If you’ve planned your holiday meal but are still looking for an impressive dessert to dazzle your family and guests, look no further.
Why not make your own Bûche de Noёl, the classic Yule log cake gracing French Christmas tables since the 19th century?
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The tradition originated with the medieval European custom of burning a massive hardwood log in the hearth during holidays from Christmas Eve through Twelfth Night.
In the late 19th century, French pastry chefs reimagined the disappearing yule log as an elegant cake. Made originally of vanilla-flavored génoise, a rich sponge cake — now more commonly a chocolate sponge — the cake is rolled, pinwheel-fashion, into a log shape filled with chocolate or coffee-flavored buttercream.
The “log” is then iced with more dark flavored buttercream, either piped on with a pastry bag using a fluted nozzle, or spread and raked to look like bark on a log. Decorations often include iced “branches” or “knots” cut from slices of génoise, “moss” created with sprinkled pistachios, holly berries and leaves created from tinted marzipan and meringue woodland “mushrooms.” Photos of traditional bûche de Noёl abound on the internet.
Most French families, including his own in the region of Brittany, order their bûche from their local pȃtisserie, explained chef Clément Le Déoré, owner and chef/pâtissier of Desserts by Clément in Pacific Beach.
Le Déoré pours a glossy, chocolatey glaze on a bûche de Noël, to mimic bark. opened his French pâtisserie last December. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
For readers of The San Diego Union-Tribune, he has created a new, simplified recipe, using a silicone mold that’s filled with rich chocolate mousse and a layer of Nutella crunch, easier for home cooks.
While preparing the multiple components of his bûche at home takes a little more time and patience than the typical American dessert, most experienced cooks will find them relatively easy to fix. For best results, plan to purchase high-quality ingredients along with a few additional pieces of kitchen equipment, including a scale for consistent, accurate measurements.
Le Déoré, 33, opened his French pȃtisserie in December 2023, and he plans in future to open additional locations offering his beautiful, tasty baked goods.
The quality of his products he attributes to selecting only fine ingredients — 82 percent butterfat unsalted French Isigny butter from the Normandy region, finely milled French soft wheat flour, known for its lower gluten content, plus American-milled King Arthur flour — as well as hiring French-trained bakers, several of whom he’s sponsored for U.S. visas.
Le Déoré grew up in suburban Lorient, a seaport city in southwestern Brittany, about 300 miles from Paris, the son of a nurse and plumber. He was never drawn to cooking or baking, although his mother enjoys cooking, he said. Bright and articulate and eager to get into the workplace, he left school at 15, taking advantage of the strong French apprenticeship system.
“I just wanted to quit school and I picked the first job that I found. Baking just showed up,” Le Déoré explained.
“I did three internships in three different fields, (automobile) mechanics, plumbing and baking. At the beginning I wanted to be a mechanic and then I did an internship. It was winter. It was cold, my hands were dirty all the time. Then I did another internship in this bakery, and everybody was so nice. They were happy about my work, and it was pretty interesting. And the team, they were really nice, and then they offered me an apprenticeship there. So I told them yes, and that’s how I started,” he added.
He thrived on the creativity of baking, and admits he still enjoys working on motorbikes when time permits.
After three years as an apprentice baker at the Lorient boulangerie — two years learning to make bread and one year learning desserts — at 18, eager to see the world, he worked for four years as a baker in Corsica but found little opportunity for advancement.
“I wanted to learn English. I wanted to go to an English-speaking country,” with the goal of coming to the U.S., he explained.
Le Déoré, who offers three distinctive versions of a bûche de Noël for order, will lead a small class on Dec. 21 at his commercial kitchen on Morena Boulevard. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Getting a U.S. work visa proved difficult. Instead, he opted to take a job with a two-year visa at a French bakery and coffee shop in Sydney, Australia. In addition to improving his baking skills he focused on learning English. After three months of classes and practice with friends, in six months he was comfortable in English.
Never giving up his dream of relocating to the U.S., Le Déoré applied for jobs all over the country. Just before his Australian visa expired, he received an offer with a work visa from a French bakery in San Diego.
After four years at the bakery, rising to executive chef, always improving his craft and developing his own recipes using American ingredients, he was ready to branch out on his own. However, he couldn’t open his own business — or participate in Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship — until his green card came through in 2021.
Immediately renting a commercial kitchen, he began catering and producing desserts for parties, events, hotels and restaurants, with the goal of opening his own shop, and Desserts by Clément came to fruition. In addition to artful and delicious individual pastries and cakes at his shop in Pacific Beach, he also sells buttery croissants and French baguette bread, as flavorful as any I’ve tasted in France. His shop also serves light meals and afternoon tea.
Along with creating an ever-evolving menu of pastries for shop customers and catering clients as well as special-occasion and wedding cakes, Le Déoré teaches small classes every Saturday morning at his Morena Boulevard commercial kitchen. If you’d prefer to make his Bûche de Noёl in a class setting, he’s offering a class on Dec. 21 for $140 for a maximum of 12 students.
Or, if you’d like to order a Bûche de Noёl, the shop offers three distinctive varieties, each $48.
For information about Desserts by Clément, to register for a class or place an order, go to dessertsbyclement.com, @dessertsbyclement on Instagram or visit the shop at 1380 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Telephone (858) 203-7070.
