28.12.08

DB#26 or Have a Christmas with lots of Chocolate!

Bûche de Noël

In December, you expect the Daring Bakers to go wild on Yule Logs. I've never made one myself, so I - like many others - kinda of expected the challenge to be a Yule Log... and we were not deceived! A French Yule Log it was! 6 different components, 12 pages for the recipe, 24 bowls, pans, saucepans, you-name-it to wash up... This was probably the most challenging of all the recipes I've made with the Daring Bakers. My Yule Log had two almond dacquoise layers (bottom and top), aniseed creme brulée, almond caramel praliné, dark chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache and dark chocolate icing. I served it for dessert on Christmas Lunch. It was a hit!

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. For the recipe, check Hilda's Saffron and Blueberry, and (as always!) for a few thousand versions visit the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Bûche de Noël

My thoughts on the challenge:
- This was time consuming but not that difficult. Each component was fairly easy to make, and the recipes were very nice on their own, except perhaps for the mousse. It was pretty hard to make a pâté à bombe with such small quantities.
- I topped my Bûche de Noël with dacquoise, as well as using it for the bottom.
- I made 1 + a half recipe of the dark icing to prevent icing 'accidents' (I'm very prone to this kind of troubles!!).
- The most challenging of all was the insane number of dishes this took - it made me use dozens of bowls, saucepans, pans, spoons, spatulas, you name it! Huge thanks to my hubby who did most of the washing up, as I absolutely hate it.
- My overall thought is that it didn't feel very Christmas-ish to me (perhaps because it was a frozen dessert and I tend to think of those as summer desserts) but it was really delicious. And I'm not a chocoholic!

I don't think the photos do any justice to how nice it was and how yummy it tasted. I just didn't have time to photograph it properly with everybody around... Anyway, you can get an idea of how it looked with the chocolate decorations on top.

19 comments:

Gfron1 said...

I agree about the dishes...I really wanted an intern by the end of the project! Yours is beautifully executed.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Oh, what a beautiful log! Very well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

Hilda said...

Thank God I could get my hubby to do dishes because I'm pregnant (he probably would have anyway but it's a good excuse) ;) Great job on this challenge. I'm glad you enjoyed the outcome even if it didn't feel Christmas-ish. Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

very pretty buche de noel:)

Sara said...

This is beautiful! I love your decoration on top. :)

vibi said...

Totaly amazing Suzana... I don't think they come more perfect than that! I'm floored!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

These pictures look pretty ok and I liked the chocolate holly leaves. Nice touch.
I also like your choice of flavour for the brulee.

Best wishes for the festive season and a Happy New Year.

Gretchen Noelle said...

Wonderful job! It looks delicious. And I am so curious about the aniseed creme brulee...I am learning to be a bit more of an aniseed fan. Happy New Year!

Valentina said...

Oh, it looks so pretty Suzana. I do miss the DB challenges.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

E eu que pensava que a menina não gostava assim tanto de chicolate!!! Está lindo Suzana e adorei os sabores que usaste! Eu também achei que ia gostar mais disto no Verão.

Unknown said...

I think the other problem I had with it being frozen is that it tasted best the day of, and then got worse. Maybe I needed to wrap it better. I would have loved to taste this with anise. Lovely job!

Unknown said...

Beautiful! Your chocolate is so dark and rich looking.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! Both the recipe and the photo, good job! I'm so impressed by this month's challenge.

Happy New Year. :)

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous log Suzana! Great idea making 1.5 times the icing. I should have done that. And yes I experienced the same with the washing -oh how I would have loved a dishwasher. Hubby was hiding when it all happened which is suspiciously what he always does when washing up is required lol

Happy 2009 Suzana!! :)

AJ said...

Very pretty!! Bet it tasted good too.

Apu

Namratha said...

Neatly done and well layered too! :)

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

beautiful buche de noel suzana. happy new year and 2009 may bring you health and peace!

The Queen of Quite a Lot said...

I love the little mistletoe decoration on top, so cute! And yes, you definitely need an intern for the washing up on this one!

Mollie said...

Wow, wonderful decorating!! It's beautiful and so professional! Congrats on finishing it