A few weeks ago, way back in 2016, I attended the inaugural Buche de Noel cake competition at Ace Cleaners. It was such a fun, festive event planned by Clyde Common‘s pastry chef Kristen Napoleoni.
With delicious eggnog cocktails in hand, my friend Lauren and I wandered through the space, admiring the gorgeous nature-inspired cakes made by Portland’s top pastry chefs. I was so impressed by their ability to create such beautiful and creative yuletide logs.
We of course got to sample the desserts as well, then vote for our favorite. We debated how best to decide – did we choose the most traditional or most unique? Best tasting or based on presentation? It was difficult to choose as they were all incredible. After thinking hard about this important decision, we cast our votes, as did the rest of the attendees.