Every November the pastry kitchens of Paris unveil their bûche, and the year’s ideas end up in a log. The 2026 collections are on sale from the last week of the month.
The bûche de Noël began as a rolled sponge shaped like a log; the palace chefs turned it into sculpture in the 2010s, and the December unveiling is now the pastry event of the year in Paris. Each house sells a limited number, ordered in November and collected between the twentieth and the twenty-fourth.
Paris
The Ritz, Le Meurice, the Plaza Athénée, the George V, Le Bristol and Cheval Blanc each build a log around their chef’s idea; the boutiques of Pierre Hermé, Yann Couvreur and Philippe Conticini follow. Order in the first half of December.
London, Asia, Vienna
London does the Christmas cake and the mince pie: Claridge’s and the Dorchester sell theirs from the cake shops. Butterfly Patisserie in Hong Kong and the Raffles Boutique sell logs that queue in December; in Vienna the Advent belongs to the Vanillekipferl at Demel, and in Zurich to the confiseries of the Bahnhofstrasse.
Keeping and serving
A palace bûche is collected on the day and kept cold; serve it at room temperature after twenty minutes, cut with a hot knife, and do not expect leftovers.
Frequently asked questions
When should I order a bûche de Noël in Paris?
In the first half of December; the palaces sell limited numbers and collect between the twentieth and the twenty-fourth.
