Crispy chocolate, hazelnut and orange Christmas log
Chocolate / hazelnut / orange
The family log has changed its texture.
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Prepare the plate and weigh the ingredients
Preheat the oven to 180 °C, conventional setting (no fan). Cover a baking tray of 30 x 40 cm of baking paper marking the corners. Weigh 100 g of sugar, 90 g of flour and 20 g of cocoa separately from the sponge. Keep the 250 g of mascarpone and 180 g of whipping cream in the refrigerator. Prepare a clean, barely wet dish without dripping water, and a dish that enters the refrigerator.
Lather eggs and sugar
Break the four eggs one by one into a small bowl to check for the lack of shell, then pour them into a large bowl. Add the 100 g of sugar. Whisk with an electric mixer for 5 to 7 minutes, until a pale mixture has about tripled in volume. When picking up the whisks, the dough should fall back into a thick ribbon, the trace of which remains briefly visible on the surface.
Incorporate the dry ingredients and spread the sponge
Sift together the 90 g of flour and the 20 g of cocoa above the mixture, in two. With each addition, slip a spatula at the bottom of the bowl and roll up the dough by folding it gently; turn the bowl and start again until the traces of flour disappear. Don't mess around. Pour on the plate and spread up to four angles keeping a regular thickness, without leaving a thick center and transparent edges.
Cook without drying
Place the baking tray in the middle of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Start checking after 10 minutes: the surface should no longer look wet, and it slightly resumes its shape when you touch it with your fingertip. The edges remain flexible. Pull out the baking tray with oven gloves as soon as the sponge is cooked; prolonged cooking would make it harder to roll.
Preroll and let cool
Place the prepared cloth on the worktop. Turn the hot sponge over carefully, removes the baking tray and then gently peels off the baking paper. Starting from an edge of 30 cm, roll the sponge with the tea towel inside, without squeezing or crushing. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes. Prepare the crisp during this time. The sponge must be completely cold before receiving the cream; if it remains warm, prolongs this cooling.
Make a thin plate of crispy
Chop the 100 g of milk chocolate and put them in a perfectly dry bowl. Place this bowl on top of a saucepan containing some simmering water, without its bottom touching the water. Gently mix until melted, remove the bowl and wipe its underside. Fold in the 50 g crumbled crisp crêpe dentelle wafers into the spatula. On baking paper, spread the whole mixture in a rectangle of 28 x 20 cm, in a regular layer of about 2 to 3 mm. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, while the sponge cools, then breaks into small bursts of up to 1 cm. Do not keep a large rigid plate.
Prepare the orange
Cut the 60 g of candied orange peels into regular small dice so that they are easily distributed in the spiral. Wash and wipe the orange, then finely remove its zest by grating only the colored part, without the white skin. Keep the dice and zest separate: the dice will go into the filling, the zest into the cream.
Whip the chilled praline cream
Put the 250 g of cold mascarpone, the 180 g of cold whipping cream and the 70 g of hazelnut praline paste in a bowl. The praline paste should be flexible, but neither warm nor warm; stir it with a spatula in its pot if necessary, without heating it. Whisk first slowly to combine the ingredients, then at medium speed until a cream that keeps track of the whisk and forms a stiff peak. Stop it as soon as it holds, before it becomes grainy. Incorporate the zest into the spatula. Reserve a third of this cream in the refrigerator for the top.
Garnish without forming extra thickness
Gently unroll the sponge completely cold without trying to flatten it by force. Spread the remaining two thirds of cream in a regular layer, keeping about 2 cm free at the edge which will finish the rolling. Spread the 60 g of orange dice and then all the small crispy chips on the cream. Avoid piles and superimposed pieces: a fine distribution makes it easier to roll. Keep the closing edge free and does not pour any melted chocolate into the cream.
Roll and lay the closure underneath
Leave on the same edge of 30 cm as when pre-rolling. Lift the tea towel to accompany the first turn, then roll the sponge on itself by gradually removing the tea towel. Keep the roll with your hands without pressing to the point of chasing the cream. Put the log on its plate, with the closure underneath. Cut a thin slice at each end to show the spiral; keep these offcuts to serve them next to.
Cover with cream and let it take
Spread the third of reserved cream on the top and sides with a spatula. Make a few wide movements; it is not necessary to obtain a perfectly smooth surface. Do not add any unplanned decor to the ingredients. Place the log in the refrigerator for 3 hours, protected without a lid or film touching the cream.
Cut the eight parts
Take out the log at the time of service. Use a clean blade and cut eight parts without crushing the spiral. Wipe the blade between the slices to remove the cream and crispy crumbs. The small chips are distributed in the garnish: the recipe does not form a large insert full of chocolate. Put the rest in the refrigerator after the service.
Conservation. Keep covered in the refrigerator and consume within 24 hours. Leave for 10 minutes before serving.
Namely. Recipe proposal: follow the quantities and texture marks of the card. Indicative times. The rendering depends on the ingredients and materials used. The objects of the photographic decoration remain out of the dish.
Before you start
This crispy Christmas log combines a sponge rolled with cocoa, a cream with mascarpone and hazelnut praline paste, then milk chocolate chips mixed with crisp crêpe dentelle wafers lace. Orange intervenes in two ways: the zest perfumes the cream and the small candied dice are distributed in the garnish. When cut, the spiral shows the layers and reveals the contrast between soft sponge, cream and crispy pieces.
Choose this recipe for a log to share in eight parts, with a spatula finish rather than a icing to pour. The most delicate moment is the rolling: the sponge preforms in a clean, slightly damp cloth, then receives its filling after cooling. Keep the cream ingredients cold and reserves the necessary place in the refrigerator for the final three hours of rest. The crisp is prepared during the cooling stages.
The benchmarks for success
Distinguish pre-rolling and trim
The first roll gives shape to the sponge still flexible, with the tea towel. The cream does not intervene until after cooling, during the second run. Slowly unwinds and avoids straining the sponge to make it perfectly flat.
Distribute the small fragments
Spread the crisp over 28 x 20 cm, then break it into small pieces after taking it cold. Spread them over the cream without forming a pile. A large rigid plate or a line that is too thick would interfere with running and would press on the sponge.
Reserve the cream of the decor
Separate one-third of the cream from the outside before filling. Spread the orange dice into the inner part, then cover the top with the rest. A few wide spatula passages are enough; the decor does not need to be perfectly smooth.
Questions Before You Start
What makes this log crisp?
Crispy comes from milk chocolate mixed with crumbled crisp crêpe dentelle wafers. After a cool take in a thin layer, this mixture is broken into small fragments and distributed in the garnish. It brings crunch to the spiral, without forming a solid insert.
Can I keep the sponge warm?
Wait for it to cool down before spreading the mascarpone cream. The sponge is rolled a first time with the towel, then unrolled to be garnished. Preparing the cream and crisp during this time facilitates the organization.
Should I add a chocolate icing?
Nope. A third of the reserved cream already covers the top of the log. The plug provides a finish in large strokes of spatula, followed by three hours in the refrigerator before cutting.
Baking tips for this recipe
- Preheat the oven according to the plug and prepare the mold before mixing the last ingredients.
- Uses the dimensions and cooking mode indicated: a higher or wider mold changes the cooking of the center.
- Follow the visual cues of step by step in addition to the duration. Respect the intended cooling before unmoulding or decorating.
Substitutions and variations
To vary a zest, choose another citrus fruit washed and intended for this use, keeping the same amount. Does not automatically replace juice, whose acidity can change the preparation.
Keep the type of chocolate provided for the structure or ganache. Switching from dark chocolate to white chocolate changes the balance: the quantities do not transpose directly.
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