Chocolate and Clementine Buche de Noel with Hazelnut Caramel Shards

Chocolate and Clementine Buche de Noel with Hazelnut Caramel Shards

Serves: 6

Ingredients
For chocolate sponge:
4 large free-range eggs
100g caster sugar
65g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder
1 Clementine finely zested

For the chocolate butter cream icing:
50g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
100g LURPAK® unsalted butter, room temperature
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whole milk to loosen

For ganache topping:
300ml double cream
300g dark chocolate, 30-40% cocoa solids, broken into small pieces

For hazelnut praline:
300g caster sugar, sieved
100g skinned hazelnuts, lightly toasted in a frying pan and roughly chopped
Dark chocolate to grate over finished cake

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease and line a Swiss roll tin (23/33cm) with baking paper.
To make the sponge, in a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk for at least 5 minutes until light, pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, carefully fold in with a spatula and stir in the clementine zest taking care not to knock the air out of the mixture.
Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread into the corners making sure the mix is even. Bake for 10 minutes until firm to touch.
Place a piece of baking paper the size of the tin on the worktop, sieve over a light dusting of cocoa powder and turn the sponge onto it. Remove the top layer of baking paper and with the help of the paper on the work surface roll the sponge starting from the shortest side. Leave the sponge rolled to cool.
To make the ganache, heat the cream in a medium saucepan until warm. Take the pan off the heat and add the broken chocolate stirring continuously until melted. Set aside to cool.
To make the butter cream, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl with an electric whisk beat the butter until soft then gradually sift in the icing sugar. Stir in the melted chocolate. If the mixture is too stiff add a touch of milk to loosen.
To make the hazelnut praline, have a lightly oiled metal tray ready. In a very clean medium sized saucepan over a medium heat add the sieved caster sugar. Do not stir at all but you can roll the pan around to help incorporate all the sugar. When the sugar has dissolved and once it is a rich dark golden brown add the hazelnuts and immediately pour onto the baking tray. Cool completely before smashing with a rolling pin to make shards.
To assemble, uncurl the cold Swiss roll and spread with the butter cream then re roll tightly. Cut off about a centimetre from each end to tidy. Place on the dish you want to serve it on.
With a pallet knife smooth over the chocolate ganache. Scatter the hazelnut praline shards along the top and grate over some dark chocolate.


LURPAK® butter joins forces with international cook Sarah Todd to celebrate Christmas in July

 

As the winter chill approaches and cravings of rich hearty flavours are calling, iconic butter brand LURPAK®, recently crowned the world's best butter at the 2018 World Cheese Championships Awarded best butter brand at the biannual 2018 World Championship Cheese Contest, winning in the Salted Butter Category with a best in class score of 99.8 out of 100, is encouraging Australians to beat the winter blues by enjoying an earlier celebration of the most wonderful time of the year - Christmas - in July.

Staying true to the brand's Danish roots and sticking to European traditions, LURPAK® is inspiring Australians to get into the festive spirit and celebrate this popular phenomenon which has been inspired by international visitors and residents who usually associate the Christmas celebration with colder weather.

Throughout the month of July, LURPAK® will partner with former MasterChef Australia contestant, Sarah Todd, to spearhead the Christmas in July deserves LURPAK® campaign and pay homage to butter, often the unsung hero at every festive feast.

Todd will champion exciting new recipes which show how a simple addition of LURPAK® butter can elevate everyday dishes from good to great and encourage the nation to make delicious Christmas-inspired dishes. She will also provide some additional food for thought on how to jazz up everyday meals throughout the year.

After making a name for herself in MasterChef Australia, Todd has taken her career to the next level, authoring her first international cook book, opening hugely successful restaurants in India, as well as advising aspiring chefs and restauranteurs. This all comes as she maintains her status as a regular TV personality and busy mum to her young son.

According to Todd, butter is a kitchen staple that enables her to create delicious dishes even while juggling her busy lifestyle and is an ingredient which is often overlooked and underappreciated by many home cooks.

Todd said: "I am a huge lover of butter, it's a flavour bomb. What many people don't realise is the versatility and depth of flavour that butter can add to any dish – it makes everything taste better. Whether it's making a rich gravy or basting your protein, butter can add a new level of flavour that you didn't know could be achieved."

Choose from LURPAK®'s salted, unsalted or flavoursome garlic Block Butter or their Spreadable Butter in slightly salted, unsalted and lighter with a distinctively light flavour which has a lot of noticeable benefits for cooking, baking, spreading and just about anything you want to make.

To create your own delicious buttery Christmas feast or to get creative with new dishes, LURPAK® and Sarah Todd have come together to create handy tips and tricks on incorporating butter into your everyday cooking.

Sarah Todd's tips and tricks to butter up with LURPAK®

Making your own compound butter is super easy
Finely chop flavouring of your choice, include ingredients such as herbs, roast garlic, chilli powder, olives and whisk together with the butter. Then using cling wrap, roll into a log and re-set it in the fridge. Once set, use this to flavour your roast chicken or simply as an herb butter to top a cooked steak or even a piece of bread.

Don't burn the butter!
If using butter to cook something in a pan and you start to notice the butter is about to burn, toss in a quick drizzle of oil to bring it back to a neutral temperature, this will allow you to continue the cooking without having to start all over again.

Create new flavours with brown butter (or I like to call nut butter)
Brown butter is one of my favourite uses of butter. Simply melt the butter in a pan and continue cooking it on a medium heat until the milk solids begin to caramelise. You'll start to see little golden-brown specs, this is what gives the butter a wonderful nutty flavour. Use this on everything!

White butter or Beurre Blance
This is basically a hot emulsified butter sauce made with white wine vinegar reduction flavoured with shallots and finished with cold butter to create a light, supple, tangy sauce that pairs perfectly with seafood dishes. Grate the butter when it's extremely cold. This is great for making a flaky pie crust that requires small pieces of really cold butter.

Enhance the flavour of your steak
Once a steak is almost cooked to your liking, add in a little rosemary sprig, chopped garlic and a dollop of LURPAK® butter, as the butter foams and bubbles, tilt your pan on an angle and with a spoon baste the steak with this deliciousness.

Using 100% fresh milk, with just a pinch of salt, LURPAK® has been making their premium butter since 1888. Here is a selection of delicious recipes from LURPAK® to inspire your own Christmas in July feast that will make any cook, the talk of the table.

LURPAK® is available in supermarkets nationally. For more information and recipe inspiration, head to www.lurpak.com/en-au.