Daring Baker's Challenge 3: French Yule Log

A late posting of December DB's Challenge, due to our trip and for forgetting to download photos to the right laptop, one that we took with us while traveling!! Anyways..

For this month's challenge, I secretly hoping it'd be something fairly easy (I guess it's called Daring Bakers not for nothing, eh?). I meant, easy as in, something that does not involve six layers of different things, like this French Yule Log!! :) When I read, or scrolled up and down the post announcing the challenge, I seriously thought I experienced a severe migraine - and I don't have any history of migraine! Only a little over a week before our vacation and with all the baking...no way!

I told Vik that I may skip this month's challenge, then my beloved husband read the recipe with me. Ain't he sweet? That's until he says 'But aren't you making mousse and creme bruleé anyway for our Christmas dinner next week? 'Just' another 4 things to do, no? And you'd have the ganache for one of your cookies too, right?' Oh so much I want to whip him with spatula. He does not even cook! But I got to admit, I was panicking scrolling down 17 pages, totally oblivious to the fact that three aspects from this log would be done, regardless yule log or no yule log.

However, I know it gotta be miniature log, used butter dish as mold!! Just so I can proudly say 'I have made French Yule Log' Heee...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.

This challenge makes me grin with sense of achievement! I think it's perfect for chocolate-addict, like my dad and grandma. I enjoy chocolate but have always preferred it in solid form - piece of chocolate or er..the entire bar, but not so much as in cakes, cookies or ice-cream. That said, I will be so making it next time I spend Christmas with my family - my grandma, at the age of 82, probably stock up more chocolate in her pantry than any other family with kids.


Since I was serving mocha mousse and cardamom creme bruleé as our dessert for our early-Christmas dinner , I just made a little bit more of that and use it for this yule log. I think it worked out very well with the chocolate ganache, icing and the pralines crisps. Not chocolate overload. The praline crisps, is more of hazelnuts crisps, sorta hate to go and buy me praline paste just for this one time use, especially for such a small log. So I grind up some hazelnuts from pantry and make into a paste. I mixed some coconut into one batch of crisps, thus, 2 layers of crisps.

Also 2 layers of the dacquois biscuit, top one is vanilla and the bottom one is coffee. Yeah, at the time...I was just so much in baking trance that I managed to make two kinds!! Then slept the entire 8 hours to London. ;)

Can't say that this is my best baking adventure, aesthetic wise. Did not turn out smooth at all as I completely run out of time and energy to decorate. Our flight was at 6 pm and I took the log out for photo taking and cutting at 1 pm! However, appearance aside, the taste made your eyes rolled!! It was fancy, delicate and fun - all in one.

Bonne annee!! Happy New Year!! Hope everyone has a superb holidays. I am working on my India trip food post and can't wait to share it with fellow bloggers.