A Sweet Christmas with Buche de Noel
There are many traditional Christmas desserts.
But none are as varied as Bûche de Noël.
The term "Bûche" means "log", and "Noël" means "Christmas", referring to the log that is burned on Christmas Eve.
Long ago in Europe, there was a custom of lighting a log on fire during the festive season.
This custom was linked to the belief that fire would burn away the misfortunes of the past year.
Some even kept a piece of coal from the log to bring blessings for the coming year.
This tradition slowly died out in the 1800s.
However, in 1879, French pastry chef Antonin Carême developed the Bûche de Noël cake, embodying this custom.
Since then, many bakers have come up with interesting recipes for this log cake.
Flavors vary from chocolate to vanilla sponge cake.
Fillings consist of whipped cream to roasted hazelnuts and salted caramel.
It has become an essential dessert for Christmas.
