Created in France in the late nineteenth century, Bûche de Noël is a favorite Christmas delicacy: a rolled chocolate cake that is a little piece of art. Alina Cho talks with food historian Loïc Bienassis about the dessert's origins, while pastry chef Mickaël Marsollier discusses variations on the traditional Bûche.

Paris

The Bûche de Noël, also known as the Yule log cake, is a traditional French Christmas dessert shaped like a log, symbolizing an old custom of burning a log for good luck during the holiday season. Its origins are traced to the late 19th century, with Antoine Charabaud credited for its invention in 1879, and it quickly became popular across France.

Today, Parisian pastry shops such as Pierre Hermé offer both classic and innovative versions of the cake, featuring flavors like rose, raspberry, and lychee. The cake remains a festive staple, with thousands sold each year, though modern interpretations and techniques have expanded what qualifies as a Bûche de Noël.

Bûche de Noël: A traditional Christmas treat

In Paris, a city famous for turning butter and sugar into edible works of art, there's one Christmas dessert that rises above the rest. Bouche de Noel. What is Bouche de Noel? It's a cake. A cake in the shape of a log. In America, we say Yule log. What exactly is the English translation of Bouche de Noel? Christmas log. Food historian, Louis Pianassi, says the unique shape came about thanks to another, older Christmas tradition. In pre-revolutionary France, you have to burn a new log before the Christmas mass, for instance, or after the Christmas mass. And keep it burning through the new year. And that brought good luck. Yeah, absolutely. As the French moved toward cities like Paris and fewer dwellings had fireplaces, the bouche was born as a tasty alternative. We have a 1893 book by a pastry chef called Pierre Lacam. And Pierre Lacam said that he knows who invented the bouche. So, who was it? It was a colleague of him, someone named Antoine Charabaud. And Antoine Charabaud, according to Pierre Lacam, invented the Bouche de Noel in 1879. It was an instant hit. Almost, yeah. At Pierre-Hermé in the heart of Paris, Miquel Marcellier is the pastry chef. Do you like them? Yes, I like. 170. What's in a traditional Bouche de Noel? The traditional bouche is sponge cake. You roll with the buttercream, like coffee or chocolate or hazelnut. Here, the Bouche de Noel have a certain je ne sais quoi. The flavor is rose, raspberry, and lychee. We made one together. Well, sort of. I have to have strong arms to do this. I helped where I could. Oh my God, it smells so good. Not easy. Start to finish. The multi-layer process takes a steady hand and about two hours. After you have a different cream or mousse, we have insert like some food. In the Bouche, you can see the texture. Because you roll it. The traditional one, you roll it. Yes. But now we use a mold. Oh, you use a mold. Yeah, we use a mold. Is that cheating? Yes. It's cheating. Pierre Hermé, best known for its macaron, sells out of its Bouche de Noel every year. He says 8,000 across 30 shops in Paris alone. These cost 82 euros, about $95. I hear that it's very competitive these days to make the best Bouche de Noel. Yes, you need to propose a very original flavor. Because people want new? Yeah. They're like little pieces of art. Et voila. Et voila. It's gorgeous. Oh my gosh, wow. Is it as big a tradition today as it was a century ago? Sometimes we call Bouche some cakes which don't look like Bouche. So the definition is quite tricky. So any cake will do? Yeah, in a way.

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