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

FAQs

When did the Yule log become a dessert? ›

Originally a real piece of wood burned over the festive period, the yule log has existed in cake form since the 19th 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.

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.

It seems to have originally been a Nordic tradition. Yule is the name of the old Winter Solstice festivals in Scandinavia and other parts of northern Europe, such as Germany. Yule Logs could have started out an entire tree, or very large log, that was carefully chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony.

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).

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!

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 tradition of the Yule log began in Norway, where a giant log was hoisted onto the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. Hold a simple ritual by having each family member write down wishes, place them in the log, and then burn it in your fireplace.

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.

How to make a yule log decoration? ›

You can use natural materials such as pinecones, holly, or evergreen branches to decorate your log. You can also add ribbons, beads, or other decorations that have personal significance to you. As you decorate your log, think about what you want to manifest in the coming year.

What Is a Yule Log? A Yule log cake, a.k.a. a bûche de Noël, is a traditional holiday dessert that is meant to resemble an actual log. A sponge cake is baked in a Swiss roll pan, filled, rolled into a cylinder, then frosted again.

Similar to a Swiss roll, the Yule log cake is made of a soft sponge cake and is believed to have originated in France around the 19th century and was known as Bûche de Noël. The cake is shaped, decorated and frosted to resemble the Yule log from the original tradition.

Yule was first celebrated as far back as the fifth century (so, more than 1,500 years ago) by Germanic pagans as a midwinter festival to stave off the dark and cold and prepare for the long winter still to come. Farmers and locals would assemble at the heathen temple, bringing food, ale, and livestock to be sacrificed.

“Yule” became a name for Christmas about the 9th century, and in many languages yule and its cognates are still used to describe that holiday—jul in Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish; joulud in Estonian; joulu in Finnish; and jol in Icelandic. The Christmas holiday is still referred to as Yule in the Scots language.