Christmas Yule Log with Lemon Verbena, Ginger & Hazelnut

Vanilla, ginger, and honey crémeux: To make this Christmas yule log with lemon verbena, ginger, and hazelnut, start by preparing all the ingredients for the vanilla, ginger, and honey crémeux. Mix the powdered gelatine with the hydration water (tap water or mineral water) and leave to hydrate for 15 minutes.

Pour the milk and heavy liquid cream into a saucepan.

Split the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape the inside with the tip of a knife to extract the seeds.

Add the seeds as well as the split vanilla pod to the milk and cream. Heat over medium heat.

Peel a piece of fresh ginger...

...and grate it over the saucepan using a Classic Microplane zester-grater.

Once boiling, remove from heat and cover the saucepan tightly with cling film stretched over the edges. Leave to infuse for 1.5 to 2 hours.

After infusion, remove the cling film and reheat the milk and cream.

Pour the egg yolks into a mixing bowl.

Add the caster sugar...

...and blanch.

When the milk and cream come to a boil...

...pour them over the blanched mixture while whisking.

Then pour everything back into the saucepan used to boil the milk and cream.

Cook 'à la nappe', stirring constantly with a spatula, making 8-shaped motions at the bottom of the saucepan, without exceeding 82°C.

Place the white chocolate buttons in a mixing bowl...

...and place a fine sieve over it, as shown in the photo.

Pour the boiling cream and milk through the sieve to get rid of any coagulated egg lumps.

Add the hydrated gelatine to the boiling preparation...

...as well as the honey...

...and mix with a hand blender until homogeneous.

Transfer the vanilla, ginger, and honey crémeux into the insert mould.

Cover with cling film in direct contact with the surface and place in the freezer.

Soft hazelnut sponge: Prepare all the ingredients.

Melt the butter in a saucepan.

When melted, continue cooking until you get a brown butter.

The butter will brown slightly at the bottom of the saucepan. Take care not to overcook it at this stage. Stop cooking when the butter develops a light brown colour and nutty aromas.

Pour the egg whites into a mixing bowl...

...and whip them with an electric mixer.

When the whites become frothy, add the caster sugar...

...and whip to stiff peaks with the sugar to form a meringue...

...as shown in the photo.

Once the meringue is ready, place a sieve over the container...

...and sift the flour...

...as well as the icing sugar.

Once the flour and icing sugar are sifted, remove the sieve...

...and add the hazelnut powder, which cannot pass through the sieve.

Fold in carefully using a spatula.

While folding, add the brown butter.

Continue folding with the spatula...

...until smooth and homogeneous.

Transfer this soft hazelnut sponge batter onto a perforated baking sheet lined with a sheet of greaseproof paper...

...and spread it to an even thickness using a large cranked metallic spatula.

Bake in a preheated fan-assisted oven at 170°C for about 13 minutes. This baking time may vary depending on your oven.

After baking, remove the sheet from the oven...

...and leave the soft hazelnut sponge to cool at room temperature.

Hazelnut praline crémeux: Prepare all the ingredients. Hydrate the powdered gelatine in the hydration water for 15 minutes.

Pour the milk and heavy liquid cream into a saucepan...

...and heat over medium heat.

Pour the milk chocolate buttons and the praline into a mixing bowl.

Pour the egg yolks into another container...

...and whisk vigorously.

When the milk and cream come to a boil...

...pour them over the egg yolks while whisking. Here we make a no-sugar crème anglaise, as the praline brings enough sweetness to the preparation.

Pour everything back into the milk and cream cooking saucepan...

...and cook until it coats the back of a spoon...

...stirring constantly with a spatula, making 8-shaped motions at the bottom of the saucepan, until thickened, without exceeding 82°C.

When the cream is cooked, stop heating and add the hydrated gelatine.

Whisk vigorously until the gelatine is fully incorporated.

Transfer this mixture into the mixing bowl directly over the milk chocolate and hazelnut praline.

Add the fleur de sel...

...and blend with a hand blender...

...until smooth and homogeneous.

Crunchy base: Cover the soft hazelnut sponge with a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Grasp both sheets of greaseproof paper together with the sponge...

...and flip everything over in one motion. The bottom sheet is now on top.

Gently peel away the baking sheet used for cooking the sponge.

Take a stainless steel rectangle ring and use it as a cutter...

...to cut out two rectangles of soft hazelnut sponge.

Place these two sponge rectangles on another sheet of greaseproof paper and set the stainless steel rings over them, as shown in the photo.

Pour the hazelnut praline crémeux into these two rectangles, dividing it equally.

Cover with cling film and place in the freezer.

Rice crunch: Prepare all the ingredients.

Spread the puffed rice on a baking sheet lined with a sheet of greaseproof paper...

...spreading it evenly over the surface.

Bake in a preheated fan-assisted oven at 150°C and toast the puffed rice for 10 minutes.

Repeat the operation with the hazelnuts...

...baking them at 150°C for 10 minutes.

