To finish this menu of, we will spoil ourselves with chocolate, coffee and hazelnut all in the shape of two version of the traditional French Christmas cake called bûche. The bûche can be like a Swiss roll or much more imaginative yumminess created in a shape of a log. Caution! These cakes are very very satisfying and RICH enough to make you feel very guilty after each spoon full. Just saying.

Twin Hazelnut & Coffee “bûches”

• 

  HJ’s buche de Noel

  

  HJ’s buche de Noel

Ingredients for 2 x 150g cakes:

• 300ml double cream – 60p
• 100g hazelnut – 95p
• 50g Madeira cake – 70p
• 3 teaspoons instant coffee
• 20g sugar
• 2 x (15cm x 7cm) mini loaf baking tins
• 100g butter
• 100g icing sugar
• salt
• 20ml vegetable oil

Total spend: £3.45

If these cakes were shop bough, they would cost at least £5.00 each… great as a treat.

Method:

Ground hazelnut is not always readily available in supermarkets or if they are, they

Sieving Hazelnut

cost quiet a lot of money, It is much much cheaper to buy them with skin, roast, grind and sieve at home as I did. If you don’t fancy doing that, use ground almond instead.  I prefer hazelnut because of its strong flavour. Against the coffee it was fantastic!

Once the ground hazelnut is ready, set aside.

Next remove the “crust” from the Madeira and cut out two mini logs of 3cm x 3cm x 12cm to fit into the baking tin. The idea here is to cut the Madeira so it will fit fully in the inside of the cake. So, it should be smaller than the size of the cake tin. Once the Madeira is ready and set aside.

Break 2 and half chocolate tablets (250g) and melt them in a Bain Marie. Set the liquid chocolate aside to cool down a bit.

While all this is going on, the double cream should remain in the fridge until it is needed.

Dissolve 1,5 teaspoon of coffee in 100ml water, set aside.

Now, prepare the cream. Pour the 300ml of cream in a large bowl with the sugar and whisk until it starts forming picks.

Add to the cream, the melted chocolate and gently fold until the mix become one single and regular colour.

Now divide the mix in two. In one half, mix in the ground hazelnut, leave the other half plain. See blow the mix progression.

Mixing cream and chocolate

Plain chocolate-cream mix

Hazelnut-chocolate-cream mix

On to the moulds. Wet the inside of the cake tins with water and line with cling film allowing about 5cm of film to hang on the outside of the mould. Make sure that the film inside the mould is as flat as possible with no folds or pleats.

Once the moulds are lined up with the film, spoon in the first layer of the plain chocolate and cream mix. 2 tablespoons of the mix per mould should do. Now make sure to spread the mix evenly in both moulds. Spread on the bottom as well as on the sides. This will help with to shape of the dessert.

lined tins

first layer

dipped Madeira cake

Once the first layer is spread, dip the Madeira cakes in the coffee and place them on the middle of the cake tins now lined with chocolate mix.

Cover the Madeira cake with the chocolate-cream-hazelnut mix, then tap the tins to allow the mix will fill all wholes. If you still have Madeira cake left, dip it in coffee, place in the tin and recover with the left over chocolate mix until the tin is full.

Now bring in the cling film ends hanging on the outside of the tin and fold them over the dessert tightly, then place the both tins in the fridge for 1 hour.

all layered buche

Ready for a nap 

Out of the moulds

Meanwhile prepare the presentation plate for both dessert. The bûche can be very fragile and it is not advisable to more it around event two minutes. If you are decorating it, it is best to do so as cleanly as possible while the cake is on a presentation plate.

Prepare the covering for both cakes.

For one, simply melt 50g of chocolate with 20ml vegetable oil or Hazelnut oil if any available. Adding oil to the melted chocolate will prevent it from being too hard to cut with a knife and also give the chocolate a shine.

For the second covering, soften 100g butter at room temperature and when it becomes gel like, whisk it to soften it even further with a pinch of salt then sieve in 100g icing sugar as well as 1 teaspoon of coffee granules. Mix well until obtaining a milky coffee colour. Spoon this mix in a piping bags ready to be piped on the cake.

Once the desserts have been in the fridge for an hour, take them out and carefully unmould them and remove the cling film.

HJ’s Buche 1

HJ’s Buche 1

HJ’s Buche 1

For the first version of the dessert, simply pour the melts chocolate over it, leave to rest for 5 minutes then, pour another layer of the liquid chocolate over it. Leave to rest for 10 minutes then move into a serving plate before topping with broken roasted hazelnut. Return the bûche in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

HJ’s Buche 2

HJ’s Buche 2

HJ’s Buche 2

For the other bûche, simply pipe the coffee icing in a pattern of your choice and have fun. As for me, I simply created straight lines to imitate a log. Afterwards, I sprinkled chocolate shaving and topped with whole roasted hazelnuts.

Et voila! It is all done. J

HJ’s twin Hazelnut & coffee buches

HJ’s buche – inside

HJ’s buche – inside

I hope you have enjoyed this menu. To see my whole Christmas menu for 2, type #NoelByHJ in the search box.

I have also create 9 recipes for the Christmas leftovers if you had turkey with the usual trimmings. Just search #XmasScraps or #ChristmasScraps.

Thank you for following.

Happy Christmas to you and yours. See you in 2016… don’t forget to visit Croydon Radio to listen to the show dated 5^th December on the podcast with Tom C.

Ciao!