What is the bunche de noel?

Answer 1

Buche de Noel is the French for Yule Log. These days it is a cake made in the form of a Swiss roll or Roulade decorated to look a wooden log.
The Yule Log is a tradition, dating from pre-Christian times, to celebrate the winter solstice with the building of a bonfire.
As Christmas came to replace the Winter Solstice celebrations, people carried on the tradition for a 'yule' log by cutting down a tree each year and then placing it in the fireplace so the heat from the log could be used to prepare the Christmas Eve midnight supper. The ashes from this 'yule' log were believed to hold magical and medicinal powers that would ward off the evil spirits in the coming year. Another tradition was started when new homes were built without fireplaces so they could not burn a real 'yule' log. The story goes that an innovative French pastry chef (in the late 1800s) came up with the idea of replacing the real 'yule' log with a cake that was log shaped.