To which log to dedicate oneself?

There’s no shortage of choice when it comes to yule logs, but some versions of this holiday staple definitely stand out. Here are our favorite logs.

The oriental touch of Sachère Desserts

Introduced to Japanese culture as a child, Sonya Sammut designs desserts with Asian influences that always bring her original touch. At the Holidays, the pastry chef and her acolytes leave no one hungry with proposals that are nut-free, gluten-free or vegan: the Madera (smoked dark chocolate mousse, banana cream and miso caramel), the Mosaïque (nut cream of coconut and cashew, apple and passion fruit biscuit, mango jelly) and Kamélia (chestnut and rum mousse, roulade biscuit, clementine marmalade and chestnut cream). Available in sizes for two or three people ($35), four to six people ($45) or eight to ten people ($65), on pre-order only. They can be picked up at the shop in the Centre-Sud district.

A dessert in five Opus, by Gaël Vidricaire

“Sincere, sensitive and refined”, these are the terms that the pastry chef describes her dessert menu for the end of the year celebrations. Former researcher in health sciences, Gaël Vidricaire is inexhaustible about her passion which she considers to be relatively related to her first love: same rigor, same precision! Her simple and refined pastries are presented at her boutique in the Montcalm district of Quebec, where the menu changes every week. They can also be obtained online since 2011. For Christmas, five yule logs are presented: one with maple glaze, two airy with a fruity taste, the other chocolate with and without gluten. Sold for $50 each and $47.50 for the frozen version.

Fine delicacies from Chez Potier

It is in Old Montreal, on rue Wellington, that you will find one of the best pastry shops in the city, under the direction of chef Olivier Potier who first cut his teeth at the Parisian house Ladurée and in a few establishments. Montrealers, including the Renoir (Sofitel) and the Saint-Paul (Saint-James Hotel), before opening his own brand. If you don’t succumb to Chez Potier’s logs, it will probably be to its panettones offered in original or chocolate version. But let’s get back to our classics, offered here in four elegant versions for eight people at the Old Montreal boutique or online: the Piémontella (airy Piedmont hazelnut mousse), the Muroise (crunchy almonds, fleur de sel, chocolate noir with blackberries and raspberries), Vanilla (soft pecan cookie and vanilla crème brûlée) and frozen Tiramisu. Size for eight people, $72.

Yin and Yang at Zébulon

Whether you’re feeling yin or rather yang this Christmas, you’ll find what you’re looking for at Pâtisserie Zébulon in the Plateau Mont-Royal, where vegan and gluten-free sweets are as delicious as classic pastries, some would even say better! The owners, artisan Zébulon Vézina and his sister Alice, offer two versions of the log. If one seduces with its green tea almond roulade and chocolate mousse, the other delights with its opposite with a heart of citrus mousse, puffed rice and black sesame Genoa bread. Are you hesitating? Unless you opt for both… in a search for balance, let’s say! Both desserts are also offered in sizes for four or five people ($38) or six to ten people ($70). Available online or on site for pre-order, now (limited quantities).

Made with The Love of Bread

Originally an artisan bakery, L’Amour du pain has become a gathering place for lovers of small sweets, which it still delights this year with a Christmas collection made up of sweet and savory delicacies, and four yule logs offered in different formats: La Royale (milk chocolate, praline, Joconde biscuit and macaroon finish), Sucre à la crème (almond biscuits, dulce de leche and pecan nougatine), Lime, pistachios and raspberries (with macaroon finish) and the classic Bûche (kirsch, Morello cherry and Black Forest mousse). The holiday collection is available by reservation until December 20 online or at one of the Montreal and South Shore branches every weekend in December. Starting at $29.95 for four to six servings and $44.95 for six to eight servings. Also available in individual format starting at $6.35.

A holiday collection by Christian Faure

Pastry chef Christian Faure, named Meilleur Ouvrier de France, presents his collection of yule logs in four tempting versions: the Brazilia, with almond biscuit, chocolate, coffee mousseline and melting marmalade; the Royale, gluten-free, with dark chocolate and cocoa flower; Paris-Brest, with choux pastry, praline cream and caramelized hazelnuts; and the Marron Rhum, candied chestnut paste flavored with rum. You can reserve your yule log now online or at the new ÔFauria store in Laval and take the opportunity to sip a drink at the tea room. Each log sells for $63 and is suitable for six to eight people.