Hazelnut & Coffee Yule Log: Simply Irresistible

Hazelnut & Coffee yule log is a festive dessert consisted of a biscuit Joconde soaked with maple syrup and covered by a mascarpone cream. It is simply irresistible!

This yule log is the next one in my Christmas challenge this year. I have already made five Buches de Noel so far, but Hazelnut & Coffee yule log/buche de Noel is the best of the best.

Hazelnut & Coffee yule log is surprisingly simple to make. You will only need a special tip – Saint Honore tip – for the cake decoration. As for the cake toppers, it is up to you to make chocolate and nougatine decorations. I believe that this Buche de Noel is “self-sufficient” even without Christmas decorations.

If you are still looking for the best Christmas dessert, here it is . All your Christmases will come at once with this amazing Hazelnut & Coffee yule log !

Ingredients:

For the biscuit Joconde:

• 200 g  almond flour *
• 150 g icing sugar
• 100 g caster sugar
• 80 g all-purpose flour
• 60 g butter, melted
• 4 whole eggs + 5 egg whites (150 g)
• 100 g hazelnuts
• maple syrup as needed 

For the mascarpone cream:

• 250 g mascarpone
• 500 g whipping cream
• 100 g icing sugar
• 1 cup of coffee espresso
• 1 tbsp instant coffee powder

Instructions:

To roast hazelnuts, heat the oven to 300 degrees/150 C. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Crush the nuts.

To make the biscuit Joconde, increase the oven temperature to 355 degrees F/180 C. Place the icing sugar, almond flour *, all-purpose flour and 2 whole eggs in a bowl and whisk at slow speed, using an electric or stand mixer *.

Increase the speed and continue to whisk. Add the other 2 whole eggs, cold melted butter and mix again.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites till they are mounted. Add the caster sugar and beat again to get the glossy meringue.

 Then add half of the beaten egg whites to the main preparation and mix gently with a spatula.

Finally, add the rest of egg whites and combine.

Pour the biscuit dough on a baking sheet covered with the parchment paper * or on a silicone mat Flexipat to the thickness of 1 cm. Sprinkle with roasted hazelnuts.

Bake at 355 F/180 C for 20 minutes. Remove the biscuit from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes.

To make the mascarpone cream, place the mascarpone, icing sugar and whipping cream in a bowl. Mix with a hand whisk * in order to homogenize everything. Then whisk with an electric or stand mixer *. Stir in the coffee espresso and instant coffee powder. Refrigerate the cream till assembling the cake. 

To assemble the yule log, flip the biscuit on a kitchen towel or a sheet of parchment. Peel the parchment paper * or the Flexipat.  Soak the biscuit with the maple syrup. Spread the mascarpone cream and even the surface with a bent spatula *.

Sprinkle with crushed hazelnuts. 

Roll the biscuit from top to bottom, using the sheet of paper or the towel. Refrigerate the rolled biscuit for 4 hours.

To decorate the yule log, spread a layer of cream on the rolled log.

Place the remaining cream in a pastry bag * with a Saint Honore tip and cover the entire surface of the log. Sprinkle with the icing sugar and decorate the log with the dark chocolate, caramelized hazelnuts and nougatine.

Merry Christmas to you!

Tips:

• If you wish, you can add some white rum or Grand Marnier to the mascarpone cream.
• Temper the dark chocolate and cut chocolate decorations. How to temper the dark chocolate? Click HERE and look at the tips of the recipe. 
• To caramelize hazelnuts, look at this RECIPE where the ingredients and instructions are provided.
• To make pieces of nougatine, cook 50 g of glucose and 60 g of caster sugar until you get the color. Add 50 g of chopped and lightly roasted hazelnuts or almonds. Pour  the nougatine on a sheet of the parchment paper *. Cover it with another sheet of parchment and spread it as finely as possible with a rolling pin *. Let it cool again. Break the nougatine into pieces.
  
  

Have you tried this recipe or would you like to make it? Just speak to me, leaving a comment below. I wanna hear from you!

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The recipe was adapted from here https://www.femmeactuelle.fr. All posted pictures are mine.