Chocolate Yule log

Hazelnut dacquoise

Preheat the oven to 170°C

Roast the ground hazelnut by sautéing it for a few minutes in a pan over medium heat until it turns a light brown, be careful not to burn

In a bowl, mix 45g of roasted ground hazelnut and 50g of icing sugar with 15g of flour

In the mixing bowl of your food processor, add 65g of egg white and 25g of sugar

Whip the meringue until you get soft peaks, it should not be too stiff 

Add the meringue to the dry ingredients and mix gently

Place the batter in a piping bag and put to one side

Pipe the batter into a rectangle of 30cm x 12cm on a baking mat which has been placed on top of a perforated baking tray 

You can spread the dacquoise with a spatula if you do not have a pastry bag

Bake for 15 minutes at 170°C

Let it cool, unwrap and leave in fridge

Vanilla cream

Line the square stainless steel insert with clingfilm to make it waterproof

Boil the milk and the cream in a saucepan with the slit and scraped vanilla pod, let it cool then filter to remove the pod

Mix 30g of sugar and 1g of pectin and pour them over the milk and cream and vanilla mixture, whisking lightly

Pour everything into a saucepan and bring to a boil

Leave to cool and pour into the clingfilmed square stainless steel insert

Leave in the freezer for at least 6 hours

Dark chocolate mousse

Place the gelatine sheets in cold water or mix 3g of powdered gelatine with 15g of water and set aside for at least 10 minutes

Melt 140g of dark chocolate in a bain-marie

In a saucepan, heat the milk then add the squeezed gelatine sheets or 18g of the gelatine and water mixture

Pour the milk in three batches over the chocolate, mixing with a spatula

Let the ganache cool

Whip 230g of whipped cream into a soft whipped cream that is not too stiff

Add the whipped cream to the cooled ganache and mix with the spatula until a smooth and shiny mixture is obtained