The best pastries to treat yourself during the festive season

Étienne Leroy, a world champion pastry chef, took charge of the sweet creations at Maison Lenôtre in 2022. For Christmas, the chef has created a delicious dessert in the form of a festive white vanilla sledge carrying presents made of chocolate. With a nod to childhood, this log combines the intensity of cocoa nibs in the vanilla sponge and exotic fruit purée flavours, all coated in a caramel cream to create the ultimate winter delight. Whether it snows or not, start dreaming of that white Christmas!

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For the Christmas period, Pierre Hermé and Gianpaolo Pagni have teamed up for the fabulous challenge of combining pastry-making and graphic art in a mouthwatering and highly original creation. The top chef’s pastry shops are festooned with geometric patterns in the style of the artist, like a showcase for the world of flavour. So take a sublimely colourful journey with their Arya signature log. Beneath a sprinkling of white, this Christmas dessert strikes a subtle balance between its soft pistachio sponge and its light cream flavoured with orange blossom. If you’re looking for something more daring this year, go for the unique Origine, a sublime creation of chocolate sculpted into a globe, like an ode to the origins of cocoa from across the world. The creations behind the success of this patisserie are also back, of course, with desserts like Infiniment Praliné Noisette, Ispahan and Plaisir Sucré.

Nina Métayer, a world-champion pastry chef, opened her online shop Délicatisserie in 2020, and also sells her creations at Printemps du Goût. Located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, she has conquered the city with her signature creations, always taking a responsible, mindful approach to her production. Her showpiece Christmas log is Le Flocon, a majestic dessert flavoured with vanilla and pecan nut, oozing with sweetness and light, to round off your Christmas dinner in style. You might also want to try La Rencontre, a deliciously bright log decorated with bees and sunflowers and flavoured with honey, pear and citrus fruit… Resistance is futile! If you’d rather opt for a more traditional Christmas dessert, the chocolate, tiramisu or exotic fruit logs should make your mouth water.

Find out more anout le Printemps du Goût.

Michalak needs no introduction in France where he is one of the most popular pastry chefs and dares to flout pastry-making convention. For Christmas pick one of his cream or ice-cream logs. The Collector log, for example, makes a nod to the seventh art, decorated with popcorn and stars. Beneath its chocolate coating hides a traditional Nantes cake with grilled sweetcorn praline… As mouthwatering as it gets! To satisfy every budget and preference, you can also try their great Christmas log classics, flavoured with mandarin, vanilla or chocolate & coconut, unless you fancy the vanilla & berry-fruit ice-cream log instead.

Find out more aboout Christophe Michalak.

As a sweet and savoury chef, Conticini has brought sparkle to French gastronomy since the 1980s, both in France and abroad. For Christmas, his shop, Gâteau d’émotions, is honouring tradition with a signature log that looks just like a charred piece of wood, with incredibly realistic blackened bark. In addition to this elegant creation with aromas of truffle, hazelnut and almond, you’ll also find the establishment’s more traditional Christmas logs in vanilla or chocolate & vanilla, as well as an exotic-flavoured coconut version, to please every taste.

Find out more about Philippe Conticini.

With Jeffrey Cagnes there’s no log without cream. For a Christmas Eve celebration that’ll have you drooling with delight, the logs here all follow the same principle: a mix of soft and crunchy, with cream, candied fruit, and a whipped ganache frosting. The hard part will be choosing your Christmas log between the 3 flavours: chestnut & mandarin, exotic fruit or chocolate & praline.

Pastry chef Olivier Adam, the undisputed master of the eclair, also excels in the art of making Christmas logs. His latest creation is the **Malmö log, with dark chocolate, roasted peanuts and a little chocolate teddy bear sitting on top. A tribute to the sweet cuisine of Scandinavia. This year’s delightful creation comes in 2 new versions. The Malmö Dodo log featuring a teddy bear lying in a bed of vanilla and caramel, on an almond mattress. The Malmö Surprise log, with Breton shortbread, maple-syrup sponge, caramelised apple, and chocolate ganache. This winter, Christmas is all about childhood.

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The historic tea rooms have been celebrating sweet cuisine since 1903. Led by chef Christophe Appert, the prestigious boutiques are offering their signature Christmas logs this festive season, including their star creation, the triple-chocolate log. Paying its usual tribute to chocolate, this log is made up of several layers: dark chocolate crunch, cocoa sponge and triple ganache. You’ll also enjoy the Mont-Blanc, Passion fruit & Caramel and Cranberry logs that have helped build the establishment’s reputation.

Could Panettone be THE new Chocolate log? Though some may not like the idea, this Italian brioche delight with dried fruit is making its merry way to our tables for dessert. With its shape suggesting a Christmas tree, sprinkled with icing sugar for a snowy touch, its delicious spongy texture and its typical winter flavours, it’ll add a touch of sweetness to your end-of-year festivities. In Paris, the Panettone master is Christophe Louie. A trained pastry chef, he learned the art of making this famous brioche-type dessert in Italy. For Christmas, he offers his signature creation in various versions: traditional, chocolate, orange blossom, or Pandoro, the famous speciality from Verona.

Find out more about Christophe Louie

Come to the Maison du Chocolat to celebrate a White Christmas! The Paris boutiques of this patisserie and chocolate brand present their latest creation, decorated in delicious snowflakes. Tuck into their galactic log for a deliciously chocolatey-white Christmas. The cocoa sponge is covered in a mixture of intense chocolate mousse, creamy caramel with grilled-sweetcorn chips, delicious praline and chopped pear. A harmonious blend of flavours to add a little warmth to your festive family meals.