First of all happy new year to you all! I hope you got to spend the holidays with your loved ones. To celebrate the new year we’re going to make a chocolate büche. It’s an Amsterdam inspired chocolate büche with a whipped vanilla ganache, salted caramel, caramelized peanuts, chocolate sable and a chocolate mousse.
Whipped vanilla ganache
Ingredients
- 3.3 g gelatin
- 380 g cream 35% fat
- 1 vanilla pod
- 130 g white chocolate 28%
- 100 g mascarpone
Instructions
- First dissolve the gelatin in cold water. Meanwhile pour the double cream into a saucepan. After that cut the vanilla pod in half, scrap out the seeds and add it to the cream. Now bring this to a boil.
- Once it’s boiling turn off the heat and dissolve the gelatin. Then remove the vanilla pod. Now transfer white chocolate and the mascarpone in a measuring jar. Then pour the hot vanilla cream on the white chocolate and mascarpone and emulsify it with a hand blender. Then let it set in your fridge for at least 6 hours.
- After that transfer the mascarpone ganache into a stand mixer bowl and whisk it till a medium stiff peak starts to form. This is going to take around 3 minutes. Don’t over whisk it otherwise the ganache will separate. Then it’s ready to be used!
- Try to pipe it as soon as possible for the best result. It’s still great later on, but the appearance will change a little bit once it’s set again.
Caramelized peanuts
These caramelized peanuts are a great way to add a sweet crunchy element to your dishes or pastries. The sugar is caramelized until golden brown, creating a crunchy, glossy coating that adds a rich sweetness to the peanuts.
Ingredients
- 100 g sugar
- 150 g water
- 250 g peanuts
- Frying oil & salt
Instructions
- Mix the sugar with the water and bring this to a boil. Once it’s boiling add the peanuts and boil them on a low heat for 5 minutes. Then transfer them on an tray and let them cool down completely.
- When that’s done heat up some frying oil till it’s 160 degrees Celsius and add the peanuts. Now while mixing caramelize the peanuts till golden brown.
- Then take them out of the oil and season them with salt.
Salted caramel ganache
Ingredients
- 150 g sugar
- 60 g water
- 200 g cream
- 100 g white chocolate
- 3 g flaky salt
Instructions
- Mix the sugar with the water and caramelize this on a medium heat.
- Once it’s golden brown slowly while stirring add the cream. Then turn off the heat and add the white chocolate. Mix this. Now season it with the flaky salt and mix it once more.
- Then pour it in a bowl, cover it and let it set in your fridge.
The interior
Instructions
- Pipe a couple of thick lines of the the whipped vanilla ganache on a tray that’s lined with some plastic foil and then spread this till even with a pallet knife.
- Now repeat this with salted caramel ganache. It helps to heat up the pallet knife under hot water if the ganache sticks.
- Then cover the ganache completely with the caramelized peanuts. Give it a little push and then let it set completely in your freezer. Once frozen portion it and remove the plastic foil.
The chocolate sable
Ingredients
- 130 g butter
- 120 g icing sugar
- 25 g cacao powder
- 150 g flour
- 10 g baking powder
- 55 g egg yolk
Instructions
- Mix the butter with the icing sugar and knead this till it becomes fluffy and soft. Then add the cacao powder, the flour, the baking powder and the egg yolk. Now knead this till it’s a soft dough.
- Then transfer it on a silicon sheet and put another silicon sheet on top. Now roll it out with a rolling pin till it’s around 4 millimeters thick.
- Then bake it at 170 °C for around 25 minutes till baked.
- Then let it cool down completely before removing the silicon sheets. After that portion it and keep it for later.
The chocolate mousse
Ingredients
- 5 g gelatin 3 leaves
- 200 g milk
- 50 g cream 35% fat
- 50 g egg yolk
- 30 g sugar
- 250 g dark chocolate 62%
- 400 g cream 35% fat
Instructions
- First soak the gelatin in cold water.
- Meanwhile mix the milk with the cream, the egg yolk and the sugar. Mix this well and then while stirring heat it up till it’s 85 °C. Then dissolve the gelatin.
- Now add the dark chocolate and mix it till it’s emulsified. Once that’s done pour it in a bowl and let it cool down at room temperature.
- While that’s cooling down start beating the cream till it has a yoghurt consistency. Then while mixing add the chocolate mixture and fold it together.
- After that fill your desired molds halfway. Then press two of the frozen ganache interiors in the mousse and then add another layer of the chocolate mousse.
- Now as a final layer cover it with the chocolate sable and then let it freeze overnight till solid.
How to finish the bûche
Instructions
- Then next day gently remove the büche from the mold and place it on a tray.
- Now brush a thin layer of chocolate brush on top. This is a melted mixture of 200 grams of cacao butter and 200 grams of dark chocolate. Then let it defrost for at least 2 hours before serving.
