Chocolatey Christmas Log

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and slightly butter the paper. Make sure that the parchment is going over the edges of the baking sheet.

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the egg yolks, canola oil, water and vanilla.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and ¾ cup of sugar. Add to the wet ingredients and incorporate very well.

In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip the 6 egg whites until frothy. Add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and continue to whip until egg whites form soft peaks.

Pour one third of the egg white mixture in the egg yolk and flour mixture. Fold gently. When incorporated, transfer the egg yolk/flour mixture into the remaining whites and fold.

Spread the cake batter with an off-set spatula onto prepared baking sheet. Bake until cake springs back, about 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool on rack for about 3 minutes.

Flour a clean dish towel all over and flip the cake onto it, leaving the parchment paper on top. Remove the parchment paper. Let the cake cool for another minute. Roll the cake in the dish towel to form it into a log. Let it cool completely before assembling.

In a pot, bring the ½ and ½ cream to a boil with the vanilla bean.

In a stainless steel bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until they turn a slight pale yellow. While whisking the egg yolk mixture, slowly add the boiled cream. Transfer back to a pot and cook over medium heat, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook until the mixture thickens.

Strain the mixture into a bowl. Add the 35% cream and the pear puree. Cool down completely and refrigerate for an hour. Process the chilled mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Bring the cream to a boil. Place the broken chocolate squares in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the cream on top and let sit for 1 minute. Mix well using a wooden spoon or whisk but try not to incorporate too much air into the mixture.

Unroll the cake and spread an even layer of the ice cream on top of the cake, leaving about 1-inch border free of ice cream. Roll it back up

With a serrated knife, cut the 2 end pieces on the bias. Place on top of each end of the log. Secure with toothpicks (this will create a real log look). Place in the freezer for 1 hour.

When frozen, place the cake on a cooling rack that is resting in baking sheet. Pour the ganache over the whole log. Wait until the ganache sets a little, about 3 minutes before starting to decorate the log.

Decorate with a white chocolate ganache or a butter icing. To make the cake look more like an actual log, take a toothpick and spread the icing or ganache in a pinwheel pattern on top of the cake. Also pipe some jagged lines on the sides of the log to create the effect of bark. Finish decorating with a plastic Santa Claus, evergreens and/or snowmen.

Keep frozen until ready to serve. Let thaw at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing.