The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World - Judika Illes 2005

Bûche de Noël
Food and Drink

Bûche de Noël means Christmas or Yule log in French. The Yule log, traditionally burned at Christmas time, derives from European Pagan traditions. Trees were sacred, the subject of the earliest spiritual traditions, especially those associated with goddesses like Frigga and Diana. In Gaul (ancient France) Diana was adored in the form of an oak log.

The bûche or log is generally made of a sheet of Génoise cake pasty, spread with various creams, usually a butter cream but maple cream has also recently become popular and extends the tree metaphor. This is an extremely sophisticated concoction: the cake is rolled into the shape of a log and decorated using a pastry bag with fluted nozzle and filled with some type of butter cream, often chocolate or coffee. Bûche de Noël are often beautiful, elaborately decorated cakes, ornamented with woodland motifs such as candied leaves.