Les Buches

Some number of years ago, I cannot quite remember how many, it became a Christmas tradition in my family to have a buche de noel for Christmas dessert.  They were not part of the family holiday repertoire when I was a child, but I recall buying them from local bakeries or the Whole Foods when the girls were younger.  Certainly, both my sister Shannon and my daughter Anna have made them from scratch on several occasions.  (These elaborate family projects have included meringue mushrooms, chocolate piped insects, life-like simulated frosting bark, subtly flavored sponges and fillings, and one spectacular disaster involving some vegan experimentation.). My best guess is that we have been making or procuring buches de noel for a couple of decades, at least.

Of course, the capital of buches de noel is France, as the name suggests.  And they are everywhere in the patisseries now.  

Above are three flavors available at a bakery near work, cafe, chocolat, and praline.  Below are some other flavors from the same bakery, Rocher, Mont-Blanc, Jeannine, and Royal.  I'm not sure how differentiated they are all--chocolate of some type is a constant--but these look fancier and more grown-up, perhaps.

And if you're not having a crowd, you can get a buchette!

And here are some much more refined and contemporary versions available at a bakery near our apartment.

They have a stark beauty, but minimalism has never been the vibe for holidays with my family.  I'm afraid they would look out of place on our Christmas spread.  

Glenn and I are flying back to spend the holidays with the girls and my sister's family.  Planning is already underway for this year's buche.  I have not been involved, so I will be pleasantly surprised next week.