Bûche de Noël (Christmas log with chestnut cream filling and ganache)
The Bûche de Noël is a traditional dessert served at Christmas in France. As far as I can remember, my mother always made a variation of the usual chocolate/chestnut cream bûche , and it's not Christmas without it. I doubled the recipe this year, so that I could make a traditional bûche and individual ones as well. The directions below are for one single bûche . I also decided to create my own decorative mushrooms (best to start with these, you can even make them the day before!) MERINGUE MUSHROOMS 60 grams egg whites 1 pinch of salt 60 grams caster sugar 60 grams confectioner's sugar 50 grams dark chocolate cocoa powder Prepare a double boiler by placing a bowl on top of a pan filled with one inch of water. In the bowl, place the egg whites and salt and beat with electric beaters until mixture turns white and foamy. Turn the heat on underneath the pan, and continue beating while gently pouring the sugars into the egg whites. When sugar has dissolved completely and meringue...