Bûche de Noël

France

Also known as Yule Log

About Bûche de Noël

Bûche de Noël, or Yule Log, is the traditional French Christmas cake, shaped and decorated to look like a log of wood. A thin sponge cake is spread with cream or buttercream, rolled into a cylinder and covered in chocolate icing that is scored with a fork to look like bark.

The cake recalls the old European custom of burning a large Yule log in the hearth through the winter festivities. As big open fireplaces disappeared in the 19th century, Parisian pastry chefs turned the tradition into a dessert.

Bûches are often decorated with meringue mushrooms, holly made from marzipan and a dusting of icing sugar for snow. French pâtisseries now create elaborate modern versions each December, but the chocolate log remains a classic family dessert.

Ingredients

• sponge cake
• cocoa
• cream
• sugar
• eggs
• butter
• chocolate
• vanilla