Here’s the last Yule log recipe before Christmas. You now have plenty of choice to impress your family on Christmas Eve! This one, I really love. I’m offering you a blackcurrant, blueberry and vanilla Yule log.
Blackcurrant is a flavour I appreciate more and more, I must say, probably thanks to its tangy side that takes me straight back to childhood.
I took my inspiration from Christophe Felder’s blueberry vanilla Yule log recipe, published in his very latest book “Bûches” (a magnificent book that I highly recommend). But I made a few changes. I wanted a little crunchy layer, so I added a streusel to the madeleine sponge. I also used Julien‘s vanilla mousse recipe, already tried and tested. As for the decoration, I took my inspiration from the latest dessert by Jerôme Pâtisse — his dessert had caught my eye! Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to do exactly what I wanted. I’m still very happy with the result.
After letting my colleagues taste it, I decided to present this dessert at a Yule log competition organised by my local Zôdio store last week. It’s always nice to get feedback on your work, and I got lots of positive comments. The store’s customers could also taste it and they were delighted — and so was I, as a result.
Once again, don’t be put off by the length of the recipe. It’s well worth the effort, especially when it comes to Christmas Eve!
Ingredients & method
7 components · Full recipe
Blackcurrant Blueberry Jelly (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) blackcurrant purée
- 150 g (5.3 oz) blueberry purée (I roughly crushed fresh blueberries)
- 30 g (1.1 oz) sugar
- 4 g (0.1 oz) pectin
Method
1
In a saucepan, heat the blackcurrant purée and blueberry purée (or roughly crushed fresh blueberries).
2
Off the heat, add the sugar/pectin mixture and stir with a whisk (it’s important to mix the sugar and pectin together beforehand to avoid lumps).
3
Bring back to the boil and cook for 2 minutes.
Streusel
Ingredients
- 40 g (1.4 oz) butter
- 40 g (1.4 oz) brown sugar
- 50 g (1.8 oz) ground almonds
- 40 g (1.4 oz) flour
- a pinch of fleur de sel
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F fan.
2
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together.
3
Roll the dough to 3–4 mm thick and cut a rectangle (mine was 31×11 cm (4.3 in)) using a frame. Keep the frame for baking.
4
Bake for about 15 minutes.
Lemon Madeleine Sponge
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) butter
- 2 eggs
- 120 g (4.2 oz) sugar
- 25 g (0.9 oz) milk
- 5 g (0.2 oz) lemon juice
- 75 g (2.6 oz) olive oil
- 125 g (4.4 oz) flour
- 4 g (0.1 oz) baking powder
- zest of one lemon
Method
1
Melt the butter in the microwave and leave to cool.
2
In a bowl, mix the eggs and sugar and beat vigorously for one minute. Add the lemon zest then the cooled melted butter. Mix again.
3
Add the milk, lemon juice and olive oil. Stir well, then gently fold in the sifted flour and baking powder. The batter should be smooth and homogeneous.
4
After the 15 minutes of streusel baking time, pour the madeleine batter on top (I poured 280 g (9.9 oz) of batter and baked the rest in a separate mould). Spread evenly with the back of a spoon and bake at 160°C / 325°F for 25–30 minutes. Check doneness with a knife — the blade should come out clean.
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
Ingredients
- 30 g (1.1 oz) egg yolks
- 30 g (1.1 oz) sugar
- 100 g (3.5 oz) milk
- 15 g (0.5 oz) heavy cream
- 1 vanilla pod
- 5 g (0.2 oz) vanilla extract
- 300 g (10.6 oz) heavy cream
- 4 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine (= 2 sheets)
- 24 g (0.8 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in water.
2
Heat the milk with half the sugar and the split, scraped vanilla pod.
3
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar.
4
Pour the milk over the yolk-sugar mixture, mix well and return everything to a low heat.
5
Cook to 83°C / 181°F, stirring constantly with a spatula. Be careful not to let the custard boil.
6
Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine. Leave to cool. You can pass the custard through a fine-mesh sieve or blend with a stick blender to remove any lumps. Whip the heavy cream, but not too stiff — it should be lightly whipped and airy.
Assembly of the Blackcurrant Blueberry Vanilla Yule Log
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Place a guitar sheet inside the yule log mould (this step is unnecessary if, like me, you use a silicone mould).
2
Pour three-quarters of the vanilla mousse and bring it up along the sides for a neat finish.
3
Remove the insert from the freezer and gently press it into the mousse, right in the centre.
4
Cover with another layer of mousse (leave about 1 cm (0.4 in)).
5
Finish with the streusel + madeleine sponge base (streusel on the outside). Press gently to embed it and smooth the surface with a spatula.
Decoration
Ingredients
- a white velvet spray
- tempered white chocolate (coloured purple)
- sugar paste flowers
- meringues
Method
1
Either you’ve invested in a paint spray gun (which is only used for this, obviously), or you do like me and use ready-made velvet spray cans. But whatever you use, there are a few rules to follow if you don’t want to redecorate your kitchen!
2
Remove the yule log from the freezer, unmould it and place it on a wire rack. I personally stopped spraying inside my dishwasher as it still left marks after washing — and we have a new dishwasher so let’s take care of it. I use whatever I have on hand to protect the work surface (cardboard, packaging, plastic bags or parchment paper…). Spray a thin coat from a distance of 30–40 cm (15.7 in).
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Ingredients
- None
Method
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