Sunday, December 28, 2008

Daring Bakers Challenge Numero Uno

Hello everyone!!! I am so excited for this post today. It is officially my first post as a Daring Baker. I have to post the phrase below because it’s part of the rules, fool.

“This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.”

This yule log was the most delicious dessert I’ve ever had. I mean, EVER. My mouth was in heaven. I am not going to lie- this was the most difficult dish I have ever prepared in my short life. I worked all day at my crappy job, came home, and stayed up late trying to finish it. Obviously, I made the whole damn thing in my bathrobe- we keep it classy here in the Schupp household.

The French Yule Log is so much harder than a regular yule log because it has 6 elements to it. It was also tough because the whole recipe was NOT vegan or gluten-free, so I had to play around with practically every ingredient in order to veganize it. I thought about not making it vegan, but then I came to my senses. I put my happy face on and said “Let’s rock this bitch!”

The first element is the Dacquoise. This is basically a thin almond cake. Naturally, I didn't have parchment paper so foil had to do. The cake got REALLY stuck to the foil, but nobody noticed when it was all assembled.

The second element is the Milk Chocolate Mousse and it is also layered through the entire yule log- thank god. This stuff was so damn good.

The third element is Praline Feuillete, and this includes gavottes. Gavottes are basically crepes and I had to chop them up and pour chocolate over them. Poor little gavottes haha. Luckily, I had a good bit of this leftover so I ate a huge slab of it at the end of my baking adventure.

The fourth element is the Chocolate-Cinnamon Ganache. Dear God. That's all I need to say. How could this ever taste bad???

The fifth element is the Creme Brulee. Now, obviously, I had to cut out all the eggs. I used tofu and it worked like a charm. I forgot to take a picture because I was just shocked it worked.

The sixth element is the Dark Chocolate Icing. I had to use agar flakes, and I had no clue what I was doing. I didn't know about boiling them to make them all "gel-like" so I just softened them in water. Ummm... that didn't work. I just stirred them with the chocolate icing and then poured it on top of the frozen yule log. I put coconut on top to disguise those damn agar flakes.

All in all, I wish I could eat this every day of my life. Everyone at Christmas also agreed. My cousin told me she would pay $80 for this log. I wish I could mass produce it somehow because it just took so long to make!!! It was a fabulous cooking experience though and my mother was so darn proud!!!

Here's some pictures from Christmas!!!
I took a damn big piece of yule log so it's weighing down the plate. ha who cares!!?!?!?!
My sister, Pls, and me. We look so darn cute!!!
All of the cousins in our fam-damily.
My favorite Christmas present of all- my PedEgg!!!! Ahh I laughed hysterically when I opened this, but I just can't stop using it. I decided to demonstrate it for my family and friends. Everyone thought it was disgusting and told me to get out.
It's love.

34 comments:

aredcardigan said...

You had me at Praline Feuillete!!!!!

okay...cake...coconut..gluten free...vegan...

WHAT ARE YA DOING TO ME!!!!

WHAT A WONDERFUL X-MAS and gosh you're so beautiful jo riot...you're practically glowing!

Okay your yule log cake is beautiful too and i want a piece so badly!

Ya do keep it CLASSY! Look at all your fancy schmancy baking terms! Thought I was at Robouchon!

xoxoxoxo

Amy said...

Wow! I'm impressed, I wouldn't ever attempt to veganize something like that and yours came out looking incredibly delicious. Yum!

x said...

Yum, it's been years since we had a Buche De Noel and I wouldn't know where to begin in veganising, until now! Yours looks and sounds delish!

Kristen's Raw said...

That is a fun and sweet story!

Cheers,
Kristen

A.M. said...

You are so brave!

Anonymous said...

