This Bûche de Noël Competition Comes With A History Lesson

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If you’re in France, every boulangerie has at least one kind of bûche de Noël, known as a Yule log in the U.S. If you’re in America, they’re probably a little harder to come by. But regardless, this delicious French Christmas dessert is beloved by all…

Including French teacher Alexa Polidoro, whose YouTube channel Learn French With Alexa is doing a very special “Twelve Days of Frenchmas” series right now. In this video, Alexa and two friends have a competition to see who can decorate their bûche de Noël best. And it’s not as easy as it looks — few minutes in and you’ll start to understand the level of baking expertise required to pull off something like this.

Alexa also goes into the history of the bûche de Noël, whose roots date back to Medieval Times, when the Yule log was an actual wooden log burned for three days. But despite the mishaps, her bûche is probably a little tastier than the one of yore. So get out that tub of icing, and have a Joyeuse Noël.

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