Yule Log

I’ll be honest: when someone says “Yule log”, I think of the Christmas dessert, not the actual burning log, the Nordic tradition of burning the whole tree for 12 nights in your family hearth. I have central heating. I think of the” bûche de Noël”, enjoyed in France and Belgium, as well as Canada and many former French colonies at Christmas. And in our home, courtesy of my older daughter, who has an amazing talent for baking. Traditionally, the Yule log is a chocolate sponge cake, layered with cream and rolled. The chocolate icing makes it look like a real log, and marzipan or meringue mushrooms make it look almost real. The imitation of the bark of the tree is achieved by dragging the fork through the icing. The Nordic burning of the real log is to bring luck to the family for the next year, and since the ashes are scattered and give life to new plants, it also symbolizes renewal of life in the New Year. I feel pretty lucky eating this mouth-watering dessert, which dates back to the 19th century, although some sources suspect that it could have been put on Christmas tables even in the 1600s, since all the ingredients were available at that time. Let’s toast this special holiday offering with a good glass of eggnog!