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Before starting this Brownie and Saint Honoré Yule Log recipe, organise the necessary ingredients for the brownie.
For the brownie: Melt the butter in the microwave. Cover the bowl with cling film and heat in the microwave until the butter reaches a temperature of 50°C.
Add the dark chocolate to the hot butter.
Let the chocolate melt without stirring for a few seconds and start stirring...
... with a gentle whisking motion. The butter should be hot for this operation.
By the time the chocolate has melted completely, the temperature should be between 30 and 35°C.
Place the eggs (at room temperature) in the stand mixer bowl. Do not trust the quantity of eggs shown in the photo, as proportions were modified to make a total of 8 brownies.
Add the castor sugar...
... and blanch the preparation with a whisk for a couple of minutes.
Pour the eggs over the chocolate preparation...
... and combine with a whisk.
The consistency should start to thicken.
Sift the flour over the chocolate preparation...
... and combine, working in a rotating motion (see video at 4:49).
The brownie preparation is now ready.
Arrange two Silpat baking mats over two Silichef XL perforated baking sheets. Place two stainless steel square tart rings over the two Silpat mat.
Pour the brownie preparation in the square frames. There is no need to grease the rings beforehand.
Spread the preparation to create an even layer with a thickness of about 1 cm. The preparation is quite quick so it should not leak between the frame and the mat.
Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 160°C (gas 3) for 15-16 minutes. When cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Spread a thin layer of Cara Crakine preparation over one brownie. If needed, place the Cara Crakine caramel filling in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it. You can replace the Cara Crakine filling with pralin feuilletine filling (chocolate praline with crêpe dentelle flakes).
Spread the Cara Crakine with a small cranked spatula. Set aside.
For the dark chocolate crémeux: Organise all the necessary ingredients.
In a saucepan, heat the whipping cream and milk.
In a separate bowl, place the egg yolks (at room temperature) and the glucose syrup. Beforehand, soften it in the microwave until the temperature reaches 30°C.
Gently combine these two ingredients with a rubber spatula.
When the cream and milk get to a gentle boil (80°C), pour the mixture over the eggs and glucose preparation. Combine well.
Return the preparation to the saucepan used to cook the cream and milk.
Cook the cream to a temperature of 85°C, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. This cooking method is called 'à la nappe'. We're going to follow the technique used for crème anglaise (custard).
Pass the cream through a fine sieve to remove any lumps.
Add the Inaya dark chocolate to the hot cream.
Stir gently with a rubber spatula first...
... then combine with a whisk until homogeneous.
When the chocolate crémeux has a temperature of 30°C, spread a thin layer over the Cara Crakine filling.
Spread into a thin layer, using a cranked metallic spatula.
Cut the plain brownie square into 4 chunks. This operation allows us to handle the biscuit without breaking the whole thing.
Place the four pieces of brownie over the chocolate crémeux...
... making sure all edges join properly. The biscuit should look like it's only one piece. Press down gently to even the surface. Reserve in the fridge.
For the milk chocolate icing: Organise all the necessary ingredients.
If you don't have any chocolate compound coating, you can use any chocolate couverture (milk or dark) and melt it to 35°C. Add 10% to 15% grape seed oil, which has a neutral taste. In that case, go straight to step 41.
Add the peanut oil to the compound coating preparation...
... and the chopped caramelized hazelnuts.
Combine all the ingredients until homogeneous. Leave the preparation to cool down to 35°C.
Icing the brownie: Remove the brownie from the fridge and cut it into a rectangle with a length of 20 cm and a width of 10 cm. This brownie square allows you to make 2 logs.
Place the brownie rectangle on a rack. The ideal temperature for the brownie is between 10 and 15°C.
Pour the icing in one stroke over the brownie.
Even the surface with a cranked spatula to create a thin layer that will cool down faster.
Gently tap the mould on your workbench to let the excess icing drip off. When set, transfer the brownie on a serving plate or a cake board. Reserve in the fridge.
