In part three of Laura K. Lawless's About.com article about Christmas in France, she talks about traditional French desserts, one of which we specialize in and feature here at La Petite France Cafe, the Buche de Noel or Yule log:
Throughout the French Christmas season, there are special traditional desserts:
- La bûche de Noël (Yule log) - A log-shaped cake made of chocolate and chestnuts. Representative of the special wood log burned from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day in the Périgord, which is a holdover from a pagan Gaul celebration.
- Le pain calendal (in southern France) - Christmas loaf, part of which is traditionally given to a poor person.
- Treize desserts (in Provence) - nothing like going a little overboard during the holidays.
- La Galette des Rois (on Epiphany) - round cake which is cut into pieces and distributed by a child, known as le petit roi or l'enfant soleil, hiding under the table. Whoever finds la fève - the charm hidden inside - is King or Queen and can choose a partner.
