Yuletide logs

They are everywhere here in Paris: Christmas logs of individual and ginormous proportions. Christmas logs of mocha, vanilla and raspberry. Christmas logs adorned with butterflies, mushrooms and children’s balloons. They are France’s Bûche de Noel and they are something to behold (and dig into).




The traditional dessert is generally made with Genoese sponge cake, flavored with liquor and covered with butter cream. And, as you can, the pastry chefs go to town with the decorations: mushrooms made of meringue, holly made with marzipan, fresh berries and macarons, powdered sugar to create a snowy effect…


Often the bûches are served with cake cut off from one side and set askew to resemble small branches. They can actually be a little garish. But they’re still delicious.