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.

Florilège Gourmand is all in French and the hosts this month, Hilda of Saffron and Blueberry and Marion of Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux, created 12 pages of recipe for us to experiment with.

YAY.

Needless to say I will not be copying it off here.

I put a white chocolate design on the top and allowed it to drip down the edges.

The cake had numerous layers.

1)  Dacquoise (almond)
2)  Ganache Insert (chocolate)
3)  Mousse (coffee and chocolate)
4)  Praline/Crisp Insert
5)  Mousse (Coffee and chocolate)
6)  Creme Brulee Insert (Vanilla)
7)  Chocolate Cream Chantilly
8 OPTIONAL) Dacquoise (didn’t do)

And then a chocolate glaze over all.

I left off the dacquoise on the top.  I used my 9 inch spring from pan and it was too big for the filling ingredients so I also made a layer of chocolate cream chantilly to go over the creme brulee.  It then had to be frozen.  It was still frozen when I took the picture.  You had to serve it at just the rigth temperature for optimum flavor and texure but by then it was sort of too gooey to get good slices.  Thus, the picture.

It wasn’t difficult to do but it was tedious.  The chocolate flavor was rich and intense.  I probably would not make this cake again because it seemed like too much work for a cake that even my family of sweet-lovers thought was just ‘o.k.”

My daughter, Erin, and I talked about it and decided that if I was to do it again the mousse would be flavored with Bailey’s Irish Cream to cut some of the cloying sweetness of the chocolate.

I also decided that sometime this spring I am buying a Kitchen-Aide.  Not my favorite mixer because it doesn’t do a great job on bread in the amounts that I make it BUT I hate having to hand whisk everything because mine doesn’t get to the bottom on small amounts (like three egg whites).  I am going to get a Bosch as well as a KA!  Just as soon as I sell a body part or something.

Check out the other Daring Bakers cakes…they are pretty amazing.

Images: (c) Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights