Une Toute Petite Francophonie

K-2nd Grade

While trying to decide how to celebrate the winter festivities with my younger kids, I knew I wanted to work in some kind of special treat, but had a hard time finding something hands-on. I kept coming back to that classic French Christmas dessert, bûche de Noël. If only there was a way to make it mini...

Suddenly it occurred to me: Swiss rolls! How did I not think of that before?? I sent out an email to the staff with a desperate plea for evergreen clippings, headed straight to the store and picked up boxes of Little Debbie's Swiss rolls, chocolate frosting, fresh cranberries, and powdered sugar. I used two rolls for each bûche on a paper plate and did all the assembly beforehand. In class I had the kids frost the logs, add bark patterns with forks, and arrange their choice of greenery and cranberries to their liking. For those who opted in, I "snowed" powdered sugar over the logs with a sifter and we called it good!

This project was a real crowd pleaser and the children were bursting with excitement to show their families and share the snack with them. I covered them with plastic wrap and sent them home on the paper plates. This is the kind of project I love—simple, adorable, edible, and kid-friendly! The only thing that proved to be a little tricky was that the layer of frosting on the rolls sometimes cracked off when you tried to spread the additional frosting. But with enough powdered sugar, it's not even noticeable :)

4th and 5th Grade

I have fond memories of making my very first bûche de Noël. My high school French teacher made a point of working cuisine into our curriculum, and she guided us along the measuring, mixing, baking, rolling and—best of all—decorating over a couple of days in December. I think there is nothing that embodies French Christmas traditions more than a beautifully decorated bûche.

Initially I was intimidated by the thought of crowding twelve lively nine and ten year-olds into the school kitchen, but I knew it would be something they'd always remember, if nothing else. We began our culinary adventure by learning about the history of the yule log and how it eventually turned into a yule log cake as modern hearths decreased in size. I couldn't resist showing them a clip of Julia Child making her version, and the kids were more than motivated by the time they left class.

This recipe from Epicurious ended up working well for our needs. I appreciated the extra component of zesting and squeezing the oranges, because it turns out that when you have twelve cooks, the job goes by a little too quickly! It was important to be able to divide the recipe into many smaller jobs (cleanup and photography are important ones!). I divided the children into three groups and had them start just by reading all the steps. In the end I pretty much stepped back and let them have at it and was pleasantly surprised by the result! Even the kids who usually give me the most trouble seemed to be focused on getting their task done. I also managed to find some disposable kid-sized chef hats on Amazon that made the whole thing pretty much adorable.

We were able to finish the cakes in about 35 minutes, after which I had them watch while I rolled it up in the parchment paper. At our next class, I put on Mon Oncle for them to watch while I called over two at a time to work on decorating. I was so thrilled with the way the kids banded together on this project, and it also made for some wonderful photos to send to parents.