Why yule log has become a Christmas favourite

Christmas pudding may be Britain’s best-known festive dessert, but in France, the bûche de Noël — or yule log — reigns supreme, with skilled pâtissiers and home bakers creating an array of different versions, from the classic to the outré.

“It’s a very traditional French thing,” says baker Frank Barron (known as @cakeboyparis on Instagram), who moved from California to the French capital in 2012. “There seems to be no question that there will be some type of bûche on the table as part of dessert, after the main festive feast is over.”

As a dessert, the bûche de Noël has a relatively short history, but its namesake dates back much further. The original yule log was just that — a large, heavy piece of wood that was burned during the festive season. It was lit on Christmas Eve and rekindled each day until Twelfth Night was reached. This custom was common across much of Europe for hundreds of years — a throwback to the pre-Christian fire festivals celebrating the winter solstice — and much superstition was attached to the practice. In some parts of Britain, for example, it was said to be bad luck if a squinting person or flat-footed woman entered the room in which it was burning. The most widely held belief, however, was that if a portion of the charred yule log was kept in the house during the coming year it would protect the property against lightning strikes.

In Scotland, meanwhile, it was considered good luck to carve the face of the Cailleach (the Gaelic goddess of the winter months) onto a log before setting fire to it on Christmas Eve, with the whole family gathered around to watch it burn. “This ritual held the significance of bidding farewell to the cold, dark and hardships of the past year, while welcoming new beginnings,” says Coinneach MacLeod, who includes a recipe for yule log in his new book, The Hebridean Baker at Home.

By the 18th century, the popularity of burning a log at Christmas had dwindled — perhaps because of the impracticality of dragging a colossal piece of wood into your home — but Parisian pastry chefs ensured the tradition was not entirely forgotten by reimagining the log in cake form. Pierre Lacam is widely credited with publishing the first recipe for the bûche de Noël, in Le Mémorial Historique et Géographique de la Pâtisserie, a weighty tome published in 1890, containing snippets of history, along with 1,600 recipes for regional cakes and pastries. Lacam includes nothing on the origins of the edible log, but his recipe is essentially rounds of génoise — a rich, airy sponge cake — sandwiched together with coffee- or chocolate-flavoured buttercream to create a log shape. Small ‘branches’ were cut from additional pieces of génoise and attached using buttercream. The ensemble was then piped with yet more buttercream, using a fluted nozzle to create the effect of bark. 

Today, although a chocolate Swiss roll is frequently used to create a bûche, in the 19th century a vanilla sponge was more common. This emphasised the contrast between the darker ‘bark’ exterior and the paler ‘wooden’ interior. The woodland effect could be further enhanced with the addition of ‘moss’ in the form of finely chopped pistachios and a few meringue mushrooms for good measure.

In a later publication, Lacam revealed he’d discovered more about the bûche’s origins, writing that it was invented by Antoine Charabot at La Maison Quillet in 1879. Earlier in the century this Parisian patisserie had created French buttercream by whisking egg yolks with sugar syrup and butter, a version of which Lacam used in his own recipe. By 1886, the bûche was all the rage in the French capital, particularly among the city’s growing bourgeoisie. Michael Krondl, author of Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert (2010) has observed that middle-class Parisians used extravagant desserts to illustrate their sophisticated taste and refinement — previously qualities mainly attributed to the aristocracy.

The Paris of the Belle Époque, the period between 1870 and 1914, was considered the epitome of elegant living, artistic prowess and decadence, and the bourgeoisie dictated what was in vogue around the world. It’s hardly surprising, then, that the penchant for elaborate desserts spread across Europe and further afield. Accordingly, the Germans had the Bismarckeiche, a largely forgotten version whose name translates as ‘Bismarck oak’, a reference to Germany’s first chancellor; Italy its tonchetto di Natale; and Vietnam — formerly a French colony — its bánh khúc cây giáng sinh (‘Christmas tree log cake’), all of which are variations on the classic French dessert.

In the early 20th century, recipes for bûches began to creep into domestic cookery books. Home cooks have tended to approach the cake with some trepidation — the main area of concern being how to roll it without it cracking or breaking. In the 1960s, British food writer Fanny Cradock reassured her readers that this travesty could be avoided so long as they followed her detailed instructions to the letter — namely leaving the cake to cool completely before filling and rolling. 

Conversely, in his 2022 cookbook Sweet Paris, Frank Adrian Barron instructs readers to roll the cake element of his white chocolate and cassis version while still warm, then leave it to cool for 20 minutes before filling. He admits, however, that he shed a tear as he tried to perfect the recipe.

Coinneach MacLeod, meanwhile, advises whisking together egg yolks and sugar until “velvety and creamy” for his version. It’s a process, he says, that mustn’t be rushed (‘it’ll take two to three minutes to get it just right’). Most importantly, “it’s customary to leave a slice out for the Cailleach’s eight goddesses,” he notes, “to thank them for their guardianship throughout the winter months”.

Given the challenging nature of making the perfect yule log, it’s no surprise shop-bought versions tend to win out in the French capital — and with temptation around every street corner, who could resist? “I think most Parisians buy their bûche de Noël because we have so many options,” Barron says. “At this time of year, every single neighbourhood boulangerie window will be filled with the most beautiful bûches in so many different flavours.”