For the chocolate crème pâtissière: Organise all the necessary ingredients.
Place the milk and butter in a saucepan. Place the saucepan over low heat.
Blanch the egg yolks and castor sugar with a whisk.
Add the crème pâtissière powder...
... and combine.
Add the boiling milk, while stirring with a whisk.
Transfer the preparation into the saucepan used to boil the milk.
Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.
Add the milk and dark chocolate to the boiling cream.
Remove from the heat and combine...
... until creamy and homogeneous.
Transfer the cream on a baking sheet lined with cling film.
Spread over the whole surface with a cranked spatula and cover the cream with cling film to make it cool down faster.
For the choux puffs: Follow our recipe for choux pastry to make the choux puffs with a craquelin topping. Make choux buns with a diameter of 3 or 4 cm.
Place the cold pastry cream in a deep, narrow recipient and mix it with a hand blender until smooth.
Transfer the pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle (diameter 5 mm).
Fill the choux buns with the chocolate pastry cream. Pierce the bottom of each choux bun beforehand, then insert the pastry nozzle and gently squeeze the bag to make sure the choux puffs don't burst.
For the chocolate Chantilly cream: (make the day before) Organise all the necessary ingredients.
Hydrate the gelatin powder with 6 grams of water and combine. Add the soft gelatin to the milk chocolate.
Bring the whipping cream to a boil...
... and pour it over the chocolate and gelatin.
Let the chocolate melt without stirring for a couple of minutes...
... then combine with a whisk.
The chocolate preparation should be homogeneous. Cover the surface with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
The following day, remove the chocolate Chantilly from the fridge and place it in the stand mixer bowl.
Whip with the flat beater...
... until creamy and thick. The consistency should be pale and fluffy.
Fill a yule log mould with the chocolate Chantilly cream.
Even the surface with a metallic spatula.
Cover with cling film and store in the freezer to set. This recipe requires a lot of preparation for the different components of the log, but all these elements can be prepared in advanced and stored in the freezer. On the day, all you need to do is assemble the different parts of the log. This will take between 30 to 45 minutes.
Assembling the log: Prepare the different elements of the log.
Gently lift the chocolate Chantilly insert. Beforehand, remove the insert from the mould and spray the whole surface with a velvet pearl coating. You can also use one of the velvet pearl chocolate sprays sold on our website. Make sure you follow the instructions on the bottle.
Gently place the chocolate Chantilly insert on top of the brownie rectangle...
... arranging it on the edge.
Pipe a thin lace of chocolate crémeux, parallel to the chocolate insert.
Sprinkle the stuffed choux puffs with icing sugar. You can also use Codineige, which is a non-melting decorating sugar.
Carefully arrange a few choux puffs on top of the thin lace of chocolate. The chocolate crémeux serves as an adhesive.
Arrange a few chocolate discs, in different diameters, vertically between each choux bun.
Arrange the chocolate discs into staggered positions, some placed towards the centre, some towards the outer edge.
To finish the decoration, carefully arrange small pieces of gold leaf on top of the chocolate discs.
The brownie log is now ready to serve.
Alternative: Assemble the brownie base in an ingot-shaped stainless steel frame, alternating between the brownie biscuit, Cara Crakine filling and chocolate crémeux. Coat the brownie ingot with the chocolate icing (steps 44 to 47).
Pipe some chocolate Chantilly on the surface of the log. Use piping bag fitted with a Saint-Honoré nozzle and pipe the Chantilly cream into a zigzag on one side of the cake. Arrange the choux puffs into a row next to the chocolate cream.
Arrange a few chocolate discs on the surface, burying them gently in the chocolate cream...
... creating a staggered pattern. I hope you will enjoy this original yule log. This is the perfect Christmas dessert for chocolate lovers. As I said earlier, this recipe requires preparation and organisation, but it is definitely worth it. You won't regret it!
Thank you for your time.