For My Records: 2023 Mag More Yule Court A&S Entry

Arts and Sciences Entry - Comfy, Cozy

Bûche de Noël

The Bûche de Noël is a French dessert and consists of a light sponge cake filled with jam or cream, rolled into a log, then decorated to resemble an actual tree log. Translated literally as “Christmas log”, it is often called a “Yule log” in English speaking countries. The name and dessert is a reference to the tradition of burning the Yule log. The cake most likely originates from 19^th century France. (1)

I have made two versions of the Bûche de Noël. One has a chocolate sponge, a chocolate cream, and chocolate ganache. The second is made up of a vanilla sponge with cranberry cream and white chocolate ganache. While cake as we know it today did not exist in pre-1600 Europe, I have tried to make the decorations using period ingredients and/or methods from France. 

I used the following to add flavor and decorate my cakes:

·       Candied oranges;

·       Rosemary;

·       Cranberries;

·       Whipped Cream and;

·       Marzipan

 

Candied Oranges

Preserved oranges, including candied oranges, in Europe date back to at least 1393, according to the cookbooks I have found:

•  “To Make Candied Orange Peel” – Le Menagier de Paris, France, 1393 - (2), 
• “To make a Conserve of Orenges” – A Book of Cookrye, England, 1584 - (3), (4)
• “To preserve Orenges” – A Book of Cookrye, England, 1591 - (5), (4)
• “To preserue orenges” – The Good Housewife’s Jewell, England, 1596 - (6)
• “To preserve Orenges” – Delights for Ladies, England, 1609 - (7)
• “To candy Orenge pills” – Delights for Ladies, England, 1609 - (8)

The recipe I used is most similar to the recipe “To preserve Orenges” from A Book of Cookrye or “To candy Orenge pills” from Delights for Ladies. These recipes only candy the orange peels, not orange slices, which I have done. I prefer the slices!

Rosemary

Rosemary is native to France, and sweet rosemary recipes were available by at least 1604. Delights for Ladies from 1609 has a recipe to candy rosemary leaves and flowers with sugar, and the French cookbook Ouverture de Cuisine from 1604 provides a recipe for “snow”. “To make snow” combines cream, sugar, and rose water to make a sweet which is garnished with rosemary (9), (10).

Cranberries

Cranberries are native to England, but not France. They may have been available through trade, but I have found no preserved cranberry recipes. Candied fruits were available, and cranberries could, feasibly, be candied and used as a garnish. 

Whipped Cream

Heavy cream has been used in French recipes for centuries. Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes, a text from 1300 France, provides a recipe for Cream Flans. The earliest European recipe for whipped cream appears in Cristoforo di Messisbugo’s 1549 cookbook, Banchetti composizioni di vivande e apparecchio generale, or Banquets, Recipes and General Utensils for the Kitchen and Table. Ouveture de Cuisine shows a 1604 recipe for “snow” (discussed previously under “Rosemary”), which also describes an early recipe for whipped cream (11), (12).

 

Marzipan

Marzipan likely originated in the Middle East. It was brought to Europe in the Middle Ages, and can be placed in England at the end of the 15^th century where it was referred to as “marchpane”, “martspane”, “mazapane”, or “marchpan”. In French, the sweet is known as “massepain”. 

Marzipan, a paste made up of ground almonds and sugar, was often used for subtleties, or figures of animals, trees, people, etc., to decorate feasts before their consumption. I have used it to make the acorns on the chocolate Bûche de Noël (13), (14)

 

Update! (Feb. 19, 2024)

I won the A&S competition! I made a buche de noel with vanilla sponge, cranberry cream, and vanilla whipped cream (I added chocolate to some of it and made it look like a birch bark log). I candied cranberries and rosemary sprigs for decoration, and made acorns out of marzipan and cinnamon (for color). The sponge was incredibly light and fluffy, and I made it for the Hasleton Christmas party too! The recipe is from Pastry Living with Aya (her Fluffiest Roll Cake | Dojima Roll | Japanese Roll Cake video on YouTube).

References

1.  Olver, L. (Ed.). (n.d.). Christmas food history. The Food Timeline--Christmas Food History. https://www.foodtimeline.org/christmasfood.html
2. The Goodman of Paris. (1393). To Make Candied Orange Peel. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?menag%3A570
3. W, A. (1584). A Book of Cookrye. A book of cookrye. http://jducoeur.org/Cookbook/Cookrye.html
4. W, A. (1591). To make Conserve of Orenges. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?booko%3A161%3AORNJ
5. W, A. (1591b). To preserve Orenges. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?booko%3A162%3AORNJ
6. Dawson, T. (1596). To preserue orenges. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?goodh%3A155%3AORNJ
7. Plat, H. (1609). To preserve Orenges. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?delig%3A34%3AORNJ
8. Plat, H. (1609a). To candy Orenge pills. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?delig%3A35%3AORNJ
9. Plat, H. (1609a). How to candy Rosemary-flowers, Rose-leaves, Roses, Marigolds. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?delig%3A9%3ARSMRY
10. de Casteau, L. (1604). To make snow. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?ouver%3A161%3ARSMRY 
11. Myers, D. (Trans.). (1300). Cream Flans. Medieval Cookery. https://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?ensei%3A33%3AKRM%2BTART
12. Nash, E. (2023, April 8). Whipped cream has been around for a long, Long Time. The Daily Meal. https://www.thedailymeal.com/1252304/whipped-cream-origins/
13. Olver, L. (Ed.). (n.d.-b). Marzipan. The food timeline: History notes-candy. https://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcandy.html#marzipan
14. á Fjárfelli, E. (2017, February 6). Marzipan & Sugarpaste: Medieval playdough!. The Æthelmearc Gazette. https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2016/07/12/marzipan-sugarpaste-medieval-playdough/