Elected Yule Log of the Year 2023

World Pastry Champion in 2011, described as a “technical genius” by Christophe Michalak, Julien Alvarez has worked at the most prestigious Parisian palaces—the Peninsula, Café Pouchkine, then the Bristol alongside Éric Fréchon—before taking the helm of pastry creation at Ladurée in 2021.

At the head of this legendary house founded in 1862, he creates each year the signature creations that make waves in the world of pastry. In 2023, his Exceptional Yule Log “Hazelnuts and Vanille Bleue from La Réunion” was elected Yule Log of the Year: a crispy praline base, a melt-in-your-mouth hazelnut sponge, and a Vanille Bleue whipped cream of remarkable smoothness.

Following Yann Couvreur, Fauchon, the Peninsula Paris, and Louis Vuitton, the world’s most famous macaron house has now succumbed to Vanille Bleue for its most prestigious creation—confirming its status as a reference ingredient in French haute pâtisserie.