Chocolate Chestnut Log with Rum Cherry

The Christmas log is a popular Christmas treat in France. The traditional log is a sponge roll with butter cream. But with the advent of silicone molds, the recipe for your favorite treat has changed a lot. These days, Christmas logs are made like mousse cakes, with icing or chocolate velor coating.

Cook: 3h 50mins

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients

• 250 g pitted cherries (fresh or frozen)
• 100 g dark rum

For a biscuit:

• 15 g butter
• 20 g flour
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 50 g marzipan 70%
• 2 yolks
• 2 squirrels
• 15 g sugar

For chestnut cream:

• 5 g sheet gelatin
• 115 ml of cream with a fat content of 33%
• 20 g sugar
• 180 g chestnut puree

For chantilly cream:

• 1 vanilla pod
• 200 ml of cream with a fat content of 33%
• 10 g sugar

For the chestnut puree:

• 200 g peeled chestnuts
• 300 ml milk

For the chocolate orange mousse:

• 2 g sheet gelatin
• 1 yolk
• 10 g sugar
• 5 g cornstarch
• 50 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 80 g chocolate with 70% cocoa content
• 10 ml Grand Marnier liqueur
• 140 ml of cream with a fat content of 33%

For chocolate velor:

• 100 g chocolate with 70% cocoa content
• 80 g cocoa butter

Directions

1. Prepare a metal or silicone mold for the log 10×30 cm. If the mold is metal, line it with an acetate film and straighten it so that the film is smooth and wrinkle-free.
2. Rum cherry. Put the cherries in a plastic bag, pour in the rum, remove the air from the bag and seal it. Put in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then put the cherries on a sieve, save the rum.
3. Chestnut puree. Place the chestnuts in a saucepan, pour in the milk and place over medium heat. Cook until chestnuts are tender. Remove the chestnuts and grind with a blender. Add more milk if required to make a smooth puree.
4. Biscuit. Preheat oven to 180 ° C in 30 minutes. before baking. Melt the butter and cool. Sift flour and cocoa together. Use a hand blender to combine the marzipan and yolks until smooth. Pour the marzipan mixture into the bowl of the planetary mixer and beat at high speed until an airy mass is formed.
5. Whisk the whites and sugar until soft peaks and add to the marzipan mixture. Add flour mixture slowly while whisking. Pour in the melted butter and gently stir into the dough.
6. Chocolate orange mousse. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Combine yolk and sugar with cornstarch until smooth. In a saucepan, bring the orange juice and zest to a boil. Pour the hot juice into the yolk mixture in a thin stream, stirring all the time with a whisk. Then pour the cream back into the saucepan, return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, add the chocolate and stir well. Cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap and cool. Add liqueur to the cream. Whisk the cream until soft peaks and stir gently until you get a smooth, shiny mousse.
7. Chantilly cream. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla seeds.
8. Chestnut cream. Soak gelatin in cold water, squeeze and melt in the microwave. Whisk the cream and sugar until soft peaks. Add cream to the chestnut puree and stir. Pour warm gelatin into cream and stir until smooth.
9. Chocolate velor. Melt chocolate and mix with cocoa butter. Set aside until assembly.
10. Log assembly. Place the chocolate mousse in a log tray about 1.5 cm thick (leave 50 g of mousse). Place the dish in the freezer for 15–20 minutes. Place a 1.5 cm layer of chantilly cream on top of the mousse. Put it back in the freezer. Fill half of the remaining space in the mold with chestnut cream, then add the cherry and remaining chestnut cream. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Place the remaining mousse on top of the cream. Cut a crust out of the biscuit the same size as the shape and place it on top of the mousse. Saturate the crust with rum and place the cake in the freezer for 8-10 hours.
11. Cover the frozen cake with chocolate velor. Decorate with chocolates and sweets.

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