Chocolate Chestnut Yule Log (No-Bake Bûche de Noël)
This chocolate chestnut yule log recipe is an easy no-bake French Christmas dessert made with a sweetened chestnut spread (crème de marrons) and dark chocolate. Rich, silky, and chestnut-forward, it takes fifteen minutes to make and sets overnight in the fridge. No baking, no special equipment, and pretty much no-fail.
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Quick Look at the Chocolate Chestnut Yule Log Recipe
- Flavour: Sweet chestnut, dark chocolate, faintly vanilla. Dense and silky, like the best truffle you’ve ever had.
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Chill time: Overnight (minimum 4 hours)
- Serves: 12, in thin slices
- Bake time: No Bake
- Make ahead: 1-2 days ideal
- Gluten-free: Yes
- Difficulty: Easy
- When to serve: Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Birthdays
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Table of contents
- Quick Look at the Chocolate Chestnut Yule Log Recipe
- What Makes This Chocolate Chestnut Log Special
- Ingredient Notes
- Substitutions
- Equipment
- How to Make This Chocolate Chestnut Log
- Tips for the Best Chocolate Chestnut Log
- Troubleshooting
- What Is Crème de Marrons?
- Storage and Make-Ahead
- FAQ
- What to Serve With the Chocolate Chestnut Log
- What to Make Next
What Makes This Chocolate Chestnut Log Special
Most bûche de Noël recipes in English are a rolled sponge: génoise, buttercream, ganache, meringue mushrooms. Beautiful. Also an afternoon’s work, and one anxious moment rolling a hot cake without cracking it.
This is not that.
This is la bûche sans cuisson, the no-bake yule log that French people make in their ordinary kitchens, while the pâtisserie version got all the attention in English recipe books. This one tastes of sweetened chestnut and chocolate. The texture is somewhere between a chocolate terrine and a soft truffle, rich enough that a thin slice is all you need.
My French mother-in-law, Mamie, made this old fashioned chocolate chestnut log every Christmas Eve. It came out cold from the fridge at the end of a long meal, decorated with small Christmas figurines her grandchildren took very seriously.
I spent fifteen years in France and the dessert at those long Christmas meals was almost always something made quietly the day before. Simple ingredients, no fuss. This is exactly that.
My son has claimed it as his birthday cake, which is maybe the best review a recipe can get.
Ingredient Notes
See the recipe card below for full quantities.
- Sweetened chestnut spread (Crème de marrons): Not the same as unsweetened chestnut purée, which is a different product. Clément Faugier and Sabaton are the standard French brands.
- Dark Chocolate: You’re working with six ingredients, so you taste every one. Use a bar you’d eat on its own, not baking chocolate. Anywhere from 45% to 70% dark chocolate works. At 45-50% the chestnut leads fully and this is what I usually use. At 70% it’s more intense, slightly bitter, and cuts the sweetness of the crème de marrons nicely.
- Butter: Room temperature. If it’s cold it won’t blend evenly, and the texture will be lumpy rather than smooth. Leave it out of the fridge for at least an hour before you start.
- Vanilla: Use the real stuff if you can.
- Rum or brandy (Optional): I usually leave it out. Kids love this dessert. If you’re making it for adults only, dark rum pairs well with crème de marrons, and brandy is the more traditionally French choice.
Substitutions
- Crème de marrons: Use unsweetened chestnut purée and add approximately 350g / 3 cups icing sugar (not caster, not granulated, it won’t dissolve) and 2 tsp vanilla extract per 1000g purée. It won’t be quite as silky or fragrant, but it works.
- Butter: I think vegan butter would work, but I have not tested this. Make sure the taste is mild.
Equipment
- Standard loaf tin (23 x 13cm / 9 x 5 inch)
- Foil and wax paper or parchment paper
- Heatproof bowl and saucepan, or a microwave
- Food processor, hand mixer, electric whisk, or just a fork and a spatula or spoon
- Fork for the bark finish
How to Make This Chocolate Chestnut Log
Full amounts in recipe card below.
