Chocolate bûche | New year's special

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 were 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.

The whipped vanilla ganache

3.3 grams or 2 leaves	gelatin
380 grams	double cream
1	vanilla pod
130 grams	white chocolate
100 grams	mascarpone

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 then 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.

The caramelized peanuts

100 grams	sugar
150 grams	water
250 grams	peanuts

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.

The salted caramel ganache

150 grams	sugar
60 grams	water
200 grams	cream
100 grams	white chocolate
3 grams	flaky salt

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

First back to the whipped vanilla ganache. Transfer it into a mixing bowl and whisk it till stiff peaks starts to form. This is going to take around 3 minutes. Don't over whisk it otherwise the ganache will separate. The ganache works great for many desserts, but also to finish some delicious pastries. When it’s done pipe a couple of thick lines 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

130 grams	butter
120 grams	icing sugar
25 grams	cacao powder
150 grams	flour
10 grams	baking powder
55 grams	egg yolk

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 degrees Celsius 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

3 leaves or 5 grams	gelatin
200 grams	milk
50 grams	cream
50 grams	egg yolk
30 grams	sugar
250 grams	dark chocolate
400 grams	cream

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 degrees Celsius. 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

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.