Chocolate Hazelnut Bûche de Noël Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs (room temperature)
• 100 g caster sugar (super-fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 65 g plain flour (all-purpose)
• 35 g cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting)
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 480 ml double cream (heavy cream) (cold)
• 45 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 210 g chocolate hazelnut spread
• 100 g dark chocolate 70% (finely chopped)
• 35 g whole hazelnuts, toasted (optional)

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Chocolate Sponge ---

2. 2

   Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F)Prepare your pan. Grease with butter or spray with non-stick spray the base and sides of a 25x38cm (10x15-inch) baking pan /swiss roll pan/jelly roll pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, ensuring the paper overhangs the pan's sides. This will help you later when trying to remove the sponge from the tin. Grease the parchment paper with butter, as this will help with peeling the paper off once the sponge has baked.

3. 3

   Whisk egg whites. Using handheld electric beaters or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium to high speed until soft peaks form.

4. 4

   Whip the egg yolks and sugar. In a separate bowl, whip the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract on medium-high for 5 minutes until the mixture is light and creamy. When lifting out the whisk, you want to see trails of the mixture on the surface of the batter for a few seconds.

5. 5

   Sift dry ingredients. Into a separate bowl, sift in the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt and whisk together.Add dry ingredients and add egg whites in two parts. Add half the cocoa flour mixture directly to the egg yolk mixture in the bowl. Add in half the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture until the flour and egg whites are just incorporated. Then, add the remaining cocoa flour mixture and the remaining egg whites. Again, fold through until just a few flour streaks remain. This will ensure that you don't overmix. Fold them in with a light touch to maintain all the trapped air. This is one of the reasons why the sponge is so light and airy.

6. 6

   Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake/wiggle the pan to help guide the batter into the pan's corners. Use an offset spatula if necessary to help smooth out the batter.Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean and springs back when pressed lightly.Cool: Remove the baking pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes until the sponge is warm and not steaming hot. It's important not to miss out on this step.

7. 7

   Prepare your tea towel. Whilst the sponge is baking, lay a tea towel or piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust generously with cocoa powder. (Alternatively, sprinkle with caster sugar or dust with powdered icing sugar).

8. 8

   Invert the sponge onto the tea towel. Once the sponge has baked, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool for ten minutes. Then, invert the sponge onto the tea towel. Peel off the parchment paper. Gently peel off the parchment paper on the bottom of the sponge. Roll sponge up. Starting from the sponge's short end, using your hands, roll the sponge up gently but firmly until it is totally rolled into the tea towel (or parchment paper). Set the roll aside with its seam side down to cool completely.

9. 9

   --- Whipped Cream ---

10. 10

    Whilst the sponge roll is cooling, make the sweetened whipped cream.Whisk the cream. Add the cream into a bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until soft peaks form. Add the icing sugar, vanilla bean paste, and hazelnut liquor and whisk until firm peaks form.

11. 11

    Make the chocolate cream. Remove half of the sweetened whipped cream from the bowl and set aside. This is the filling for the cake roll. Sift in the cocoa powder into the remaining whipped cream. Fold through with a spoon until combined. The chocolate cream is now ready for the outside of the roll. Cover and refrigerate both creams .

12. 12

    --- Fill and Roll the Cake ---

13. 13

    Fill roll with chocolate hazelnut spread. If the hazelnut spread is quite solid due to it being cold- microwave it for ten seconds or so to loosen it up to a more spreadable consistency. Unroll the sponge and spread over evenly

14. 14

    Spread over cream and re-roll. Dollop the firmly whipped cream over the chocolate spread and, with an offset spatula, spread to an even layer over the sponge. From the short end, re-roll the sponge back up taking care not to squeeze the filling out and wrap in baking paper and plastic wrap to keep the roll secure. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Longer if you have the time.

15. 15

    --- Make the Chocolate Bark ---

16. 16

    Melt the chocolate and refrigerate. Melt the finely chopped chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water, stirring until fully melted. Then spread chocolate thinly and evenly over a piece of parchment paper the same width, or slightly bigger than the cake roll.Place another piece of parchment over the top and then roll the two tightly together into a tube. I wrapped this in plastic wrap so that it wouldn't un-roll. Refrigerate until the chocolate is solid.

17. 17

    Make the chocolate shards. Once the chocolate is completely cool, unroll the baking paper. You'll hear the chocolate cracking as the paper unfurls and flattens. Remove the top layer of paper and you'll have loads of chocolate shards. If any are still too big then break them up further.

18. 18

    --- Decorate ---

19. 19

    Decorate the cake roll. Unwrap the cake roll and place it on your serving platter. Smother the roll all over with the chocolate whipped cream. The cream must be at the firm peak stage otherwise, it won't hold its shape.Then, place the chocolate bark shards all over the top and sides. Leave the two ends free. The chocolate can overlap and be irregular- just like a real tree bark would be. Sprinkle the finely chopped nuts all over, making sure they get into all the cracks of the bark. Sprinkle the remainder around the base of the Bûche de Noël. Then dust simply with icing sugar add a sprig of holly and your Yule log is complete! Refrigerate until ready to serve.