The bûche de Noël, or Yule log, is a sweet — if somewhat bizarre — holiday dessert designed to evoke the warmth and festivity of the hunk of wood traditionally burned on Christmas to bring good luck. The concept is simple: a thin sheet of cake smothered with icing, and then rolled into a cylinder and frosted yet again. And as with any classic French recipe, over the years a great number of variations have sprung up. These gourmet versions incorporate the original elements of the Yule log, but we can promise they won’t look like anything you’ve ever made in an intro to French cooking workshop. Here are the best of the most beautiful bûche de Noël.

1. Dominique Costa’s Flavors Of The Christmas Market Bûche

2. Dalloyau’s Tiny Townhouse Bûche

3. Fouquet’s Bûche Table

4. Alain Ducasse’s Frozen Bûche

5. François Daubinet’s Firework Bûche For Fauchon

6. Nicolas Paciello’s Bûche With A Built-In Deck

7. La Dacquoise Mailbox Bûche

8. Lenôtre’s Highly Realistic Bûche

9. Les Pâtisseries De Mama Glitter Bûche

10. Christophe Michalak’s Violin Bûche

11. Cheval Blanc’s Pine Tree Bûche

12. Antoine Fornara’s Snowbank Bûche

13. The Hugo & Victor Truffle Bûche

14. Jean-Paul Hévin Abri-Bûche

15. Cocottes & Campagne Apricot Bûche

16. Christophe Renou’s Fun-With-Shapes Bûche

17. Maison Kayser Macaron-Topped Bûche

18. Ritz Paris Spiral Bûche

19. Pierre Hermé’s Hidden Treasures Bûche

20. Mushroom Bûche from Sur La Table

21. Sleek Red-berry Callebaut Chocolate Bûche