Quintessentially French and festive, a Buche de Noel is the bakers’ holy grail of Christmas creations. For me, it once seemed unattainable. Not any more. With the right pan, a pastry brush, an attractive rectangular plate to serve it in, and the wisdom to bake, wrap, and refrigerate (or freeze) the unfrosted cake up to two days in advance, I am now on a buche de noel roll (pun intended), creating variations on a theme to bring to friends and family leading up to the holiday season. All credit goes to David Lebovitz’ My Paris Kitchen and a 12″x 18″ jelly roll pan (which I bought a few years ago when experimenting with Collette’s Birthday Cakes by Collette Peters) and a boars’ bristle pastry brush from William Sonoma received as a Christmas gift last year. But mostly, credit goes to David Lebovitz and his photographer Ed Anderson. Their description, instructions and illustrations made the project approachable and a wonderful excuse to begin the holiday baking season!