Yule’s log

 The Yule log, Yule clog, or Christmas block was a specially selected log that people burned a portion at a time for 12 consecutive days (from Christmas to the Three Kings on the sixth of January) and in some places, it was put under the bed in between as the protection against lighting and fire (well… I’m not sure putting a half-burned log under the bed is the best way to protect the house against fire:D). Others counted sparks and made wishes for each spark etc…

Yule’s log: a sweet dessert from France – sponge roulade, filled with chocolate and iced with chocolate ganache. Add the texture with a knife or a fork and/or spread some chocolate pieces on. Powdered sugar or sugar pearls can be added as the snow…

The tradition was most practised in the UK and consequently the USA but it derives from old German pagan celebrations of solstice with bonfires where people decorated real logs in the forest. Yule was an old German pagan god that German people worshipped at this time of year (later Christianity transformed the rituals and “Yule time” or “Yule season” into Christmastide). As I read, new pagans still worship Yule and make a mini version of Yule’s log out of natural materials.

Another version with cream cheese filling and a little bit more elaborative decoration (real leaves, red current and chocolate-covered cereal balls)

Yule log was also made into a cake and we are especially fond of this recreation and would fondly worship the god of chocolate had it existed;). Yule’s log is also called bûche de Noël – because it was invented in 19th century in France and is most widely served in France, Switzerland (the French part) and Belgium (the French part). It is a fantastic dessert made of sponge cake (genoise) rolled into a roulade to resemble the log and filled with a chocolate or chestnut filling. The roulade is iced with chocolate icing (usually ganache) that is textured by dragging a fork through it so it looks like a bark. Decorations from marzipan or sugar paste or real berries etc… can be added. It is very rich in flavour but not too filling.

We bake it every single year and I always use a new recipe whenever I can find one. I have some on my Pinterest board (search among the sweets;)). We have liked them all because honestly, I don’t think how someone would make a chocolate roulade that wouldn’t be good:). Give it a try – you can’t mess this one up! It will always taste good – no matter which recipe you try and it will always look “log-like” enough – it’s not difficult to make something look like a piece of log, trust me;). Kids can help because this is not so elaborate and it can be a lot of fun!
*In case somebody needs a recipe or struggles with the instructions, comment below and I’ll try to help (or publish a recipe:).