LOL! When I got to the pedegg part my old blog started playing "Accidently in Love" LOL! By the way, I thought that you didn't approve of the pedegg? What's the romance behind all that?? hehe
And oh my word, you did such a greay job! you really are DARING baker!! I signed up once, but I never had any of teh vegan ingredients that they wanted me to use so I had to quit:( it's so awesome that you made that! Im so proud! hehe

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the DBC! Looks great :)

Ew - the PedEgg grosses me out haha!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

WOW Jo!! You really did rock that Yule Log! After working all day you had to slave in the kitchen for the sake of your very first Daring Bakers Challenge! You rock, my friend. You rock!!

Coconut flakes to disguise the agar flakes was pure genius! You have awesome improvisation skills!

I love your Christmas pictures! You and your sister really are so darn cute! Enjoy your PedEgg!!

Gina said...

Eek! That looks fantastic!!! I want a taste :)

Looks like you had a fabulous Christmas!!

I have a PedEgg, I am not totally in love with it, but it is a nifty little tool.

I still can't get over your cake, it looks and sounds so yummy :)

Dewi said...

Well done Joanna!

Jenny said...

haha you are just too cute for words

Wandering Coyote said...

I am totally impressed that you attempted this AND that you veganized it! Excellent!

BTW, I got the muffin tins for Christmas!

eatme_delicious said...

Yum well done on the yule log!

Jenn said...

OMG, that is quite a yule log! Amazing.

aredcardigan said...

hahaha just saw ur comment....babe it ain't happening...like i told becca...not everyone looks as cute as u guys...

furthermore haven't u gotten enough of my mug face on fb? srsly sears princess ;)

i cannot wait for ur robe. it's gonna be so cute i am sure!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

HELL YES for the DBC, girl!!

Michelle said...

Oh yummmmmmm...that yule log cake looks so tasty! You are hilarious...the story with teh Pedegg is too funny!

Megan said...

i am unnaturally jealous of your baking skills.

and your ped egg! its really gross when they empty it out on the commercial, but I hear they really do work wonderfully!

Reeni said...

Congrats on your first Daring Baker!! You did fantabulous!!! I am proud that you didn't give in and veganized it. You really do rock! Did you save me a piece?

Emily said...

Lovely! You did an excellent job!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Congrats on your very first challenge! Your log looks great! Very well done!

Best wishes for the New Year!

Cheers,

Rosa

Anonymous said...

I totally share your exitement. Well done and congrats!

jessy said...

your yule log looks awesome! sooooooo yummy! yay! a baking success, indeed!

you & your sister are just too cute! glad you had such a great time! hooray for family awesomeness!

jessy said...

p.s. - and i think it would be so bad ass if we were neighbors, too! think of all the fun times & yummy foodz we would be partaking all the time! hells yeah!

Anonymous said...

you are too adorable for words. so I shut up. I hope you are well!

Jen said...

way to go jo with your vegan challenge. it's pretty cool to take something that i can't even pronounce that is by nature unvegan(most french foods has eggs, milk, an butter in them)and then use your vegan superpowers to make them available to us. A+

janelle said...

Wow... I am sooooo impressed. It looks just beautiful. I love baking too! I have never made a yule log though. Maybe I'll try it for New Years.

Elizabeth said...

I want some!! Looks so good!!!

alaina said...

holy shit! that yule log is INSANE. you are quite the daring baker.

oh and in response to your comment before i worked at smoothie king for awhile but i quit after my bitch manager revoked our free smoothie privileges >:( my best friend isn't miles, but he is a guy! i make friends easier with guys than girls haha.

aTxVegn said...

Great job on a very tough Challenge!

Bethany said...

the yule log sounds delish.

I tried making a non french yule log and it was a disaster. I haven't given up. there is always next year. or not :)

your sister looks so much like you.

ped egg gross! don't kiss it, bleah!

breadchick said...

Welcome to the Daring Bakers! Well done on your first challenge.

Gretchen Noelle said...

$80 would certainly be great to get for one of these! Wow, what a compliment!! Glad you enjoyed the taste of it! Welcome to the Daring Bakers!

Anonymous said...

That is quite impressive! It looks both creative and yummy.