Bánh khúc cây hương quế, vani & sô cô la

Vanilla, chocolate, and speculoos—this is the lineup for this year's log n°4! Contrary to other logs, the insert for this one does not need to be fully frozen for assembly as it is a rolled biscuit, so in terms of organization, you can do everything in one day if it suits you (but you can also of course prepare it over several days and freeze the different parts as you go along). Finally, if some want to enhance the speculoos aspect, you can add a little ground cinnamon to the vanilla mousse 😊
 
Materials:
Silikomart log mold (I used the mold without a patterned mat)
Thermometer
Whisk
Perforated baking sheet
Piping bags

Ingredients:
I used speculoos paste from Koro: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 5% off the entire site (non-affiliated).
I used Norohy vanilla & Jivara chocolate from Valrhona: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 20% off the entire site (affiliated).

Preparation time: 1h40 + 25 minutes baking + freezing/defrosting
For a 25cm log:

Milk chocolate speculoos ganache:
 
96g liquid cream
65g speculoos paste
65g milk chocolate
15g neutral honey, such as acacia
20g butter
 
Heat the cream with the honey.
Simultaneously, melt the chocolate. Add the speculoos paste.
Then, pour the hot cream over the chocolate-speculoos mixture in 3 parts, mixing well after each addition. When the ganache is smooth and glossy, add the butter in small pieces, and stir again until fully incorporated.
 

 
Cover the ganache and let it cool/fully crystallize.
 
Choux pastry biscuit:
 
50g whole milk
50g T55 flour
35g butter
35g whole eggs
70g egg whites
60g egg yolks
45g sugar
 
Bring the milk and butter to a boil.
 

 
Off the heat, add the flour all at once and stir well with a wooden spoon, then return the saucepan to medium heat to dry out the dough (that is, stir it over heat for a few minutes until a coating forms on the bottom of the saucepan).
 

 
Transfer the dough into the mixing bowl fitted with the flat beater and run it until the steam has escaped from the dough.
If you don't have a mixer, you can stir with a spatula, it will just take you longer. Gradually add the whole eggs and egg yolks until you have a homogeneous dough.
 

 
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then firm them up with sugar until fully dissolved.
 

 
Add a spoonful of meringue to the choux pastry while stirring vigorously, then gently fold in the rest using a spatula.
 

 
Spread the dough on a baking sheet covered with a silicone mat or parchment paper, forming a rectangle about 30cm by 25cm.
 

 
Bake the biscuit in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes (watch the end of baking, the biscuit must remain soft to be rolled). Let it cool.
 

 
Once the biscuit has cooled, and the ganache has a creamy texture, spread it in a thin layer over the biscuit.
 

 
Roll the biscuit, then trim the sides to get a roll 25cm in length.
 

 
Place it in the freezer while preparing the other elements.
 
Reconstructed speculoos base:

125g speculoos
45g butter
 
Grind the speculoos into powder.
 

 
Add the melted butter and mix well, then spread the mixture into parchment paper to the size of your log mold (24 x 7cm here).
 

 
Open the paper, then bake in the preheated oven at 180° for 10 minutes. Let it cool completely before moving the biscuit.
 

 
Vanilla mousse:

2.7g gelatin
70g whole milk
15g mascarpone
1 vanilla bean
15g granulated sugar (1)
25g egg yolks
10g granulated sugar (2)
300g whole liquid cream (30 or 35% fat)
 
Start by preparing the custard: put the gelatin in a bowl of cold water.
Bring the milk, mascarpone, vanilla seeds, and sugar (1) to a boil.
 

 
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar (2). Pour half of the boiling milk over them while whisking well, then pour everything back into the saucepan.
 

 
Cook over low heat until reaching 85°C. Add the rehydrated and squeezed gelatin, then let the cream cool.
 

 
Whip the very cold cream until you get a not too firm whipped cream.
 When the custard is about 30°C, add a small part of the whipped cream and incorporate it by mixing vigorously. Then gently add the rest of the whipped cream, being careful not to deflate the mixture.
 

 
Proceed immediately to assembly.
 
Assembly:

Pour half of the mousse into the log mold.
 

 
Add the rolled biscuit as an insert.
 

 
Cover with the mousse, then finish with the speculoos biscuit.
 

 
Place in the freezer until fully set.
 
Milk chocolate & speculoos whipped ganache, decoration:

175g milk chocolate at 40%
380g whole liquid cream
50g speculoos paste 
1 speculoos biscuit 
 
Gently melt the milk chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Add the speculoos paste. Heat half of the cream, then pour it in three parts over the melted chocolate, mixing well each time to create an emulsion. 
 

 
Add the second half of cold cream, mix well, then cover with film and store in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. 
 

 
Unmold the log, place it on your serving dish, and let it defrost in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Then, whip the ganache until it reaches a whipped cream consistency. 
 

 
Pipe it onto the log, decorate with crumbled speculoos, and finally, enjoy!