First decide how much chocolate you will use. This recipe uses 200g / 7 oz, a ratio of roughly 1:5 against the creme de marrons, which makes it chestnut-forward with a clear chocolate presence. Most recipes use far more chocolate and the chestnut gets lost. You can drop to 170g / 6 oz if you want the chestnut even more prominent. You can also go up to 250g / 9 oz if you want more chocolate and a firmer slice.
Step 1: Melt the chocolate. Break the chocolate into small pieces and combine with the milk in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water on low heat, stirring until smooth. You can also melt it in the microwave in short bursts, stirring between each one. Remove from the heat.
Cool completely. This is the step that matters most. The chocolate mixture must reach room temperature before it touches the butter.
Step 2: Beat the butter. Beat or whisk the softened butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
Step 3: Combine the melted chocolate with the butter. Beat again until fully combined. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl so everything gets mixed in evenly.
Step 4: Add the sweetened chestnut spread (crème de marrons) and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. If using rum or brandy, add it now.
Step 5: Spoon mixture into the prepared tin and chill. Line a standard loaf tin with foil, then parchment paper or wax paper, leaving enough overhang to lift it out later. Spoon in the chocolate mixture, smooth the top lightly, and fold the paper over.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Overnight is better. The flavour deepens and it’s much easier to shape when cold all the way through.
Step 6: Shape the log. Lift the chilled mixture out of the prepared tin by the paper. While still wrapped, place it on the counter and press and roll it gently into a log shape, working it like a rolling pin along the length. Stand it on its ends if you want it shorter and rounder. It’s forgiving.
Return it to the fridge until ready to serve. Keep it cold. It won’t melt at room temperature, but it softens.
Step 7: Finish and serve. Unwrap and place on your serving plate. Use a fork to draw lines along the length for the bark effect. Add chocolate shavings or grated chocolate if you like, over the top, dusted onto plates, or in a small bowl on the table. Tuck in Christmas figurines or toothpick stars. Slice thinly.
Tips for the Best Chocolate Chestnut Log
- Cool the chocolate before adding the butter. Use the cold water pot method if you’re in a hurry. It should feel cool to the touch before you proceed.
- Make it a day or two ahead. The flavour improves overnight and it slices more cleanly when cold all the way through.
- Thin slices. Closer to how you’d slice a terrine than a cake. It’s rich. Trust the thin slice.
- Use good chocolate. Six ingredients. You taste every one.
- A pinch of fleur de sel or good sea salt stirred in before chilling is optional but very good. It lifts the chocolate and balances the sweetness.
Troubleshooting
- The mixture looks greasy or has separated.The chocolate was too warm when it met the butter. Cool it until it feels room temperature to the touch before adding anything.
- The log is too soft to slice cleanly. Back in the fridge for another hour. Overnight chilling gives a better result than 4 hours, every time.
- The log won’t hold its shape when I try to roll it. Still too warm. Rewrap and return to the fridge for another hour before trying again.
What Is Crème de Marrons?
Crème de marrons is sweetened chestnut puree, a French pantry staple, often called “sweetened chestnut spread”. The most famous version comes from the Ardèche region in southern France, where Clément Faugier began producing it in 1885. Made from chestnuts, sugar, and vanilla, it’s been spread on crêpes and stirred into yoghurt in French kitchens for well over a century. It’s like a chestnut jam. And every December, it goes into this log.
Don’t confuse crème de marrons with unsweetened chestnut purée. They look similar on a shelf and behave very differently in a recipe. Crème de marrons is sweet and fragrant. Unsweetened chestnut purée is plain. If your tin says “crème de marrons” or “sweetened chestnut cream,” you’re in the right place.
Storage and Make-Ahead
- Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, well wrapped.
- Make it up to two days ahead and leave it in the tin. Shape it the day you serve.
- I have never frozen this, so I am not sure how that would work.
FAQ
Yes. One to two days in the fridge is ideal – the flavour deepens and it slices more cleanly.
With adjustments, yes. See the substitutions section. The flavor won’t be identical but it’ll still make a good log.
Very. A little goes a long way.
No flour, no biscuit base, no thickeners.
Anywhere from 45% to 70%. Lower means the chestnut leads, so I usually use 45%. Higher means the chocolate is more present and the sweetness more balanced.
No. This recipe tastes great without it. Adults and children both love it as is. You can add some brandy or rum if you like, but I almost never do.
