Daring Baker December 2008

A French Yule Log! This being my first challenge I was very excited. Jeana and I spent four days working on it. The recipe came from: "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" And what a recipe they chose! 

Being as I'm a working girl (haha), it took us four days to complete! At the same time this was great because unlike many people who mentioned having all the dishes in their kitchen dirty by the end of it, we were forced to clean as we went (day by day). 

  Also the only challenge we hit during the process was the Creme Brulee insert. We were using a friend's oven and were unsure with all the other problems people were having (with time and temp). In the end we did it twice. The first time, it was too cooked. The second time, it was well under cooked. OH WELL! 

The recipe consisted of six parts:

1)  Dacquoise Biscuit
2)  Mousse
3)  Ganache Insert
4)  Praline (Crisp) Insert
5)  Creme Brulee Insert
6)  Icing

   Although this seems daunting, when done over the course of a few days it was not bad. The order of making them that we followed was: 

1. Creme Brulee

2. Mousse

3. Praline

4. Ganache

5. Biscuit

6. Icing 

(Assembling as we went)

  Here is a second pic with Jeana's mother's chirstmas tree in the background. Most gorgeous tree ever! 

Although most of the recipes were probably more than necesary but the Biscuit layer is definitely worth trying some time. If you are interested Epicurious.com has a Kirsch cream/Chocolate cake with a very similar recipe. Either way here is the recipe:

Element #1 Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

Preparation time:  10 mn + 15 mn for baking

Equipment:  2 mixing bowls, hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment, spatula, baking pan such as a 10”x15” jelly-roll pan, parchment paper

Note:  You can use the Dacquoise for the bottom of your Yule Log only, or as bottom and top layers, or if using a Yule log mold (half-pipe) to line your entire mold with the biscuit. Take care to spread the Dacquoise accordingly. Try to bake the Dacquoise the same day you assemble the log to keep it as moist as possible.

Ingredients:
2.8 oz (3/4cup + 1Tbsp / 80g) almond meal 
1.75 oz (1/2 cup / 50g) confectioner’s sugar 
2Tbsp (15g) all-purpose flour
3.5oz (100g / ~100ml) about 3 medium egg whites    
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar
    
1.    Finely mix the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar. (If you have a mixer, you can use it by pulsing the ingredients together for no longer than 30 seconds).
2.    Sift the flour into the mix.
3.    Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff. 
4.    Pour the almond meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.
5.    Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it.
6.    Spread the batter on a piece of parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc...) and to a height of 1/3 inches (8mm). 
7.    Bake at 350°F (180°C) for approximately 15 minutes (depends on your oven), until golden. 
8.    Let cool and cut to the desired shape.