Treat Yourself.

‘Tis the season, so we inquired around town for fun holiday special desserts. Of course we expected to see the “regulars” like Bûche de Noël. I expected to see the traditional Yule Log at a traditional bakery like Maurice’s French Pastries. Maurice’s carries Stollen and Black Forest Cake year round. They certainly did have a Bûche de Noël, but they also had a Croquembouche, an even more spectacular French pastry in a cone shape. A Croquembouche is a medieval celebratory pastry served at weddings and baptisms, but at Christmas its resemblance to a Christmas tree makes it a festive dessert.

A Croquembouche is made of cream puffs of choux pastry that breaks into individual puffs, drizzled with caramel sauce. The one from Maurice’s is a good version of the show-stopper, just like their version of Bûche de Noël. 

I expected the newer bakeries to have less traditional Christmas treats, but it seemed most everyone has a Bûche de Noël, though they are not interpreted the same way. 

Our favorite “new” bakery is called Ayu Bakehouse and they have all sorts of clever things, like a muffuletta breadstick that is a must for us at every visit. They also have weird things like cornmeal cookies, but this season they are featuring a croissant filled with pistachio cream that they consider a Christmas tree. That association is lost on us, but this is a superb creation. Flaky perfection and a filling of luscious pistachio cream, this is well worth its $9.50 price tag.Ayu Bakehouse has Yule logs by the slices too. It's the only place we saw that does it. The slice is perfect, just the right ratio of textures and flavors.

A place we consider a bridge between old and new bakeries is La Boulangerie. It didn’t surprise me that there was a Bûche de Noël here, and it didn't suprise me that it was non-traditional, but I was surprised that it was their only nod to the holiday.

Angelo Brocato's is a place entitled to be predictable, but it is anything but. The place has maintained its excellence for 110 years. Everything they do here is the “best of” whatever it is, but they innovate every season. They have charming Christmas butter cookies, an eggnog cheesecake, 

and a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, as well a gingerbread men. There are specialty ice cream flavors and Italian imports like the traditional Italian Christmas bread Panettone.

Another place to have specialty ice cream flavors is the Creole Creamery, which is itself quite good at offering fun things. Besides flavors like Figgy Pudding, there is Gingerbread Cheesecake, White and Dark Peppermint Bark, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, Eggnog, and Speculoos Christmas Cookie. The Speculoos Christmas cookie hails from Scandinavia and it features an image of St. Nicholas embossed on a cookie whose flavor profile resembles Biscoff. (I feel pretty sure Biscoff was modeled after this legendary treat offered by a company in Brussels called Maison Dandoy.) The Speculoos cookie is also featured here in the Speculoos pie, offered as a whole pie for Christmas pre-order. 

These guys are fun, and they know how to celebrate New Orleans, as evidenced by their ice cream Mr. Bingle. He does have to be pre-ordered.

So whether you are just popping in for a quick treat or ordering a big one for your holiday festivities, these treats are just another reminder how special this time of year is. And how delicious it can be.