BOUCHE DE NOEL ("La Technique", J. Pepin)
This recipe is made up of quite a few bits and pieces; individual techiniques in Pepin's book.
Creme Patissiere (Custard filling) (Yields about 2 c. of custard)
1 c. milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. flour
Bring the milk to a boil and set aside. Place the yolks, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and work with a wire whisk until it reaches ribbon stage, 3 to 4 minutes. [Ribbon stage has the eggs a light yellow and stiff enough to form a ribbon of mix when the whisk's lifted from the bowl.] Add the flour and mix well.
Temper the eggs by adding half the hot milk to the eggs and stirring well. Pour that mix back into the remaining milk, whisking as you go.
Bring to a boil on medium heat. Reduce heat and stir constantly for two to three minutes, whisking constantly to prevent scorching. Be sure to get into the "corners" of the saucepan by pushing the whisk hard up against the sides of the pan. The custard should be quite thick.
Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill.
Biscuit Roule (Rolled Cake)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 stick (2 Tbs) butter, melted
Preheat oven to 330F.
Place the eggs, yolk, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Bring the mix to a lukewarm temperature by placing over a pot of boiling water for a few moments. Remove from heat and beat on high speed for five to six minutes. Gradually add the flour, then the butter, continuing to mix.
Lighly butter a 16 x 12 inch cookie sheet in several spots, then line with parchment paper or waxed paper. (The butter holds the paper in place.) Butter and flour the paper. Spread the mix evenly over the paper. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes.
Remove from oven and let sit for five minutes. Place a piece of wax paper on the table and invert the cake upside down onto the paper. [Note: I'll lighly flour the wax paper next time -- I found the moist cake really stuck to the paper later on.] Remove the paper which covered the bottom of the cake, then place it back on the cake. Let the cake cool to barely lukewarm, then roll between the two sheets of paper. Fold ends to seal the cake and refrigerate or hold in a plastic bag until ready to use.
Chocolate Butter Cream
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
3 egg yolks
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter, softened
2 - 3 drops green food coloring
Melt the chocolate in a small bowl and set aside. [I coarsely chop my chocolate, then microwave it.] Mix the sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and boil for two minutes over medium heat. Set aside and let cool to lukewarm or cooler.
Place the egg yolks in the bowl of a mixer and pour the cooled syrup over the top. Beat at high speed for five minutes until the mix is thick and pale yellow. Add the butter bit by bit, mixing at low to medium speed until smooth. Remove 1 Tbs and color with green food coloring. Remove another 2 Tbs and set aside. Mix the melted chocolate into the remaining butter cream mix, beating until smooth. Set aside.
FINALLY, ASSEMBLING THE LOG
3 Tbs lukewarm water
1 Tbs dark rum
1 Tbs sugar
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. creme patissiere
Mix the water, rum and sugar together. Set aside. Beat the heavy cream until stiff and combine with creme patissiere. Set aside.
Unroll the biscuit roule and remove the waxed paper on top. Sprinkle or brush with rum syrup and spread the creme patissiere over the top. Carefully roll the cake up across the width (so the log's as long as possible), removing the paper as you go.
Slice one end of the roll, cutting off an angled piece about 2" thick:
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Place that slice on the top of the log to form a stump:
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Hopefully my bad ASCII art makes sense...
Spread the chocolate cream all over the log, covering the log ends and stump top with the white butter cream. Pull the tines of a fork down the length of the log to simulate bark. Decorate the ends of the log and the top of the stump with chocolate butter cream to simulate the grain of the wood: use a paper cornet (parchment folded into a triangular envelope, with a tiny bit of the tip trimmed off) or a plastic sandwich bag. Use another paper cornet or plastic bag to pipe the green frosting to simulate ivy vines and leaves.
If you're *REALLY* fancy (which I wasn't this year), use all the leftover egg whites to make meringue mushrooms to decorate the stump.
Notes from my first experiment:
1) The custard and whipped cream need to be *very* thick. My custard wasn't quite thick enough, so the log sagged somewhat during and after assembly. It still looks fine, more like a lengthwise slice from a log rather than a log itself.
2) Make the custard first and plunk it in the fridge, then make the biscuit roule. As the roule is cooking and cooling, first whip the cream, then make the sugar syrup and butter creams.
3) It looks way cool when you finish it, but it looks even better after 20 or 30 minutes in the fridge for the butter cream to harden.