12 days of Christmas Yule logs
’Tis the season to indulge in a traditional bûche de Noël or Yule log. From classic woodland-inspired cakes to chic contemporary sculptures, these edible artworks can be enjoyed around the world…
Hôtel de Crillon Paris
Hôtel Crillon’s head pastry chef Pablo Gicquel took inspiration from the fluted columns of the palace hotel’s Suite Marie-Antoinette when creating this sweet treat. Gicquel’s pillar-shaped cake (€120) is infused with a rich blend of almonds, blueberries and blackcurrant jam hidden inside a Languedoc almond mousse. Serves six to eight; available from December 1 (+331-4471 1525; crillon-paris.com).
Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris’ bûche de Noel is an edible forest | Image: Studio des Fleurs
Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris
Executive pastry chef Angelo Musa – a winner of the World Pastry Cup and Best Craftsman in France award – and pastry chef Alexandre Dufeu have moved beyond the traditional design of the Christmas log to create an edible forest for their 2018 bûche de Noël (€120). Seven “snow”-covered trees, made from Madagascar vanilla cake, biscuit, cream and mousse, sit atop a dark chocolate mendicant bar covered with dried and crystallised fruit, creating a centrepiece that is a decadent alternative to the traditional pudding. Serves seven; available from December 1 (+331-5367 6597; dorchestercollection.com).
Le Meurice Paris’ bûche de Noël
Le Meurice Paris
This Christmas, pastry chef Cédric Grolet has designed two Yule logs (€50 or €98), both inspired by his signature chestnut-filled Mont Blanc dessert. The first cake combines chestnuts and mousse on a roasted chestnut base with hazelnut praline. The second delicacy – served only at Restaurant Le Dalí – features roasted chestnuts with a lemon-flavoured hazelnut praline for added zest. The first cake serves either three to four or six to eight people. The smoked chestnut log at Restaurant Le Dalí is available from December 5 to 31, every afternoon from 3.30pm to 6pm – except December 25 – at lunch or dinner for €25 per slice (dorchestercollection.com).
La Réserve Paris’s trompe l'oeil-inspired Yule log
Le Bristol Paris bûche de Noël
Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris
Maison Pierre Hermé Paris has created a sculptural Christmas Médélice cake (€126) for the grand Parisian hotel this Christmas that is reminiscent of a winter wonderland filled with snowy peaks and glaciers. The design is dusted with white chocolate “snow”, which melts in the mouth, giving way to layers of lemon cream, candied lemon and jelly, and hazelnut praline. Serves six; available from December 14 to 31 by reservation 48 hours in advance (+331-4299 8864; leroyalmonceau.com).
François Perret’s bûche de Noel for The Ritz Paris | Image: Aimery Chemin
Epicerie Boulud has a selection of Yule logs available in store this Christmas
La Réserve Paris
La Reserve’s two-Michelin-starred executive chef Jérôme Banctel and head pastry chef Adrien Salavert have combined their exceptional skills to create a golden Yule log (€95) inspired by the printed cordovan leather that lines the hotel’s Le Gabriel restaurant. Inside the gilded cake is a blend of Michel Reybier champagne and refreshing fruits: mango, passionfruit, pineapple and coconut. Serves six to eight; available until December 23 by reservation only (+331-5836 6060; lareserve-paris.com).
Park Hyatt Tokyo’s bûche de Noël is a Japanese take on Christmas cake
Pastry chef Dominique Costa has crafted a contemporary bûche de Noël with an Asian aesthetic for Peninsula Paris
Le Bristol Paris
Pastry chef Julien Alvarez, named World Pastry Cup champion in 2011, presents a feast for the eyes and table for 2018. His trompe l’oeil design is a truffle Yule log (€140) like no other. It presents as a wooden box with an engraved bronze plaque, which, on closer inspection, is in fact part of the cake – every inch edible. Inside, what appears to be truffles turn out to be sweet treats, made from soft biscuit and hazelnut with creamy hearts of gianduja (a sweet chocolate spread with hints of vanilla) and real black truffles. Serves eight; limited editions available from December 1 to 31 (+331-5343 4342 or email cafeantonia.lebristolparis@oetkercollection.com).
Mandarin Oriental Paris channels Alpine slopes and snow-covered firs with its Christmas treats | Image: Mathilde de l’Ecotais
Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo crafted a culinary artwork with Le Bois dans Ecrin
The Ritz Paris
This year, The Ritz Christmas log (€110) is all about honey – specifically, the grand cru Erica variety sourced in the Pyrénées. Pastry chef François Perret has combined the delicacy with a Savoy sponge cake and whipped cream, topped with roasted gianduja almonds. The final pièce de résistance is a lacy wafer that is a nod to honeycomb dipped in chocolate. Serves six; available to order from December 1 (+331-4316 3274; ritzparis.com).
Epicerie Boulud New York
Daniel Boulud has created a selection of bûches de Noël for 2018 that are gourmet works of art. The colourful collection includes a Chocolate Caramel log decorated in gold leaf, which is a combination of Illanka tonka bean and dark chocolate mousse, caramel crémeux and flourless chocolate biscuit. The Exotique cake fuses passion fruit and banana mousse, roasted pineapple, mango confit and coconut dacquoise confection, while The Chestnut Blackberry Yule log is layered with mousse, blackberry gelée, chestnut biscuit, blackberry mousse and chestnut vermicelli. Last but not least is a chocolate and coffee Classic Opera cake topped with chocolate Santas. Serve six to eight; available to preorder and in stores from December 18 (epicerieboulud.com).
Park Hyatt Tokyo
The Bûche Tokyo (¥4,500, about £31) is a Japanese take on the Christmas cake. Think Uji matcha tea mousse, surrounding a centre of tangy yuzu curd, and matcha tea sponge layered with toasted sesame crunch, resting on a crisp sable biscuit. The finished creation is so beautiful, it’s almost shame to devour it… Serves three to four; available from December 21 to 25 (+813-5323 3462; hyatt.com).
Peninsula Paris
L’Ecrin (€98) by pastry chef Dominique Costa is a contemporary bûche de Noël with an Asian aesthetic, which is presented as a case that opens to reveal a delicious bûche. Sandalwood-smoked chocolate mousse smoothers a molten mandarin core, with a buckwheat crisp biscuit infused with dulce de leche. Serves six to eight; available by reservation 48 hours in advance from December 17 to 31 (+331-5812 2888; paris.peninsula.com).
Mandarin Oriental Paris
Chef pâtissier Adrien Bozzolo has created an elegant contemporary design inspired by Alpine slopes and snow-covered firs for Christmas 2018 (€78). The white chocolate trees rest on a crunchy biscuit filled with citrus fruit and pecans, and a mandarin orange marmalade flavoured with maple syrup. Serves eight; available to order 48 hours in advance from December 21 to 31 at the hotel’s Cake Shop (mandarinoriental.com).
Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo
Executive chef Christophe Cussac and pastry chef Patrick Mesiano have conjured a culinary artwork in Le Bois dans écrin (€95) or “forest in a box”, which is “wrapped” in an edible carmine red box, revealing a realistic-looking “log” composed of biscuit with creamy cazette ultra fondant and a gourmet icing with chocolate and hazelnut chips. Available to order from December 10 (metropole@metropole.com).