sugar.
3. Bring to boil the full liquid cream. Once it’s boiling, pour a very small amount of it over the caramel. Stir immediately and be careful of the splashes. Add another small amount of cream and stir again. If you add too much cream in once, lumps will form.
4. When all the cream is added, weigh your caramel sauce. You must add 10g of gelatin for 500g of caramel. I had 455g left so I had to add 9g of gelatin. Since we hydrated our gelatin in 6 times its weight in water, I added 54g of this gelatin mixture.
5. Add the right amount of gelatin according to the weight of your caramel and mix well. If you have a hand blender, you can mix it a couple of seconds with it. To avoid a lot of bubbles, mix it with the blender slightly angled. If you haven’t a hand blender, this step is not necessary.
6. The glaze must go down at 27°C to be used. Either you use it the same day, or you’ll have to heat it in a bain-marie until it reaches the right temperature.
For the chocolate decoration:
1. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (or microwave).
2. Spread it thinly between two acetate sheets. Refrigerate 20-30min.
3. Break the chocolate into regular pieces.
It’s time to finish this Buche!
1. Unmold the Yule Log and place it on a cooling rack.
2. Glaze it immediately with your caramel glaze at 27°C. This amount of glaze is more than enough, you can store the surplus in the freezer for another dessert.
3. Decorate it with halved hazelnuts and some chocolate pieces. I also added some silver leaves for a more festive look!
Your delicious Yule Log is ready! Let it defrost in the fridge for 4-5h.
Don’t forget to write an email to partage@justonemorecake.com to share your pictures of the recipe and your opinions! I will add them at the bottom of this article.
