Daring Bakers - French Yule Log!

Oh my gosh, it's already the end of December.... But the blogging clock inside my head tells me it's still barely November...  Where the heck have I been?  I haven't a clue.  But I'm sure it was delightful, though not nearly as delightful as sharing sweet delicious things with the internet!  So, it is indeed December, a fabulous month, and one of the most exciting things each new month brings is another Daring Baker's Challenge!

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.  

Different from the typical Yule Log of rolled up genoise and buttercream, this is a frozen mousse-based dessert composed of 6 different elements.  So many little things to stuff into one little log... It nearly drove me insane, to be quite honest.  (In a really, really fun way, of course!)  But really, it was pretty fun to try unsuccessfully to imagine how all the elements would come together and then be rewarded in the end with the discovery that the combination was definitely a magical one!

The rule this time was that we had to make all 6 elements, but there were endless variations on each one, and we were allowed to play around with the flavors as much as we wanted.  So here's what's in mine:

Chocolate Dacquoise

Dark Chocolate Caramel Cinnamon Ganache

Milk Chocolate Praline Crisp

Caramel Apple & Spice Mousse

Milk Chocolate Cinnamon Creme Brulee

Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Icing

Caramel Sauce for garnish

And yeah, it was awesome.  =)  Thanks so much to the hosts for another fab challenge!!

Also, it seems that a ton of the other Daring Baker's had awesome experiences with this challenge as well!  There are so many beautiful logs on other Daring Baker blogs right now, so please go check them out!