Although a bûche de Noël is often purchased at a French pâtisserie, this simplified recipe by pastry chef Clément Le Déoré of Desserts by Clément is aimed at the home cook. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Bûche de Noёl
Please note that Chef Clément Le Déoré developed this recipe with measurements in grams. For best results, use a scale and weigh your ingredients in grams. Measurements in cups and teaspoons/tablespoons are less accurate; they are approximations only, vary cup by cup, and were not tested. Ganache is a well-blended mixture of melted chocolate and heated heavy cream. All heavy cream should be a minimum of 35% fat. All sugar is granulated unless specified as powdered. Some elements of this dessert, such as the meringue, will need to be done ahead of time, so read through all of the instructions before beginning.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Needed equipment:
One-quarter size sheet pan
Parchment paper
Oven
Kitchen scale, calibrated in grams/ounces/pounds or cups/measuring spoons
Small and medium heatproof mixing bowls
Whisk
Mixer with whisk attachment
Spatulas
Cooling rack
Knife
Small saucepan
Immersion blender
Candy thermometer
Pastry bag
Pastry tip 10 mm or #804
Bûche silicone mold (such as Webake yule log cake pan, bit.ly/BucheCakePan, sold on Amazon) 5.2 inches by 12.6 inches
Rectangular plate or board for serving
INGREDIENTS
For the almond sponge cake:
Oil spray for baking pan
100 grams (generous 1 cup) almond flour
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar (1st amount)
30 grams (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
125 grams (2 1/2 large eggs) whole egg
90 grams (3 egg whites) egg white
15 grams (1 1/4 tablespoons) sugar (2nd amount)
For the Nutella crunch:
500 grams (scant 1 3/4 cups) Nutella
100 grams (3 1/2 cups) cornflakes
For the chocolate mousse:
300 grams (1 1/4 cups) heavy cream, 35% fat or higher (1st amount)
300 grams (about 10 1/2 ounces or 2 cups, coarsely chopped) dark chocolate (Callebaut recommended, or any 67 percent or higher dark chocolate)
350 grams (1 1/2 cups) heavy cream (2nd amount)
For the dark glaze:
400 grams (14 ounces or 2 1/4 cups) dark chocolate (around 60 to 70% cocoa)
400 grams (1 2/3 cups) heavy cream
40 grams (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter (optional, for added shine)
For the meringue:
50 grams (4 tablespoons) sugar
100 grams (about 3 1/3 egg whites) egg whites
50 grams (4 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon) powdered sugar
Cocoa power (Ghirardelli suggested) for sprinkling atop meringue.
For added decor:
6 to 8 roasted hazelnuts, sprinkled with edible gold dust
DIRECTIONS
1: Make the cake: Prepare a quarter sheet pan by spraying with oil before lining it with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, add almond flour, the first sugar amount, flour and whole egg. Mix together with a whisk. In a mixer with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites to soft peaks and add the second sugar amount. Fold half the beaten egg whites into the first mixture with a spatula. Fold in the other half until homogenous. Pour the batter into sheet pan and bake it for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on rack before cutting a rectangle, 11 inches by 3.5 inches. Set aside.
2: Make the Nutella crunch: Place Nutella and cornflakes in a small bowl. Mix by hand with a spatula until well combined. Spread mixture onto the cut almond sponge.
3: Make the chocolate mousse: In a small saucepan, boil the first amount of heavy cream. Place chocolate in a small bowl and pour hot cream onto chocolate. Mix well using an immersion blender until it forms a ganache, with a smooth, glossy surface. Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the second amount of heavy cream in a bowl until it forms soft peaks. When the ganache is at 110 degrees (use candy thermometer), pour it onto the whipped cream while gently mixing with a spatula until well combined.
4: Make the dark glaze (Note: Make this just before use): Finely chop the dark chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl. In a saucepan, heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Do not boil. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes to soften the chocolate. Using a spatula or whisk, gently stir the mixture starting from the center, working outward, until it becomes smooth and glossy. Stir in the (optional) butter for extra shine and smoothness. Let the ganache cool slightly to around 86 to 95 degrees so it thickens slightly and adheres well to the mousse cake without running off completely.
5: Make the meringue: Using a mixer, place the egg whites in a bowl and whip until fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and mix for 3 to 4 minutes on medium speed. With a spatula, gradually add the powdered sugar while mixing till combined. Prepare a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag using a 10 mm round pastry tip. On the parchment-lined baking sheet, pipe two spirals about 4 inches in diameter (for the two ends of the log) and 5 to 8 little “mushrooms.” Sprinkle cocoa powder on top of the meringue. Bake at 180 degrees for 3 hours.
6: To assemble: After baking and letting the almond sponge cool, cut it in the specified dimension. Spread the Nutella crunch mixture on top. Set aside. Fill the silicone log mold with the chocolate mousse to the three-quarters level. Cover the mousse with the Nutella crunch-covered almond sponge, crunch-side down. Remove the mousse excess with a spatula. Place log in the freezer until the next day. The following day, remove the Bûche from the silicone mold and set it on a wire rack over a tray. Pour the ganache over the center of the cake, letting it flow naturally down the sides. Use a spatula if necessary to cover any gaps. After glazing, place the Bûche de Noёl on a rectangular plate or board. Add the spiral meringues at either end and decorate with meringue “mushrooms” and roasted hazelnuts dusted in gold powder as shown in the photo. To cut, use a sharp knife.
Recipe by chef Clément Le Déoré.
