Daring Baker Does December

Just in case you thought I accomplished nothing but skiing, skating, and shoveling during my winter time, here's some pictures that demonstrate otherwise. During my vacation, I completed my December Daring Baker project - a French Yule Log! Besides the challenge of six layers, I had the added challenge of baking at my mother's house. Upon retirement, Mom donated or threw out most of her baking/cooking pans and utensils. Seriously, the women only owns a tablespoon measuring spoon - no teaspoon. Don't even ask about different measuring cups for liquids and solids!

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.

My Mom and I decided that the Yule Log was to be used as dessert for Christmas. Although my enthusiasm to bake was a bit less than usual due to the holiday craziness, I found the recipe quite manageable as I broke up the baking over a couple days. The recipe as presented to the Daring Bakers had numerous options, and when printed was over ten pages! But once I narrowed my choices and put them in order, the actual baking was more straight forward than I first thought.

My French Yule Log was composed of the following six elements and Hubby who has a serious chocolate addiction made many of the selection:

1. Chocolate Dacquoise (Almond Cake)

2. Milk Chocolate Whipped Cream (Chantilly)

3. Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

4. Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert

5. Chocolate Creme Brulée Insert

6. Dark Chocolate Icing

My visiting relatives included some young men who were not waiting for me to take "pretty pictures" before digging in, so I had no time clean up the plate or the cake to show the six layers. Additionally, my only available baking pan was a full size bread pan, so my "log" is rectangular. My chocolate ganache insert was too thick and never really softened. I was quite happy with the crisp layer and the Dacquoise was moist and tasty,even though I made it ahead of time and kept it in Tupperware.

If you look to make the recipe (check out Saffron and Blueberry for it), here are my suggestions. I found that I had to double the dark chocolate icing recipe. I know the recipe warns about the Milk Chocolate Chantilly's inability to stay frozen, but mine never ran and it was out of the freezer for more than an hour. And yes, I did actually make the lace crepes and not substitute Rice Krispies for the Praline Feuillete. Also, I did not have a cake holder to use in the freezer, and instead used wax paper and tin foil, resulting in my mirror finish becoming tacky. I just covered the top with a bit of powdered sugar and ground almonds. Where the recipe called for piping, I made do with a spatula.

Even with the equipment challenges, the Yule Log tasted wonderful and was devoured. The teenage boys had two slices within two minutes, each trying to make a clean cut through the frozen ganache! At some point, I'd like to try this recipe again with some other flavors, a true yule log pan, and my piping bag.

Thanks to this months Daring Baker Hosts!