Butterscotch yule log: A retro Christmas dessert recipe from the 60s - Click Americana (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of the Yule log dessert? ›

The Yule log was originally part of Celtic culture. During the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year – the Celts would keep a wooden log burning throughout the night to celebrate the rebirth of the sun. The first rolled, log-shaped cakes appeared in France in the late 19^th century.

The most common combination is basic yellow sponge cake and chocolate buttercream, though many variations that include chocolate cake, ganache, and icings flavored with espresso or liqueurs exist.

As a dessert, the bûche de Noël has a relatively short history, but its namesake dates back much further. The original yule log was just that — a large, heavy piece of wood that was burned during the festive season. It was lit on Christmas Eve and rekindled each day until Twelfth Night was reached.

One of the favourite sweet treats of Christmas was first created in remembrance of an ancient tradition. The Christmas Chocolate Yule Log we all know and love actually represents the historical practice of collecting and burning a very large log in the hearth, throughout the Christmas season.

Interestingly, the Yule log was originally an entire tree! Families would bring the trunk of the Yule tree inside and stick the big end of it into the fireplace. The log would feed the fire through the 12 Days of Christmas (from Christmas Day through the evening of the 5th of January—known as Twelfth Night).

There are customs of 'Yule Logs' all over Europe and different kinds of wood are used in different countries. In England, Oak is traditional; in Scotland, it is Birch; while in France, it's Cherry. Also, in France, the log is sprinkled with wine, before it is burnt, so that it smells nice when it is lit.

Yule log cake, or bûche de Noël, is a Christmas cake with a ritualistic past. Cleverly shaped and decorated to look like a 3-D log, the cake represents a melding of ancient midwinter traditions: one that celebrated the end of winter, and another honoring the Norse god Thor.

While both desserts feature a thin layer of cake and fluffy filling rolled into a log, the difference between a yule log and a Swiss roll is how the two are decorated. Swiss rolls are typically kept plain while yule logs are cut, frosted, and adorned to look like, well, logs!

Bûche de Noël is a traditional French Christmas dessert shaped and decorated like a log. This recipe takes some time, but we promise it's worth it.

The Bûche de Noël, shaped like a log, is a Christmas dessert tradition. Crafted from sponge cake and filled with delectable flavors, it is a festive centerpiece enjoyed at the end of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

What do the French call the Yule log? ›

Bûche de Noël is the French name for a Christmas cake shaped like a log. This one is a heavenly flourless chocolate cake rolled with chocolate whipped cream and decorated with confectioners' sugar to resemble snow on a yule log.

The Yule log, Yule clog, or Christmas block is a specially selected log burnt on a hearth as a winter tradition in regions of Europe, and subsequently North America.

Most people eating their Chocolate Yule Logs don't care about its origin or associate it with paganism, but the custom of burning a yule log goes back to medieval times The Druids are believed to have created the tradition of the yule log, a bough of a large tree that was kept burning continuously for the 12 days ...

The main difference between the two cakes is the way the cakes are decorated. The Yule log cake, or buche de noel, is made to look like the logs burned on Christmas eve, whereas the exterior of a swiss roll is decorated much more simply, such as with whipped cream and fresh fruit.

A French Christmas tradition that dates back to the 19th century, the cake represents the yule log that families would burn starting on Christmas Eve, symbolizing the new year to come and good luck ahead.

The Celts believed the sun stood still during the winter solstice. They thought by keeping the Yule log burning for these 12 days encouraged the sun to move, making the days longer.

While the French bûche de Noël is a yule-log-shaped Christmas cake now commonly found on holiday tables across the United States, the origins of the yule log tradition go back centuries to Scandinavia.

Many of us have heard of celebrating with Yule logs during the Christmas season, and French families enjoy the tradition in the form of a delicious bûche de Noël. Traditionally, a bûche de Noël, which literally means “Christmas log” in French, is a sponge cake and buttercream roulade that is modeled after the Yule log.