Gourmet

Guanaja, pear and cookie

Made with Cooking Range Guanaja 70% dark chocolate

RECIPE CREATED BY VALRHONA’S ÉCOLE GOURMET

5 steps

MAKES ONE LOG FOR 6 TO 8 PEOPLE

To be made the day before:
Pear confit
GUANAJA 70% light mousse
Chocolate and walnut cookie base
Puff praliné crisp

To be made on the day:
GUANAJA 70% glaze

Required utensils:
25cm-long silicone Yule log
mould with insert

Recipe Step by Step

CHOCOLATE AND WALNUT COOKIE BASE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 8 to 10 minutes

80 g Butter
37 g Muscovado sugar
35 g Caster sugar*
35 g Eggs
0,8 g Baking powder
43 g Pastry flour
73 g Plain flour
5 g Cornflour
0,8 g Salt
73 g Chopped walnuts
90 g GUANAJA 70%

*See the Nutrition tip section at the end of the recipe for an alternative ingredient.

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, cornflour, 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% chocolate, then incorporate it. If necessary, stir again with a spatula so that the GUANAJA 70% 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 mould. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, remove from oven, and leave to cool on the tray.

PUFF PRALINÉ CRISP

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Leave to sit for: 1 hour

55 g 50% almond & hazelnut nutty praliné
35 g GUANAJA 70%
45 g Crispy wafer pieces

Melt the GUANAJA 70% chocolate in a bain-marie, then add the praliné and crispy wafer pieces. Cut the cooled cookie into a rectangle smaller than the log mould (if your mould 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.

Pear confit

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Leave to sit for: 3 hours

300 g Pear purée
30 g Caster sugar
9 g Pectin NH

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.

GUANAJA 70% LIGHT MOUSSE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Leave to sit for: 3 hours

250 g Whole milk
500 g Whipping cream 35%
340 g GUANAJA 70%
5 g Gelatine sheet

Soak the gelatine in a large quantity of cold water for about twenty minutes. Melt the GUANAJA 70% chocolate.
Bring the milk to the boil and add the wrung-out gelatine. 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 mould 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 mould). Finish filling the Yule log mould with the remaining
light mousse up to the top of the mould. Place in the freezer for a minimum of 3 hours.

GUANAJA 70% GLAZE

Preparation time: 15 minutes

75 g Water
65 g Caster sugar
150 g Glucose syrup
90 g Sweetened condensed milk
10 g Gelatine sheet
150 g GUANAJA 70%

Soak the gelatine in a large quantity of cold water for about twenty minutes. Place the unmelted GUANAJA 70% chocolate
fèves, concentrated milk, and gelatine (which you have allowed to dry) into a mixing bowl. Bring the water, sugar, and glucose
to the boil in a saucepan.
Pour over the mixture in the mixing bowl. Mix using a hand 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.

Assembly and finishing

Download this recipe

Thin pear slices
Remove the f rozen Yule log f rom the mould. Transfer the GUANAJA 70% glaze into a jug and evenly distribute it over the log positioned on a rack.
Immediately remove the Yule log f rom the rack using a spatula and a small paring knife, and place it on your serving plate. Leave to def rost for at least 4 hours in the ref rigerator. Wash the pears with clean water. Using a small paring knife, cut thin
slices of pears that you have purposely chosen for their firmness. If you are not serving your Yule log immediately after decorating it with your pear segments, soak them for a few minutes in lemon water (cold water + a few drops of lemon juice) so that they do not go brown. Arrange the pear slices in staggered rows on top of your previously iced log.

Nutrition tip

For the cookie base, opt for an unrefined sugar rich in nutrients such as muscovado sugar, using the same proportions as indicated in the recipe.
It will add a subtle natural gingerbread flavour to your cookie.

Discover more recipes

Gourmet

Guanaja & Jivara chocolate duo Half-Spheres

Made with Cooking Range Guanaja 70% dark chocolate

4 steps

Gourmet

Chocolate brownie and black currant tart

Made with Cooking Range Komuntu 80% dark chocolate

5 steps

Gourmet

Citrus granité & Ivoire

Made with Cooking Range Ivoire 35% white chocolate

3 steps