Buche de noel is also known as a Chocolate Christmas Roll / Yule Log. It can be made with or without the inclusion of alcohol. Components of this Christmas Roll includes a Cointreau mousse, Chocolate mousse, Bombe mix, Nut Dacquoise, Cointreau stock syrup and chocolate glaze.

It’s so funny that now it’s almost Easter, I’m making Christmas-related stuffs. And when it was Christmas, I made Easter stuffs eg Hot Cross Buns.

This mousse is made from Pate a Bombe (Bombe Mix). Pate a Bombe is a egg yolk based foam that’s mixed with sugar syrup and it’s used for many mousse and buttercream recipe.

Pate a Bombe

325g sugar
100ml water
250g Egg yolks

Boil sugar and water to 120 C. Whip egg yolks till light. Stream in sugar syrup and mix on fast speed. The mixture should quite double in volume and cool to room temperature on medium speed.

Cointreau Mousse

150g Pate a Bombe
20ml Cointreau
8g Gelatin sheets
210ml Whipped cream

Hydrate gelatine in Cointreau. It can be heated a lil to melt the gelatin, but don’t over heat, as the alcohol will evaporate. Then add to Pate a Bombe. Fold in whipped cream and use straight

Chocolate Mousse

100g Pate a Bombe
200g  Dark Couverture Chocolate
225ml whipped cream

Melt chocolate in bain marie. Combine bombe with equal quantity of whipped cream, then fold into melted chocolate. Do not overmix. Add in the rest of whipped cream. Use straight away.

Almond Dacquoise 

200g Almond meal
200g Icing sugar
170g sugar
300g egg whites
75g corn flour
90g silvered almond

Sieve almond meal, corn flour and icing sugar. Beat egg whites till soft peak and gradually add in sugar in 3 intervals and beat till stiff peak. Fold in almond mix. Pipe to desired length of log / size and sprinkl with chopped almonds. Bake at 190 about 10 minutes. The dacquoise must be pliable and not crispy hard cause it needs to be shapped into a halved cylinder to form a log shape. Remember to also pipe the base.

Chocolate glaze

500g dark chocolate
500ml cream
100g glucose

Boil cream and glucose.  Add to chopped chocolate and stir till well incorporated.

Assembling

Lay dacquoise base on a halved cylinder (cut from pipe or use a mould). Spread in Cointreau Mousse, about half. Scatter some raspberries, fresh or thawed. Spread chocolate mousse till almost full. Lay the base (another dacquoise) and let it set in fridge. When it’s set, turn around and spread the chocolate glaze on a wire rack so the excess drips off. Decorate with chocolate cigars and fresh raspberries.

- Verdict

I LOVE THIS CAKE!!

The cointreau mousse just compliments the chocolate mousse. and during that week, I made 3 cakes, feuille d Automne, this buche de noel and another cake (which I’ll update later) This was my fave!!