There are the well-kept secrets, the compulsory stops and the ones worth seeing. There are above all essentials of all kinds that it is good to share. For the pleasure of your palates, The duty offers you a gourmet notebook, one theme at a time. December brings a subject that could not be more inescapable: the Yule log. Here are some addresses that set the tone for the festivities. By Sophie Grenier-Héroux
Montreal
Pastry Crémy
For the tenth anniversary of his pastry shop, Rémy Couture has decided to highlight four designers who have worked or who are still working with him in order to “end the year in style. It’s important for me to shine a light on them, because they have helped make the company where it is now ”. Under the Crémy signature, gourmets are entitled to three logs and a cake inspired by popular culinary culture. Cédrik’s log is inspired by the bear’s paw cookie and Nicolas’s by the scent of the popular Pumkin spices latte! Valentin offers an ode to Quebec with a chocolate, Jerusalem artichoke and local ginger brownie, then Valérie winks happily with her gargantuan Ferrero Rocher. It promises !
2202 Mont-Royal Avenue East
Rhubarb pastry
It’s a fact: for over 10 years, chef Stéphanie Labelle’s lair has been one of beauties. Each delight is a true work of art. When the time is right, people come from all over the city to get their Precious. This year, the taste buds will have a blast with a citrus log with clementine caramel, and gourmets will lick the plates stained with dark chocolate log, praline and milk chocolate whipped cream. And we haven’t talked about his boxes of cookies… We’re already salivating!
1479 Laurier Avenue East
Bold Vanilla
Since 2018, Paulina Korzekwa has been offering herself the pastry of her dreams: gluten-free, soy-free, animal-free and without compromising on taste! “I am celiac and I wanted to show that it is possible to have something very good [malgré les restrictions alimentaires.] It took me three years of work to succeed in offering something that is truly delicious, that respects my environmental awareness and that is made with fair trade ingredients. After a few months of testing, sweet tooths can now choose between three flavors, including Banoffi inspired by the banana and caramel pie of the same name. “It’s for the kids or the kids in us!” “
3910 Wellington Street
Crazy Desserts
A Montreal institution for more than 20 years, Fou Desserts was bought four years ago by two employees who wanted to perpetuate the mission of “creating happiness”. Good things continue to be shaped at this Plateau address with, in highlight, the crossbreeding of cultures dear to owners from Japan and Reunion Island. Logs are no exception. For pastry co-owner Carolle De Boisvilliers, the three cakes are an invitation to escape. We dream in Japan with the Emerald which binds matcha tea to lychee and raspberry; Ghana unites the sweetness of chocolate, chestnut and pear; and Kashmir gives pride of place to the comforting scents of gingerbread, orange and Dulcey chocolate. Most are available without wheat flour and nuts.
809 Laurier Avenue East
Urban milling
Fans of chopsticks were hard pressed not to see their favorite address in our last address book. It is because we reserved it for this special Christmas log! The bakery-pastry shop located in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district offers two cakes for the holiday season: the Ti-Ponch with flavors of rum, grapes, vanilla and chestnuts, and the Dolce Vita with its brownie, its creamy, its mousse and dacquoise with three chocolate colors. The echoes say that their maple panettone is divine to the point where one is better to run after having read these lines.
6151 Monkland Avenue
Quebec
Gaël Vidricaire
“Christmas is the cardinal point of our year,” says the pastry chef straight away when asked about the Yule logs. In the summer, Gaël Vidricaire decides on a theme, then begins his research work. “Pastry is generous, and when there is a story that goes with it, it becomes more than a cake,” she says. “We’ve been through a lot this year. I asked myself: what makes sense about all of this? »Result of his reflections: six logs with names that make you smile, including the Sense of balance with confit of sea buckthorn berries and chestnut cream or even the Sense below which combines pear and chocolate.
200 Crémazie Street West
At Boulay
It is good to taste all year round the desserts with all Quebec flavors from Chez Boulay. And in a Yule log version, it sets a unique tone on New Year’s Eve. Honey from their own beehives, blackcurrant from Île d’Orléans, pumpkin seeds, buckwheat, Labrador tea… For pastry chef Timothee Piché of French and Ivorian origin, it is a real playground. The only sprain that he allows himself, it is chocolate, a “vector of spices” that he combines this year with poplar. Assisted by Victor Kabele, it is a work of trials that extended over several months to arrive at three creations, including the one with haskap and balsam fir, chef Piché’s favorite. “Balsam fir, I would put it everywhere!” he laughs. When I arrived in Quebec, it was the first spice I discovered. I’m a fan of it! “
42, Côte du Palais
Elsewhere in Quebec
Ferry culinary workshop
Consultant in the agri-food sector, Pierre-Olivier Ferry saw his plans change with the pandemic. To continue to highlight the know-how of local producers and the richness of Quebec products, he has created a gourmet bakery and ready-to-eat offer. The holiday season is one more opportunity to continue this mission with the Yule log available in two versions. One adorns her chiffon cake with sweet clover gelato and catherinette and saskatoon jujubes, while the other combines Quebec hazelnuts with a fir, maple butter and caramelized lichen gelato.
164, rue Principale, Métis-sur-Mer
VS Delights & chocolates
Here is a secret that is being heard more and more: the sisters who are co-owners of the Passion d’été family dairy bar in Lévis make Christmas logs! By following a pastry training course to perfect the offer of their dairy, Valérie and Sandra Langlois quickly had the idea of making logs while waiting for the return of the hot season. Over the years, inspirations oscillate between chocolate and fruit. This year, lovers of the chocolate-hazelnut duo will find this timeless one there and lemon lovers will be served with the log cheesecake lemon and yuzu. Pretty, decadent and memorable, that’s what they say! Gluten free version available.
2235, boulevard Guillaume-Couture, Lévis (Saint-Romuald sector)
Fidelity
A well-known name in the region for 32 years, the pastry shop of Anne Chabot and Rasmey You has displayed the Yule log on the holiday menu since their inception. The praline, which has not aged a bit, has become a classic. This year, the owners are also preparing a second classic: the “Cocotte” cake made from different preparations of chocolate and mascarpone cheese. “Our philosophy is to celebrate with the family. Sharing a log is a way to celebrate together! »Underlines Mme Chabot. Don’t want a log? Connoisseurs tell us that apple pie is memorable.
Three addresses, including 625, boulevard de la Grappe, Gatineau (Gatineau sector)