After toasting, remove the puffed rice from the oven. It should be slightly golden.

Remove the hazelnuts as well, which will also have browned slightly.

Place the Dulcey blond chocolate in a mixing bowl...

...and melt it in the microwave in 20 to 30 second intervals, stirring every time so it does not burn.

Add the hazelnut praline to the melted Dulcey chocolate...

...and mix thoroughly with a spatula.

Add the pailleté feuilletine flakes...

...as well as the toasted puffed rice...

...and mix with a spatula...

...until homogeneous.

Chop the toasted hazelnuts with a knife...

...and add them to the preparation.

Mix thoroughly with the spatula.

Finally, add the fleur de sel...

...and mix again until our homogeneous rice crunch is obtained.

Crunchy base (continued): Remove the two stainless steel rectangles from the freezer and peel off the cling film.

The hazelnut praline crémeux must be frozen solid.

Divide the rice crunch between the two stainless steel frames, directly over the crémeux...

...and spread it to an even thickness, compacting it using a mini offset spatula...

...as shown in the photo. Place in the freezer.

Light lemon verbena mousse: Prepare all the ingredients. Hydrate the powdered gelatine in the hydration water for 15 minutes.

Pour the milk into a saucepan...

...and bring to a boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the lemon verbena to the milk. Stir carefully.

Cover the saucepan tightly with cling film stretched over the edges, and leave to infuse for 1.5 hours.

After infusion, remove the cling film and reheat the preparation.

Once the milk is hot, add the hydrated gelatine...

...and stir vigorously with a spatula to incorporate it.

Place the white chocolate and Dulcey blond chocolate in a mixing bowl. Pour the hot flavoured milk over it, filtering through a fine sieve to strain the verbena.

Let the white chocolate and blond chocolate sit for 1 minute so they begin to melt from the heat of the milk.

Then whisk to fully melt both chocolates in the hot milk...

...until smooth and homogeneous. Leave to cool at room temperature.

Pour the heavy liquid cream into the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat into whipped cream.

We want a soft whipped cream.

Transfer the two-chocolate and verbena mixture into a large container...

...and add half of the whipped cream.

Whisk quickly without taking special precautions.

This is what the result should look like.

Add the remaining whipped cream...

...and fold gently with a spatula or whisk until homogeneous mousse.

Transfer this light lemon verbena mousse into a piping bag. Using a nozzle is not necessary here.

Assembly: Prepare all assembly elements for the log: the crunchy bases, the insert, and the Spin silicone mould.

Start by releasing the vanilla, ginger, and honey crémeux insert...

...as shown in the photo.

Repeat the operation with the two crunchy bases. To do so, warm the stainless steel rectangles slightly with a kitchen blowtorch...

...and extract the inserts by pushing with your thumbs, as shown in the photo.

We obtain our insert and crunchy bases.

Cross-sectional view of the crunchy base showing the sponge at the bottom, crémeux in the middle, and crunch on top.

Pipe the light lemon verbena mousse into the Spin silicone mould halfway up.

Tap the mould on the work surface to bring any air bubbles to the surface.

Using the mini offset spatula, spread the mousse up the sides...

...then place the insert in the mould, rounded side facing down into the mousse.

Gently press the insert into the mousse with your fingertips, making sure not to push it all the way to the bottom.

Fill the mould with a little more lemon verbena mousse...

...and insert the crunchy bases with the soft hazelnut sponge side in direct contact with the mousse, leaving the rice crunch side on top.

Place both rectangles side-by-side to form the entire log base.

Scrape off excess mousse that has risen over the edges using the mini offset spatula, and smooth the surface.

This is what the result should look like. The base should lie flush with the mould.

Cover directly with cling film...

...and place in the freezer. This yule log can be prepared up to this step several days or weeks in advance.

Finish: Remove the log from the freezer and peel off the cling film. For optimal results, the yule log should be frozen through.

Peel back the sides of the silicone mould to facilitate the release process.

Turn the log right side up and detach the silicone mould. This must be done immediately after removing from the freezer.

Trim the edges quickly with the tip of a knife.

Then place the log on a baking sheet lined with cling film. Place everything on a turntable to facilitate the coating operation.

Take the caramel velvet spray colouring and shake it vigorously until the ball inside rattles.

Spray the velvet icing 30 to 40cm away from the yule log.

Spray in short bursts while rotating the turntable to apply a thin coat (we want to avoid a thick layer that will crack).

This is what the result should look like.

Carefully pick up the yule log using two offset spatulas...

...and place it on its serving platter.

The Christmas yule log with lemon verbena, ginger, and hazelnut is now done. Leave to defrost in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours.

Take a paper cone with a little neutral mirror glaze...

...and pipe a thin line of glaze along the grooves of the log design...

...as shown in the photo.

Using tweezers, place silver flakes directly onto the mirror glaze, which acts as glue.

Proceed carefully along all 4 grooves to apply a fine strip of silver flakes.

Our decorated Christmas yule log is now ready to serve. Bon appétit!