‘Tis the Season…

…of overindulgence, office parties, family feuds, and (on a positive note) culinary creativity. Christmas in London is a time to remind ourselves of childhood traditions, comfort food, and having fun while baking treats in the kitchen.

A firm Christmas favourite in many of Lebanon’s homes is the much-loved bûche de Noël (or what the British part of this family often refers to as the Christmas log). The perfect festive treat, it’s essentially a pimped Swiss roll and forms an excellent base for all your creativity and sweet, creamy desires.

Filled with a rich (and perhaps rum-infused) cream and topped with a dark ganache, it’s the ultimate extravagance for a very adult Christmas. Alternately, make a child-friendly version (which, sadly, means missing out on the rum) and smother it with sweet buttercream chocolate frosting. And while no other Christmas cakes come close, much to our frustration, tradition dictates we can only bake it on the 24th.

Meanwhile, we are going to start enjoying the scent of our freshly baked gingerbread cookies that we eagerly snap up during these cold, short days and long, dark nights.

Over the years, we’ve established them as a new tradition at The High Llama by making them our own way, in our own image, and, these days, while being miles from home, with a little reminder of Lebanese flavours by adding carob molasses as a natural sweetener (so we can convince ourselves that with the natural sweetener and the health-giving properties of ginger, our gingerbread cookies are basically a seasonal superfood).

What better way to get your whole family in the Christmas spirit, guilt-free?

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