Recipe of the month

My beautiful christmas tree

Chocolate mousse

  • Milk 160 g
  • Cream 35% fat 160 g
  • Egg yolks 65 g
  • Caster sugar 30 g
  • Chocolate 63% 220 g
  • Whipped cream 35% fat 600 g

Make a crème anglaise and pour onto the chocolate to create an emulsion. Cool the chocolate mixture and fold in the lightly whipped cream.


Flourless chocolate sponge

  • Chocolate 63% 400 g
  • Butter 220 g
  • Egg yolks 200 g
  • Egg whites 400 g
  • Caster sugar 220 g
  • Cornstarch 40 g

Melt the chocolate and butter to 45°C, add the starch and egg yolks. Whip the egg whites
with the sugar and fold the two mixtures together. Spread 1,200 g per tray. Bake at 190°C
and once cooled cut rectangles of 50 cm long, by 6.5 cm wide for the base of the finishing.


Vanilla chantilly

  • Cream 35% fat 1,000 g
  • Icing sugar 60 g
  • Vanilla beans 2 pieces
  • Gelatin 5 leaves

Warm the cream to infuse the vanilla, add the icing sugar and finish with the gelatin. Leave to set for 12 hours in the refrigerator.


Praline crunch

  • Hazelnut praline 450 g
  • Hazelnut paste 150 g
  • Feuillantine 300 g
  • Milk chocolate 150 g

Melt the chocolate at 45°C and add the praline, hazelnut paste and fold in the feuilletine.
Spread out in between two baking sheets to have a regular thickness. Cut rectangles 50 cm by 6.5 cm.


Raspberry confit

  • Raspberry puree 400 g
  • Caster sugar 150 g

Cook the puree with the sugar to 105°C, set aside for the finishing.


Raspberry sphere

  • Raspberry puree 250 g
  • Gelatin 10 g
  • Cream 35% fat 190 g
  • Egg whites 75 g
  • Caster sugar 75 g

Boil the cream and puree and add the gelatin. Whip the egg whites with the sugar and fold into the previous mixture. Pour the mousse into 2.5 cm dome moulds. Once frozen,
stick them together.


Red glaze

  • Cream 130 g
  • Neutral glaze 150 g
  • Water 85 g
  • Gelatin 22 g
  • Caster sugar 230 g
  • Glucose 230 g
  • Cocoa butter 55 g
  • Red colorant as needed

Heat the cream, glaze, water and soaked gelatin to 45°C and add the sugar. Boil for 1 minute and pour onto the glucose, cocoa butter, the colorant and use the glaze at 30-23°C.


Green chocolate spray

  • Cocoa butter 250 g
  • White chocolate 250 g
  • Green colorant as needed

Heat all of the ingredients to 45°C and spray onto the Christmas trees and bands out of the freezer to have a nice velvet effect.

Dark hazelnut glaze with gold flakes

  • Couverture extra noir, chopped 400 g
  • Cream 35% fat 250 g
  • Neutral glaze 700 g
  • Gold leaf 5 leaves

Make a ganache with the chocolate and the cream and finish at 45°C with the neutral glaze. Add the gold leaves and mix with a hand mixer.


Finishing

Pour the chocolate mousse into log moulds. On the sponge spread the raspberry confit and pipe lengths of chantilly, placing fresh raspberries into the chantilly. Close with a second sponge and smoothen with the chocolate mousse, finishing with the crunch. After the log is frozen, pour the dark glaze on the top and place onto a cake board. Glaze the spheres with the red glaze and place onto the top of the glazed log.


Decoration

Spread tempered chocolate onto acetate sheets and cut pout two Christmas trees. Do not forget the two bands on the sides of the logs as well. After the chocolate has crystallised, place the elements in the freezer to be sprayed.

Recipe given by

Chef Pâtissier, Chenouf Reda Sous-chef Pâtissier, Grand Hôtel Café de la Paix, Paris

The idea?

The idea came when brainstorming ideas from the Christmas spirit. The idea was to represent a Christmas tree and its decorations.


The shape?

The shape of a Christmas tree with its famous red balls. We added flakes of chcoolate to intensify the festive spirit of Christmas.


The flavours?

We decided to stay true to traditional flavours of a yule log by combining the sweetness of vanilla the warmness of chocolate while adding notes of raspberry and praline.


The technical step?

Take care when touching the chocolate decoration before decorating the finished product.


Careful

To correctly finish this recipe, take care to respect the temperatures of the glazes

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