Edible Christmas Candle

It's up to you.

9 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Preparing the moulds

   Turn the oven on at 170 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan). Cover the bottoms of 14 cm baking paper molds. Work the 180 g soft butter and 160 g sugar with a whisk for 2 minutes, until a soft cream. If you only have one mold, cook the two halves of dough one after the other.

2. Make the vanilla paste

   Break the 4 eggs one by one in a small bowl, check for any shell and then add them to the butter by whisking between each addition. Mix 200 g of flour and 6 g of baking powder separately. Incorporate these dry ingredients, then 50 g of milk and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Stop as soon as the dough is homogeneous.

3. Cook the two discs

   Spread the dough evenly in both moulds. Bake 28 to 30 minutes, until a blade planted in the center comes out without raw dough. Go out with oven gloves, wait 10 minutes then demoule on wire rack. Let cool 1 hour before cutting or garnishing.

4. Prepare the white ganache

   Chop 300 g of white chocolate in a dry bowl. Heat the 100 g of cream to small bubbles at the edge, then pour it over the chocolate. Wait 1 minute. Slowly mix from the center outwards until a smooth cream is obtained. Reserve 50 g of this ganache for the drips and let the rest thicken about 45 minutes at cool temperature.

5. Equalize and garnish

   Cut only the bump of the two cold cakes with a bread knife. Put the first one on the plate. Spread a thin crown of ganache on its edge, then spread the 120 g of cherry jam in the middle, leaving 1 cm free at the periphery. Place the second cake on top, flat face up.

6. Hold the cylinder

   Spread a thin layer of ganache over the whole cake to trap the crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Then cover with the rest of the unreserved and smooth ganache with the back of a large spoon. Keep the sides vertical and the top almost flat; very light traces evoke a craft wax.

7. Drawing of wax castings

   Warm up the 50 g of ganache reserved for a few seconds in a warm bain-marie: it should flow slowly, not be hot. With a small spoon, place 6 to 8 drops on the top edge and each grows just enough for it to go down 1 to 3 cm. Divide the surplus into a ring on top.

8. Create an edible wick

   Melt the 3 g of dark chocolate in a small spoon or bowl with a bain-marie. On baking paper, draw a small stick 2 cm long and 3 mm thick. Refrigerate for 10 minutes and then carefully detach. Place it in a slight depression in the center of the candle: it imitates an extinguished wick. Never turn it on.

9. Firming up before the cut

   Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut one part with a hot blade and then wiped to show the two layers of cake and the red cherry line. Leave the rest 20 minutes before serving; no real candle or inedible support remains in the cake.