I’m continuing the « Yule logs » series with this new recipe, a pistachio and red berry Yule log. I’d already made a pistachio and red berry Yule log recipe before the holidays, which I took to school, but today I’m offering you a slightly modified recipe.
I’d used the pistachio crémeux recipe from Mercotte for the first attempt, but I didn’t much like the « compact » texture (it was more like a pistachio pastry cream), so I started from a pistachio-flavoured crème anglaise to which I added gelatine. A real crémeux.
For the red berry mousse, I used the recipe by Chloé from the blog Chloé Délice (she had made a raspberry mousse). So in addition to the whipped cream, I added Italian meringue. And I used frozen red berries that I blended, rather than a ready-made fruit coulis like the first time. The taste is completely different.
As for the decoration, that’s quite a story. It was absolutely not supposed to look like this… I’d made a pink mirror glaze (the recipe by Imane from Le Meilleur Pâtissier) and I was quite pleased with the result. But when I went to place the log on its base and on the serving dish, it simply fell! Horror in the kitchen! I was in a right state :O Anyway, I had to hide the damage. I removed the glaze as best I could and made a lightly vanilla-flavoured mascarpone chantilly, coloured pink, which I applied using a piping bag fitted with a Yule log nozzle. And in the end, it’s rather pretty after all.
I didn’t eat any, but according to my family, it was delicious. It’s a slightly long recipe to make, but it doesn’t involve any particular difficulty, so go for it.
Ingredients & preparation
7 components · Full recipe
Pistachio Cremeux (make the day before)
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 45 g (1.6 oz) sugar
- 250 ml (8.5 fl oz) full-fat heavy cream
- 15 g (0.5 oz) pistachio paste
- 3 g (0.1 oz) gelatine (1½ sheets)
Preparation
1
Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water.
2
Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan.
3
In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar without whisking to a ribbon.
4
Pour the cream over the egg yolk mixture, whisk to combine, and return everything to the heat.
5
Cook to 83°C / 181°F, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula in a figure-eight motion. Do not let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble.
6
Off the heat, add the squeezed-out gelatine, then the pistachio paste, and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
7
Pour the pistachio cremeux into an insert mould and freeze.
Soft Pistachio Sponge
Ingredients
- 30 g (1.1 oz) ground almonds
- 55 g (1.9 oz) powdered sugar
- 7 g (0.2 oz) cornstarch
- 25 g (0.9 oz) pistachio powder
- 15 g (0.5 oz) pistachio paste
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 egg whites
- 20 g (0.7 oz) caster sugar
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel
- 40 g (1.4 oz) unsalted butter
Preparation
1
Lower the oven temperature to 180°C / 350°F and melt the butter.
2
In a food processor, blend together the ground almonds, powdered sugar, cornstarch, pistachio powder, pistachio paste, egg yolk and 80 g (2.8 oz) of raw egg whites.
3
Whip the remaining egg whites with the caster sugar and a pinch of fleur de sel to stiff peaks.
4
Fold the whipped whites into the pistachio mixture, then stir in the melted butter.
5
Spread the batter onto a sheet of parchment paper cut to the size of your mould and bake for about 15 minutes, until the sponge is firm.
Pistachio and Fleur de Sel Crisp
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) butter
- 50 g (1.8 oz) powdered sugar
- 25 g (0.9 oz) pistachios
- 50 g (1.8 oz) egg whites
- 50 g (1.8 oz) flour
- a little powdered sugar
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel
Preparation
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.
2
Blend the butter, powdered sugar, egg whites and flour together until smooth, then spread onto a sheet of parchment paper cut to the size of your mould.
3
Scatter the chopped pistachios over the top and dust lightly with powdered sugar.
4
Bake for about 10 minutes. The crisp should be golden and completely dry.
5
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Red Berry Mousse
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) red berry purée
- 75 g (2.6 oz) egg whites
- 150 g (5.3 oz) sugar (for the syrup)
- 35 g (1.2 oz) water
- 5 gelatine sheets
- 200 g (7.1 oz) whipped cream
Preparation
1
Blend the red berries and set the purée aside.
2
Begin the Italian meringue. Pour the egg whites into a mixing bowl.
3
Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat over medium heat with a thermometer.
4
Start whisking the egg whites on minimum speed while the syrup heats up.
5
When the syrup reaches 110°C / 225°F, increase to full speed to whip the whites to firm peaks.
6
When the syrup reaches 118°C / 244°F (do not exceed 120°C / 250°F), pour it in a thin stream over the whites while whisking at full speed. Once all the syrup is incorporated, continue whisking until the meringue is cool — this can take up to 10 minutes.
7
Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water.
8
Whip the cold heavy cream to soft peaks and keep refrigerated.
9
Gently heat one third of the red berry purée, squeeze out the gelatine and stir it in to dissolve. Off the heat, stir in the remaining purée.
10
Finally, gently fold in the Italian meringue and the whipped cream. Set aside.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Preparation
1
Pour three-quarters of the red berry mousse into the log mould and use a spatula to push it up the sides for a clean result. If needed, freeze for 5 minutes to let the mousse set slightly so the insert doesn’t sink.
2
Unmould the frozen pistachio cremeux insert and gently press it into the mousse. Cover with a thin layer of mousse.
3
Place the pistachio crisp on top and cover with another layer of mousse.
4
Finish with the soft pistachio sponge. Press lightly to embed it and smooth the surface with a spatula.
5
Cover with cling film and freeze overnight.
Vanilla Mascarpone Chantilly
Ingredients
- 110 g (3.9 oz) full-fat heavy cream
- 55 g (1.9 oz) mascarpone
- 1 heaped tablespoon powdered sugar
- a little vanilla extract
- a little pink gel food colouring
Preparation
1
Place the mixing bowl and electric whisk attachments in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
2
Put the mascarpone in the bowl and whisk briefly to soften.
3
Pour in the cold cream and start whisking at medium speed, then increase the speed as the cream thickens.
4
Check the consistency regularly by stopping the mixer — the cream is ready when it holds its shape completely and won’t fall out of an upturned bowl. Be careful not to over-whip or it will turn to butter.
5
When almost fully whipped, add the powdered sugar, pink food colouring and vanilla extract.
6
Transfer the chantilly to a piping bag fitted with a log-shaped tip.
Decoration
Ingredients
- None
Preparation
1
Remove the log from the freezer and unmould.
2
Pipe the chantilly along the entire length of the log, finishing with the ends.
3
Decorate as you like.
4
Transfer the frozen log onto a cake board and then onto a serving dish.
5
Allow the log to defrost in the fridge (allow approximately 5 to 6 hours).
Gallery
