Chestnut Cream, Vanilla, Speculoos, and Cocoa Yule Log
A decadent yule log for the holidays, with its chestnut cream insert, vanilla mousse, speculoos crunch, and cocoa sponge cake...
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Ingredients
Chestnut cream insert
- 125 g Chestnut cream
- 15 g milk chocolate
- 150 g liquid cream 30% mg
- 1,5 gelatin sheets Vahine (1,90 grams per leaf – 200 blooms)
Cocoa sponge cake
- 2 eggs
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 35 g all-purpose flour
- 15 g bitter cocoa
- Pinch salt
Crispy Speculoos
- 65 g speculoos paste
- 55 g pastry milk chocolate
- 55 g crumbled lace pancakes
Vanilla mousse
- 240 g whole milk
- 4 medium-sized egg yolks
- 60 g granulated sugar
- 1 quality vanilla pod
- 2,5 gelatin sheets Vahine (1,90 grams per leaf – 200 blooms)
- 250 g liquid cream 30% mg
Decoration
- Brown food-grade velvet spray
- Chestnuts spread
Prepare in advance
Chestnut cream insert
- Soften the gelatin in cold water.
- Place the chestnut cream and chopped milk chocolate in a container.
- Bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat, add the drained gelatin and mix.
- Pour in three stages into the chestnut/chocolate cream container, mixing to obtain a homogeneous texture.
- Pour into an insert mold and place in the freezer for a minimum of 6 hours.
Cocoa sponge cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 ° traditional heat.
- Beat the egg yolks and brown sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the yolk mixture using a spatula.
- Separately, sift the flour and the cocoa then add in rain, little by little, to the previous mixture, always using the spatula so as not to break the whites.
- Pour onto a baking sheet or baking sheet with baking paper. Cook for about 12 minutes. Cool before cutting to the size of the log mold.
Crispy speculoos
- Melt the milk chocolate and the speculoos paste in the microwave or double boiler. Crumble the lace pancakes then add the melted mixture.
- Pack this mixture on a baking sheet or baking sheet with parchment paper making a wide strip. Refrigerate before cutting to the size of the log mold.
Vanilla mousse
- Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Heat the milk, adding the pod and seeds. Remove from the heat, cover, and let it infuse for 15 minutes, then remove the pod.
- Soften the gelatin in cold water.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together. Reheat the milk until it just comes to a boil. Pour half of the hot milk over the egg yolks while whisking. Then return the mixture to the saucepan and cook it to 83°C (181°F) using a kitchen thermometer. Continue stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Remove from heat, add the drained gelatin directly and mix.
- Allow this custard to cool to 28 degrees (you can speed up by placing it on an ice pack or on a tray with ice cubes while mixing, avoid the fridge which prevents you from mixing during this time).
- Whip the very cold cream into stiff peaks.
- Stir a tablespoon of whipped cream into the custard, then whisk. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream with a spatula, being careful not to deflate it. If it seems to melt slightly, don't worry, there's gelatin in it.
Operating manual
- Pour the vanilla mousse into the mold until it's one-third full. Add the frozen chestnut cream insert, pressing it down lightly into the mousse (not all the way to the bottom). Cover with more vanilla mousse.
- Place the speculoos crumble strip on top, pressing lightly. Then place the chocolate sponge cake on top, pressing it down as well. Fill the sides with vanilla mousse if needed. Freeze for at least 6 hours, overnight is better.
Velvet spray
- Unmold the yule log onto a wire rack. Use the velvet spray at room temperature (in a place where it won't get stained, outdoors for example).
- Run the spray bottle through hot water to make it more fluid, then shake well. Spray from a distance of approximately 25cm to avoid drips.
- Return the dessert to the freezer or let it thaw in the refrigerator before enjoying for approximately 6-8 hours.
Notes
Do you want to make the log in advance? It's possible! As long as it stays in the freezer, it's perfect.
How to adapt the ingredients to the size of your mold? The volume calculation is mandatory…
- Calculate the volume of my mold (dimensions given in my recipe)
- Calculate the volume of your mold
- Divide the volume of your mold by the volume of my mold