Chocolate Hazelnut Yule Log

This recipe is very rich but not sickly sweet like the cheap sugary Yule log knock-offs sold in most grocery stores in my area.

It takes some time to make a real chocolate Yule log, but it's well worth the effort!
(This one is definitely another of my "invite lots of friends to share it with you" recipes!)



Ingredients:
For the cocoa genoise:

• 6 eggs, room temperature
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 6 tablespoons cocoa
  
• 1/3 cup water
  
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 3/4 cup flour

For the chocolate hazelnut cream:

• 2 oz. fine dark chocolate
  
• 6 tablespoons sugar
  
• 3 egg yolks
  
• 2 tablespoons flour
  
• 1 cup half & half cream
  
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico liqueur
  
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 100 grams ground hazelnuts

For the Frangelico Syrup:

• 1/4 cup water
  
• 1/3 cup sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons Frangelico liqueur

For the ganache:

• 8 oz fine dark chocolate
  
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
  
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico liqueur

Directions:

Prepare cocoa genoise:

Line 10 x 15 inch baking sheet with non-stick parchment paper.
(Butter and flour paper if non-stick variety is unavailable.)

Mix eggs and sugar together in a large bowl.
Place egg/sugar bowl into bath of very hot tap water.


Boil water in small pot.
Mix in sifted cocoa to form a paste.


Melt butter in a small bowl.
(Microwaving at 40% power works well for melting butter, or use a heavy sauce pan over low heat.)

Whip warmed eggs/sugar mixture until thickened.


Add one cup of egg/sugar mixture to cocoa paste.
Mix until smooth.


Add one cup of egg/sugar mixture to melted butter.
Mix until smooth.


Sift flour into remaining egg/sugar mixture.
Fold in cocoa and butter mixtures.


Pour batter onto baking sheet and smooth out to fill sheet.
Bake approximately 20 minutes at 400°F.

(When cake is done, it should be springy in the centre and come away from the sides of the pan easily. Be careful not to overcook the genoise and dry it out!)

Cover baked genoise with a fresh sheet of parchment paper and allow to cool.

Begin preparing chocolate hazelnut cream:

Chop chocolate into small pieces.


Whip yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar together until smooth and light.


Beat flour into eggs until smooth.

Mix remaining sugar with cream and bring to a boil.


Temper eggs by slowly adding half of hot cream to egg mixture, one spoonful at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Pour tempered eggs into pan with remaining cream and heat to boiling.
Stir constantly and continue to heat until custard is thickened.


Remove from heat.
Stir in liqueur.

Add chopped chocolate and mix until smooth.


Set cream mixture aside to cool.

Prepare Frangelico syrup:

Bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Remove from heat and stir in Frangelico.

Begin assembling cake:

Turn genoise out onto parchment paper on flat surface.
Trim any dried crusty edges off the cake.

Brush cooled Frangelico syrup over genoise.


Finish preparing chocolate hazelnut cream:

Cream butter until fluffy.
Add to cooled chocolate hazelnut cream and mix well.
Stir in ground hazelnuts until well blended.

Continue assembling cake:

Spread chocolate hazelnut cream over genoise, leaving a one inch strip along one short edge uncovered.


Starting at the uncovered edge, roll up the genoise.
Wrap rolled log tightly in parchment paper.
Place on flat tray and chill in refrigerator.

Prepare ganache:

Chop chocolate into small pieces.


Bring cream to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in Frangelico.

Pour heated cream/liqueur mixture over chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.


Allow ganache to cool, uncovered at room temperature, until a spreadable consistency is reached.

Finish assembling cake:

Remove rolled cake from parchment paper.
Place onto serving platter.
Spread ganache around circumference of cake, leaving ends exposed.
Draw fork tines across the ganache, lengthwise along cake, to create the bark effect.
Immediately prior to serving, dust icing sugar onto cake to represent snow, and decorate as desired.
Serve THIN slices. (This is a rich cake!)