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    Home • Blog Posts • French Food Guides • Paris Pâtisseries and More

    Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolate Bûches

    Published: Dec 6, 2016 · Modified: Apr 19, 2023 by Jill Colonna8 Comments

    Thank Hévin for chocolate! Festive collection of Jean-Paul Hevin chocolate bûches, a creative show of designer yule logs for the holiday season, named the French Touch. Although this is for 2016-2017, many of his creative chocolate yule logs continue in later collections.

    French Touch Chocolate Collection

    Anyone who loves French chocolate knows of Jean-Paul Hévin in Paris. A Meilleur Ouvrier de France and part of the international pastry elite at Relais Desserts, he generously participates in the annual Fête du Macaron. In my opinion, he also produces some of the best Parisian chocolate macarons - see my list of Top 20 Best Macarons in Paris.

    Seven main ingredients are used by Hévin to give us that festive French Touch: fashion, joie de vivre, style, creativity, humour, terroir, and tradition. All are illustrated in the following seven pure chocolate creations for Christmas and New Year. With FOUR new bûches in the collection, Hévin designs his chocolate yule log pastries around the quality of his chocolate first.

    Bûche Fashion: a French Chocolate Handbag

    new french touch chocolate collection 2016

    Hévin has always had an fashionable element of la mode in his chocolate and this Bûche Fashion firmly puts it in the bag, as the saying goes (same in French: l'affaire est dans le sac).

    Not quite a "trunk", this is a rather compact handbag for any chocoholic who appreciates a pure intense Venezuelan chocolate sensation. Could our hands be too hot to handle this chocolate handbag? You could also show you're "well heeled" with his famous chocolate stiletto sculptures!

    Bûche Cancan

    new french touch chocolate collection 2016 Cancan Buche

    A festive Bûche Cancan represents the French Joie de vivre party spirit. Like the Cancan dancers, the Tonka base has an exciting crunch, topped with frilly layers of chocolate and almond sponge, with a gutsy Peruvian Grand Cru chocolate mousse. A dark cherry jelly adds a suggestive lingering aftertaste.

    Bûche Grand Style

    new french touch chocolate collection 2016 Buches edible decorations

    Be transported to the regal gardens of Versailles with the Bûche Grand Style, especially designed to be easily transportable abroad for any stylish party, even if it's next day to the USA. Based around a chocolate mousse (Grand Cru from the Equator), its subtle aftertaste brings out the pistachio in the chocolate gianduja base.

    Bûche Rève or Dream

    new french touch chocolate collection 2016

    Creativity is given to Jean-Paul Hévin's personal favourite Bûche Rêve - with dreams of a child being able to reach for the moon at Christmas. It's the most complex: an orange crème brûlée is subtle but just enough to distinguish some balancing acidity and I loved the texture with the crunchy almond chocolate base. Although candied ginger is in there, it's just a suggestive hint, all billowing around a Brazilian Grand Cru chocolate mousse.

    Jean-Paul Hévin, Meilleur Ouvrier de France

    new french touch chocolate collection 2016 Buche Reve
    Jean-Paul Hévin, Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF). Spot the orange crème brûlée?

    Table Centre, Lumière

    His French Touch continues with an ingredient of humour, demonstrated by a table centre-piece Lumière, as a chocolate candle - of course, not to be lit!

    new french touch chocolate collection 2016 Lumiere table centre

    New Bordeaux chocolates put terroir (soil, climate etc. that distinguishes chocolate like wine) in the limelight with a Grand Cru from the Equator.

    Bordeaux chocolates new french touch chocolate collection 2016
    The same chocolate is highlighted in a new festive macaron range, Cocorico. Hévin pays homage to the traditional French sporting cockerel mascot, Cocorico (Cock-a-doodle-do!), symbolising the French pride of their country and culture.

    Hevin macarons new french touch chocolate collection 2016

    This image of Jean-Paul Hévin to present the new French Touch chocolate collection sums up his quirky humour. I wonder what Renoir would have preferred for a festive dessert at this rather famous lively lunch on the Seine or Déjeuner des Canotiers?

    Incidentally, for a walk along the Seine near Paris, read more in my post on Renoir in Chatou with details of the restaurant where this most famous luncheon was painted.

    renoir-hevin-french-touch-painting

    Jean-Paul Hévin
    Avenue de la Motte Piquet (now also on rue du Bac or Paris Pastry Street)
    75007 Paris

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    Meet Jill Colonna

    Jill is both Scottish and French and author of the book and blog, Mad About Macarons since 2010. Here she shares over 30 years of experience of living the healthy food life with her French family in Paris - via easy recipes and local food guides in France.

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    1. Liz

      December 12, 2016 at 5:05 am

      Wow! These are truly works of art! But I'd still be willing to dig in 🙂 I must need to resubscribe as I haven't been getting notified of your new posts! Missed stopping by!!! xo

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        December 12, 2016 at 11:45 am

        Thanks so much, Liz. I have a monthly newsletter but the new email alerts will be up and running over this next week! I had to delete the previous list as it was a mess via Feedburner and so, although tough, I'm starting again from zero.

        Reply
    2. Thomasina

      December 08, 2016 at 10:12 pm

      A-ma-zing! I can't work out how the cockerel is put on the macaron. A chocolate candle? Now that's something entirely different. I would love to handle the chocolate handbag and share it with friends of course. No, I can't really pick which one I would choose. I'm greedy, I want all of them.

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        December 09, 2016 at 12:08 pm

        The cockerel will be a stencil, Thomasina. Yes, that chocolate candle is so much fun - I was completely bluffed at first since I have a real urge to light it!

        Reply
    3. Denise Browning

      December 08, 2016 at 6:42 pm

      The cocorico macarons and the buche fashion look fantastic. A chocolate purse is without a doubt the greatest companion to carry anywhere you do. 🙂 Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        December 09, 2016 at 12:06 pm

        I agree with you Denise, although I've yet to see any Parisians walking about with one on their wrist - yet! Best wishes to you too in sunny Brazil.

        Reply
    4. jean-Pierre D

      December 07, 2016 at 5:45 pm

      Very clever on that Renoir painting. Great post - no doubt my wife would go for the handbag but I like that bûche rêve and a few of the macarons in case I go hungry at the end of the meal.

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        December 08, 2016 at 11:58 am

        The Bûche rêve looks small but I can assure you, you won't go hungry, Jean-Pierre. But macarons are always a good idea 🙂 Thanks for popping by to say hello.

        Reply

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