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
I haven't quite figured out how to put url's into names, so here's the links for all three :
Hilda : http://saffronandblueberry.blogspot.com/
Marion : http://ilenfautpeupour.canalblog.com/
Flore : http://plaisirgourmand.perso.cegetel.net/
The log itself comprises of 6 elements, namely a mousse, a creme brulee, a feuillete crisp, a ganache, a dacquoise biscuit and an icing. Each element was relatively simple, though the task itself is best done over a few days.
Decisions, decisions - this month we had a lot of freedom when it came to flavour choices and I thought long and hard about it. I decided upon a raspberry mousse, a vanilla creme brulee, a coconut and white chocolate feuillete crisp, a white chocolate ganache, a coconut dacquoise biscuit and finally a white chocolate icing.
Oh no! - I ran into a few problems, if I'd started earlier in the month instead of waiting until the 27th I might have had time to redo it. Anyway, here are the things that got me...
Creme Brulee - it took FOREVER to set, I had to adjust the heat twice and it was in the oven about twice as long as was given in the recipe.
Mousse - my mousse was ridiculously sloppy before it went in the fridge, I admit I did panic somewhat, however after going back to the fridge an hour later it had already firmed up nicely.
Feuillete - I discovered too late that the "rice crispies" I had purchased were far from the branded puff rice I was expecting and so left them out, leaving my "crisp" layer less than crispy
Dacquoise biscuit - I found this to be very sticky and hard to cut into the pieces I wanted, even after the assembly of the log
Ganache - my sugar and cream mix was less mixed than I'd have liked, with a lump of hard sugar left in the pot
Icing - I think I got my measurements wrong on this as my icing was taking sooo long to get to a point where it would adaquately coat my log, and I got too impatient to wait for it to set properly
Assembly - Aside from the icing, this went off without a hitch
The order I made them in was as follows :
Day 1 : Creme brulee, then mousse
Day 2 : Feuillete, biscuit, ganache, assembled and frozen overnight
Day 3 : Icing
Element #1 - Vanilla Creme Brulee
Ingredients :
1/2 cup double cream
1/2 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method :
01. Beat sugar and egg yolks until mixed.
02. Heat milk, cream and vanilla until just boiling.
03. Remove from heat and let cool for 1 hour.
04. Whisk cream mix and egg mix.
05. Wet a tin, cover in greaseproof paper and pour in mix.
06. Bake at 100 degrees Celsius for 1 hour, until firm at sides and slightly wobbly in the middle.
07. Cool and freeze overnight.
Element #2 - Raspberry Mousse
Ingredients :
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp cornflour
1/3 cup double cream
200g raspberry puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
36ml water
2 1/4 tsp gelatin
3 egg whites
Method :
01. Beat egg yolks and cornflour until white and fluffy.
02. Beat egg whites until foamy.
03. Heat cream.
04. Add a little of the cream into the egg yolk mix and beat.
05. Add egg mix into cream and beat until smooth.
06. Add the puree little by little, beating all the time, until all puree is used.
07. Cool to lukewarm.
08. Heat the sugar and water to soft ball stage.
09. Beat slowly into egg whites.
10. Soften gelatin, then melt in 1 tsp water. Pour into a bowl.
11. Whisk in raspberry cream.
11. Blend in the meringue mix.
12. Refrigerate until needed.
Element #3 - Coconut Feuillete Crisp
Ingredients :
100g white chocolate
1/3 cup coconut
25g butter
60g crushed rice crispies
Method :
01. Bake coconut for 5 - 10 mins at 190 degrees Celsius until golden.
02. Melt chocolate and butter.
03. Add coconut to melted chocolate.
04. Add in crushed rice crispies.
05. Spread the mix between two sheets of greaseproof paper and freeze until ready to use.
Element #4 - Coconut Dacquoise Biscuit
Ingredients :
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp ground almonds
2/3 cup coconut
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
3 egg whites
4 tbsp granulated sugar
Method :
01. Weigh out almonds, coconut and sugar .
02. Add granulated sugar to egg whites.
03. Blend dry ingredients.
04. Whisk egg whites and sugar.
05. Add dry to egg whites.
06. Mix gently.
08. Pipe into desired shape on a sheet of greased greaseproof paper.
09. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown (about 15 mins).
Element #5 - White Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients :
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2/3 cup - 1 tbsp double cream
135g white chocolate
Method :
01. Heat cream until boiling, heat sugar until a dark amber.
02. Add cream to sugar and stir.
03. Pour mix over chocolate.
04. Leave for 30 seconds.
05. Stir until smooth.
06. Leave at room temperature until ready to assemble log.
Element #6 - White Chocolate Icing
Ingredients :
1/2 tbsp gelatin
100g white chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup milk
1 2/3 tbsp glucose
Method :
01. Add glucose and milk to a pan and heat until boiling.
02. Add butter to chocolate.
03. Melt gelatin with milk and glucose.
04. Pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth.
05. Wait for it to get to a point where it coats the back of a spoon.
Assembly of Log
01. Biscuit
02. Mousse
03. Creme brulee
04. Mousse
05. Feuillete
06. Mousse
07. Ganache
07. Biscuit
08. Freeze overnight
09. Icing
6 comments:
What a wonderfully detailed post. Great job!
Your flavor choices sound delicious, and you certainly documented each step!
Lvely mousse - the colour is so pretty!! I bet it was delicious.
Apu
All those step by step pictures sure would have helped me! My creme brulee was in the oven FOREVER too.
Well done.
Congrats on a successful challenge! Well done! :)
Love the pink!! Great log!
Post a Comment