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Caramel Bûche de noel (Christmas log)

A slice of caramel Buche de Noel on a black dessert plate.
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This amazing caramel Buche de Noel is a holiday log cake made with chocolate sponge cake, salted caramel chocolate mousse, and covered with a glossy caramel glaze. It is the hottest Christmas dessert in Europe and French Canada!

Ingredients

Scale

For the chocolate biscuit:

  • 5 egg whites
  • 1/2 cup + 2 1/2 teaspoons (125 g) granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup (85 g) all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons (25 g) cocoa powder

For the chocolate-caramel mousse:

  • 1/4 cup + 2 1/2 tablespoons (90 g) granulated sugar 
  • 4 tablespoons (60 g) heavy cream
  • 1 oz. (30 g) butter
  • 2.7 oz. (75 g) dark chocolate
  • 2/3 cup (150 g) whipping cream
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1.8 oz. (50 g) roasted hazelnuts

For the caramel glaze:

  • 2/3 cup + 2 teaspoons (160g) granulated sugar
  • 0.7 oz. (20 g) glucose
  • 2/3 cup + 4 1/2 tablespoons (220 g) heavy cream
  • 2.5 oz. (70 g) white chocolate
  • 2.5 oz. (70 g) dark chocolate
  • 3 gelatin sheets

For caramel decorations:

  • 1/3 cup + 5 1/3 teaspoons (100 g) granulated sugar 
  • 0.9 oz. (25 g) glucose

*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!

** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

  1. To make the chocolate biscuit, preheat the oven to 340 F/170 C. Sift all-purpose flour and cocoa powder three times using a flour sifter, and set aside. Whisk egg whites with an electric mixer or a stand mixer until firm. Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and continue beating. Gradually add the rest of the sugar one spoon at a time until the meringue becomes glossy. Incorporate egg yolks with a rubber spatula.
  2. Then add the sifted dry ingredients, and using the spatula, mix, lifting the mass from the center outwards. You might find that it is easier to turn the bowl to facilitate this step. Spread the biscuit dough on a parchment paper sheet or a silicone non-spill baking sheet to the thickness of 25/64 inch/1 cm. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool before taking off the biscuit.
  3. To make the chocolate-caramel mousse, chop dark chocolate with a serrated knife. Place sugar in a saucepan and bring over medium heat. Once the sugar starts to caramelize, low the heat. The caramel must get a gold color, but not burn! Remove the saucepan from the heat and gradually pour 120 g of very hot heavy cream. Be careful: it might splash!
  4. Add salt and then butter. Mix caramel well and pour it over the chopped dark chocolate (use a metal bowl to keep the heat). Stir gently until the ganache becomes smooth and shiny.
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk 300 g of whipping cream to get the whipped cream with soft peaks. Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the chocolate-caramel ganache and mix well with a hand whisk. Then add the remaining whipped cream and incorporate it with the whisk, starting from the center, towards the edge.
  6. To assemble the cake, peel the biscuit out of the parchment paper or baking mat and cut it into a rectangle of 11 x 11 inches/28 x 28 cm with sharp outlines. Cover the biscuit with the chocolate-caramel mousse and even with a bent spatula. Sprinkle with toasted chopped hazelnuts. Roll the log tightly, starting from the top end, with the help of parchment (the end of the biscuit can break, it does not matter). Squeeze the rolled log covered by paper, pushing it with a grid or baking sheet. Refrigerate it wrapped in parchment for at least 2 hours.
  7. To make the caramel glaze, soak gelatin sheets in cold water for 10 minutes. Chop dark and white chocolate and set aside. Place sugar and glucose in a saucepan and bring over medium heat until a nice color is obtained. Add hot whipping heavy cream (watch for splashing), and then pour over the mixture of chopped white and dark chocolate. Mix with the spatula to homogenize. Add the drained gelatin sheets and mix again. This glaze is ready when the temperature reaches 82 to 86 F /28 to 30 C. If the glaze has bubbles, it can be homogenized using a hand immersion blender.
  8. To glaze the cake, place the rolled log on a wire rack and cover it with the caramel glaze. It takes a few minutes for the glaze to settle. 
  9. To make caramel decorations, place sugar and glucose in a saucepan. Heat the mixture to 320 F/160 C (use a cooking thermometer), swirling the pan on top of the cooker. Once the temperature is reached, take two forks in one hand (close to each other), dip them in sugar, and shake them over the parchment. Collect the sugar with a small offset spatula and arrange it on top of the cake. The rolled log can be served immediately or refrigerated until serving.

Notes

  1. Read more about dry caramel in the post for hazelnut praline paste.
  2. To roast hazelnuts, bring them in the oven at 355 F/180 C for 12 minutes.
  3. Read about how to master rolling a cake log and watch this short video about tightening a Christmas log.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/chocolate-caramel-buche-de-noel-arnaud-larher/