December 11, 2006
When the usual pies and chocolate trifles become tiresome, two wonderful French holiday desserts—the croquembouche and bûche de noël—while not easily prepared at home can nevertheless be made with some due diligence or ordered at a patisserie. The croquembouche, a conical tower of cream-filled choux is held together with caramelized sugar; with some ambition you can produce the one photographed on Martha Stewart's website. Do ensure your kitchen is not humid, however, or else the caramelized sugar will not solidify properly. For this reason you won't find the croquembouche for sale in too many pastry shops.
In contrast, the bûche de noël has become easier to find in New York, and its base of sponge cake is frosted myriad ways to resemble a yule log with various decorations. The one photographed above at NYC.com's corporate kitchen features Grand Marnier flavoring in addition to the vanilla frosting. It is available at Ceci-Cela, priced at $5 for an individual portion (depicted), $28 for a bûche that served 4 to 6, and $38 for one that serves 8 to 10. Porcelain available at the Neue Galerie.
Tags:
buche de noel, ceci cela, croquembouche, neue galerie
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Posted on 12/11/2006
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