These days, more emphasis is placed on the flavours and textures of the different layers rather than achieving a realistic likeness to the original yule log. In Montreal last year, La Bête à Pain produced The Signature log, comprising dark chocolate mousse, vanilla crème diplomat, roasted hazelnuts, salted butter caramel, praline crunch and chocolate biscuit. Less traditional flavours like strawberry and rhubarb are popular in the Canadian city’s patisseries, too. In Paris, meanwhile, many luxury hotels set up special Christmas boutiques where elaborate bûches can be ordered for collection or delivery, with the competition fierce between pastry chefs looking to surpass each other in flavour and design. In 2022, for instance, Maxime Frédéric of Le Cheval Blanc took his customers back to their childhood with a bûche de Noël shaped not like a log at all, but like a gift-wrapped package, nestled at the base of a chocolate rocking horse. Made using hazelnuts grown on Frédéric’s family farm, the ‘present’ contained dacquoise, praline, shortbread, mousse and vanilla caramel. 

At Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris, Quentin Lechat created five versions last year, none of which bore much resemblance to the original bûche. The angular, minimalist ‘bars’ came in a range of daring flavours, one of which was buckwheat, salted caramel and apple tatin. And Adrien Bozzolo, of the Mandarin Oriental, Paris, teamed up with perfume company Givaudan to produce a bûche shaped like a fan filled with a dark chocolate crémeux, iyokan (a Japanese citrus fruit) and ginger.

Whether these creations can still be considered bûches de Noël is a matter for debate. To some, it seems, the name simply hints at the inspiration behind a dessert — and the season in which it should be eaten — rather than referring to a specific cake made to a set-in-stone recipe. Regardless, from literal log to chocolate rocking horse, the bûche de Noël is a Christmas tradition that’s here to stay.

Yule log recipe

A freestanding mixer or electric hand whisk is essential. For a chocolate sponge, replace 1 rounded tbsp of the flour with 1 heaped tbsp of cocoa powder. The icing and filling should ideally be made prior to the cake and, if you prefer, you can swap out the buttercream filling for a tart-flavoured jam (such as blackcurrant or apricot), sweetened chestnut puree or simply whipped cream. If so, you’ll need to make only half the quantity of icing to cover the cake. 

Takes: 1 hr
Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

100g golden caster sugar
3 medium eggs
70g self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
15g finely ground pistachios (optional)icing sugar, for dusting (optional)butter, softened, for greasing

For the buttercream icing
150g dark chocolate (minimum 70%), broken into chunks
180g unsalted butter, softened
75ml sour cream
400g icing sugar, sifted
3 tbsp brandy, rum, orange liqueur or milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Start with the buttercream icing. Place the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds, then stir. Return to the microwave for 10-15 seconds, then stir again. Repeat, stirring after each stint in the microwave, until the chocolate has melted. Alternatively, place the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted. Allow to cool to body temperature. 

2. Beat the butter until smooth, then beat in the sour cream. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until all of it has been incorporated. Add the cooled melted chocolate, then the brandy (or other spirit or milk) and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Keep the buttercream at room temperature (it will become too firm if put in the fridge).

3. To make the cake, heat oven to 200C, fan 180C, gas 6 and butter the base and sides of a 33cm x 23cm x 2cm Swiss or jelly roll tin. Line the base with baking paper and butter this, too. Place a piece of baking paper slightly larger than the tin on a wire rack, then lightly dust with flour to prevent the cake from sticking. Have all your ingredients measured out and your buttercream icing (or alternative filling, if preferred) to hand. 

4. Line a small baking tray with foil. Spread the sugar on the foil-lined tray, then place in the oven for 6 mins.

5. Break the eggs into a large bowl (or use the bowl of a freestanding mixer). As soon as the sugar comes out of the oven, tip it straight onto the eggs and whisk at a high speed until pale and voluminous, around 5 mins. 

6. Gently fold in the flour a little at a time, ensuring no lumps of flour are visible. Fold in the vanilla extract.  

7. Spoon the batter into the prepared Swiss or jelly roll tin, spreading it out as evenly as possible. Bake for 6-8 mins until lightly golden on top and springy to the touch (it’s crucial not to overbake the sponge or it may crack when rolled). Run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen, then leave the cake in the tin for 1 min. Turn out quickly onto the flour-dusted baking paper. Peel off the lining paper. 

8. After 2-3 mins, roll the ever-so-slightly warm cake from the short side, along with the flour-dusted baking paper, into a log shape and leave on the rack for 10 mins, seam side down.  

9. Unroll the cake and spread with half of the buttercream (or your filling of choice), leaving a 1cm border all the way around the edge of the cake. Re-roll the cake, using the paper to guide it back into a log shape, and place it seam-side-down on your serving plate. Discard the paper.  

10. Cover the exterior of the log with the remaining buttercream, leaving the ends of the log exposed. If you’re adept at cake decorating, you can pipe the icing on using a fluted nozzle; otherwise, use a fork to gently score the surface so it resembles bark. Put in the fridge to set. 

11. Once the icing has firmed up, tidy up the ends of the cake by slicing off around 1cm at each end to reveal the swirl. Sprinkle ground pistachio nuts around the base of the log to resemble moss and dust the log with icing sugar for a snowy effect, if you like.