Dark chocolate, pear and cookie yule log

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C) using the traditional heat setting with the rack at the bottom of the oven. 

• Beat the butter with the sugars. 

• Then, add the eggs, whisking quickly to incorporate. 

• In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flours, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. 

• Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. 

• Whisk until you obtain a homogeneous mixture, without working it too hard. 

• Incorporate the chopped walnuts with an electric whisk. 

• Chop the Guanaja 70% dark chocolate, then incorporate it. 

• If necessary, stir again with a spatula so that the Guanaja 70% dark chocolate and walnuts are evenly distributed. 

• Spread the cookie dough into a 1cm-thick rectangle so that it is slightly larger than the base of the yule log mold. 

• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, remove from oven, and leave to cool on the tray.

Steps:

• Melt the Guanaja 70% dark chocolate in a bain-marie, then add the praliné and crispy wafer pieces. 
• Cut the cooled cookie into a rectangle smaller than the log mold (if your mold is 25cm long by 8cm wide, cut it into a rectangle 24 × 7cm in diameter). 
• Spread the crisp onto the cut-out cookie. 
• Allow the cookie with the crisp spread over it to set in the freezer for 1 hour.

Steps:

• Pour the pear purée into a saucepan and warm over low heat. 

• In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and pectin NH thoroughly. 

• Once the purée reaches around 105°F (40°C), gently add the mixed sugar and pectin. 

• Stir vigorously with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. 

• Fill the silicon insert of your log with this confit and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours.

Steps:

• Soak the gelatin in a large quantity of cold water for about 20 min. 
• Melt the Guanaja 70% dark chocolate. 
• Bring the milk to a boil and add the wrung-out gelatin. 
• Pour approximately ⅓ of the hot liquid over the melted chocolate and mix using a spatula to obtain a smooth, elastic, and shiny texture, the sign that an emulsion is beginning to form. 
• Add the remaining milk, taking care to maintain this texture. 
• Use a hand mixer to whip the heavy cream into a frothy chantilly cream. 
• When the chocolate mixture drops to a temperature of 85/95°F (30/35°C), gently add the frothy whipped cream using a spatula. 
• Fill half of the yule log mold with this mixture. 
• Then, position the pear confit insert (previously turned out) and the upside down cookie (crisp side first, facing the bottom of the mold). 
• Finish filling the yule log mold with the remaining light mousse up to the top of the mold. 
• Place in the freezer for a minimum of 3 hours.

Steps:

• Soak the gelatin in a large quantity of cold water for about 20 min. 

• Place the un-melted Guanaja 70% dark chocolate, concentrated milk, and gelatin (which you have allowed to dry) into a mixing bowl. 

• Bring the water, sugar, and glucose to a boil in a saucepan. 

• Pour over the mixture in the mixing bowl. 

• Mix using an immersion blender, taking care not to incorporate air (so as not to create bubbles in the glaze), and wait until the glaze has dropped back to 95°F (35°C) before using it.