Sunday, December 28, 2008

Daring Bakers: French Yule Log


This isn't the Yule Log of which you're thinking (can't end in a preposition). No little mushrooms and holly berries. This is a complicated, time consuming masterpiece of a dessert. It was awesome! It took me all day Christmas Eve, and then some of Christmas morning after needing to be frozen over night. But I'm getting ahead of myself. A French Yule log has these components, all of which had to be homemade: Dacquoise, Mousse, Ganache, Feuillete, Creme Brulee, and Icing. Look at all those fabulous French words! Yay! This is everything a dessert should be. It was like doing a puzzle, this challenge was fabulous.
Kristinepoe (a new Daring Baker, no blog posted yet), posted some pictures on the Daring Baker's website that inspired me to do it her way instead of the way the recipe was originally writen. My log has a White Chocolate Mousse instead of chocolate, and a Chocolate Creme Brulee instead of vanilla. She mentions, and I agree, the chocolate creme brulee tastes odd with cocoa powder; next time I'll put in chocolate instead of cocoa. I also had a really hard time getting the creme brulee to set up. It took turing up the oven a full 100 F higher and baking almost 2 hours extra. Perhaps this is a problem similar to what I've had with the cheesecakes?
The rest of the Yule log layers are to die for, though. The white chocolate mousse, heavenly. The whipped chocolate caramel ganache, divine. Ahhh. Those two in particular I'll have to use in other recipes. For the Feuillete I used gingerbread crisp cookies instead of the gavottes; the ginger added a nice note.

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

27 comments:

Vee said...

WOW that looks beautiful!
ALSO I learned how to make Feuillete on Cooking Mama for the Wii... probably not the same though! ;-)

Jo said...

Great job and beautifully decorated. Love the picture.

Sara said...

This looks really delicious! Yum.

Unknown said...

Looks wonderful! I did a white chocolate version, too and LOVED that element of the log.

raquel said...

awesome job! I have to try gingerbread cookies for feuillete next time. excellent!

Gfron1 said...

You did a very classy, beautiful buche. Great job.

Laurie said...

You did a beautiful job!

Mrs Ergül said...

I have always like simple drizzling of chocolate over cakes!

Hilda said...

Superbly done! I'm so glad you enjoyed this challenge and your decoration is lovely. I used different cookies for the feuillete as well. Have a Happy New Year!

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

i ended up making meringue mushrooms too just because it wouldnt feel like Christmas without them. your log looks delicious!

Renee said...

What a beautiful Yule Log! Great job on the December challenge.

silverrock said...

That yule-log looks so perfect! I love the simplistic decoration, the white drizzle looks spectacular against the chocolate icing! Congrats on this month's challenge :)

Olga said...

Yours looks very pretty!

WonderKitty said...

That looks delicious! And like a TON of work! I really admire your skills. Oh, and it looks like the days of me being your only commenter are over!

chef_d said...

Oh our logs are the exact color opposites! will try this color next time. looks yummy!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! Looks perfect.

Amy said...

So beautiful - scrumptious!

Amy

Anonymous said...

I dig the idea of white mousse, I'll bet it was delicious.

Anonymous said...

I love that you took a picture with your log! I never think to include myself in my work! Bravo!

Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

I love your simple and elegant decoration - so pretty!

Laura Rebecca said...

So pretty and elegant! You did a fantastic job.

Kristine said...

Thanks for your comment on my Challenge post on the DB nonbloggers blog. You log looks great and the flavors sound wonderful. I eliminated the creme brulee the second time around and used more mousse. The brulee, I know, could be a fabulous element. But cutting out that one step, makes it possible to get the entremet done in an evening. Happy New Year! Kristine

breadchick said...

I love the natural decorations for your log! Well done on your challenge.

Namratha said...

Aww such a pretty log! Very neatly done :)

Anonymous said...

You're pretty much amazing! That's all

laurel said...

That looks awesome! About the setting time, it could be because of elevation. I know that you aren't technically high-altitude, but I know for my baked goods I usually have to crank the oven higher and/or cook for longer. You could also try a digital thermometer in your oven to see if the built-in thermometer is still accurate, mine died once which caused a whole host of problems!

Leanne said...

How pretty is your blog (and your log)?! But your background is great-- did you paint that?

Your log is lovely-- I envy your white mousse! :o)