Gingerbread & Dulcey Chocolate Yule Log

Come on, we are almost at Christmas, just a few more recipes to publish before closing the chapter on this year's logs! Here is a recipe full of sweetness, one of my two favorites of 2024 alongside the exotic charlotte log, a gingerbread and dulcey chocolate log. It's one of the simplest to make, with comforting flavors and soft textures 😊

Equipment:
Thermometer
Whisk
Perforated baking sheet
Silikomart log mold (I used the mold without the patterned mat)

Ingredients:
I used Dulcey chocolate from Valrhona: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 20% off the entire site (affiliate).

Preparation time: 1 hour minutes + 15 minutes cooking + 1 night of rest + freezing/thawing time
For a 25 cm long log:

Dulcey cinnamon namelaka insert:

50g whole milk
100g whole liquid cream
85g dulcey
1g gelatin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Rehydrate the gelatin in cold water.
Heat the milk with the cinnamon, add the rehydrated gelatin. Pour over the previously melted chocolate, mix well. Then add the cold cream and blend with an immersion blender.

Cover with plastic wrap and let cool and crystallize for several hours in the refrigerator.
Then, you can place the namelaka in an insert mold and freeze it, or if you're in a hurry, you can pipe it directly into the center of the mousse during assembly.

Gingerbread biscuit:

55g water
25g sugar
1.5g star anise
The zest of half a lemon and half an orange
20g acacia honey
20g chestnut honey
55g T55 flour
1 pinch of mixed spice
3.5g baking soda
1 pinch of salt
35g butter

Melt the butter.
Bring the water and sugar to a boil, then off the heat add the star anise and citrus peels. Cover and let infuse for 15 minutes, then strain and pour over the honeys. Cook to 55°C. Pour half of the liquid over the sifted powders, mix, then add the remaining liquid. Finally, add the melted butter. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for 1 night.

Then, pour the dough into a mold of the right size and bake for about 15 minutes at 180°C (check the cooking with the blade of a knife).

Vanilla & gingerbread mousse:

2.7g gelatin
75g whole milk
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon gingerbread spice
14g granulated sugar (1)
23g egg yolks
8g granulated sugar (2)
300g liquid cream

Start by preparing the custard: put the gelatin in a bowl of very cold water.
Bring the milk, scraped vanilla bean, spices, and sugar (1) to a boil.
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar (2). Pour half of the boiling milk over it while whisking well, then pour everything back into the pan. Cook over low heat until it reaches 85°C. Add the rehydrated and wrung-out gelatin, then let the cream cool.
Beat the cold liquid cream until you get a chantilly that's not too firm.

When the custard is at 26°C, add a small part of the chantilly and incorporate it by mixing vigorously. Then gently add the rest of the chantilly, being careful not to deflate the mixture.

Assembly:

Pour 2/3 of the mousse into the bottom of the mold. Add the dulcey namelaka insert in the center (if you haven't frozen it, pipe it with a piping bag).

Add the rest of the mousse, then finally the gingerbread biscuit. Smooth well and place in the freezer until fully set.

Decoration:

120g dulcey chocolate
40g neutral oil
1 pinch gingerbread spice

When the log is frozen, unmold it and place it on your serving dish.
Melt the chocolate, add the neutral oil. Spread it onto the log with a brush (be careful not to make the layer too thick). Sprinkle with some spices, then place in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 hours to thaw before enjoying it!