If you made this chocolate and chestnut yule log recipe, I would love it if you gave me a star rating ❤️ It helps more than you know 🙂
What to Serve With the Chocolate Chestnut Log
This log came at the end of a meal that follows a very specific French order.
Canapés first – canned salmon on toast is a simple one that works well.
Then a first course of French cucumber salad or French carrot salad, then dinde aux marrons (French roast chicken with chestnuts works beautifully if turkey is hard to find).
After the main event, you were served a green salad with lemon shallot vinaigrette, then cheese.
Finally the bûche aux marrons – the chocolate chestnut yule log. 🙂
It’s also a good special occasion dessert to have in the fridge when people come by around Christmas, something a little different and easy to slice. Serve it with fresh fruit, strawberries or raspberries alongside, and a dollop of vanilla whipped cream, crème fraîche, or crème anglaise. The whole family loves it, children included.
You can also serve this as a birthday cake, set in a round cake tin lined with parchment instead of a loaf tin. It unmoulds into a neat round, slices like a torte, and looks quite elegant. Same recipe, different shape. If you want a more traditional birthday cake option, my Easy Belgian Chocolate Cake works beautifully with a creamy chocolate ganache.
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Chocolate Chestnut Yule Log (No-Bake Bûche de Noël)
Equipment
- 1 Standard loaf tin (23 x 13cm / 9 x 5 inch)
- Foil to line the loaf tin
- Wax paper or parchment paper the inside lining of the loaf tin
- Heatproof bowl and saucepan, or a microwave to melt the chocolate
- Food processor, hand mixer, electric whisk, or just a fork and a spatula or spoonFork for the bark finish to mix the chocolate with the butter and then the chestnut mixture
- Fork for the bark finish
Ingredients
- 200 g 7 oz dark chocolate 45-70% cocoa (not baking chocolate)
- 170 g 6 oz unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1000 grams 35 oz crème de marrons sweetened chestnut spread
- 2-3 tbsp dark rum or brandy optional
- Grated dark chocolate to finish optional
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate and milk together in a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water on low heat, stirring until smooth. You can also melt in the microwave in short bursts. Remove from the heat. (see note below for how much chocolate to use)
- Cool the chocolate completely to room temperature. Set the bowl over a pot of cold water and stir occasionally. It should feel cool to the touch and still be liquid, not beginning to set.
- Beat or whisk the softened butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add the cooled chocolate and beat again until fully combined. Scrape the bottom and sides with a spatula to get everything incorporated.
- Add the crème de marrons and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Add rum or brandy now if using.
- Line a standard loaf tin with foil and then parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to lift it out. Spoon in the mixture, smooth lightly, fold the paper over to cover.
- Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
- Lift the chilled mixture out of the tin by the paper. While still wrapped, place on the counter and press and roll gently into a log shape. Return to the fridge until ready to serve.
- Unwrap and place on a serving plate. Use a fork to draw lines along the length for a bark effect. Add grated chocolate if using. Slice thinly. This serves 12.
Notes
- If using unsweetened chestnut purée, add 350 grams (3 cups) icing sugar and 2 tsp vanilla per 1000 grams of chestnut purée.
- Serve as is, or with a bowl of grated chocolate, crème fraîche, or vanilla whipped cream. Or with some fresh strawberries and raspberries.
- Make 1-2 days ahead for best flavor and texture.
- Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- The chocolate must be completely cooled before you mix it with the butter. This is the one step that can go wrong. Be patient and let it cool.
- Butter should be at room temperature, so it blends in evenly.
- Serve in thin slices. A little goes a long way.
What to Make Next
This recipe is part of a bigger picture. French home cooking that’s unfussy, make-ahead, and traditional. Here are a few more to explore.
- Authentic French Quiche Lorraine – for the next French occasion
- Easy Chicken Liver Pâté – the canapé that starts the meal
- Blueberry Strawberry Pie – another simple French-style dessert
- Cauliflower Potato and Leek Soup – a French starter worth knowing
- Easy Belgian Chocolate Cake with Ganache – for when you want a baked chocolate dessert that’s just as easy but serves a crowd as a proper cake.
