THE tradition of the festive yule log began when a log was burnt on the hearth to mark the 12 days of Christmas.
Today, they are a popular treat with kids and grown-ups alike and usually come in the form of a chocolate cake decorated in lavish chocolate buttercream, which resembles tree bark.
And with so many lining supermarket shelves already, you may get through a few before Christmas Day arrives.
Do beware if buying for Christmas Day – as we noticed some of the best before dates run out before December 25.
Prices range from as little as £2.50 to £7. But which tastes the best?
Lynsey Hope tastes some best-sellers and shares her verdict.
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Lidl Deluxe Hand Finished Festive Yule Log (437g)
- £3.99
- 91p per 200g
- Calories per slice: 189
9An attractive looking option and great value from Lidl, this is the cheapest log we tested per 100g cake.
It was quite rich, but the sponge was moist and light, the buttercream delicious and the ganache had a lovely sheen.
You wouldn't want to eat too much of it, but a slither was yummy.
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- Taste: 7/10
- Value: 8/10
- Overall score: 8/10
Tesco Joyous Chocolate Yule Log (260g)
- £2.50
- 96p per 100g
- Calories per slice: 138
9This is Tesco's most basic offering and there is nothing fancy about it.
It is cheap and not bad with a cup of tea.
The chocolate had a nice sheen to it and it cut nicely.
It was more like a swiss roll than a chocolate log but I would have liked more ganache.
- Taste: 5/10
- Value: 5/10
- Overall score: 5/10
Asda Extra Special Luxury Yule Log (476g)
- £5
- £1.05 per 100g
- Calories per slice: 247
Beautifully decorated with solid chocolate shapes, I couldn't wait to tuck it.
Sadly, the decorations tasted like cardboard and the sponge was too dry.
There is way more icing than there is cake.
It will look very pretty amongst your Christmas spread though and the price is good.
- Taste: 4/10
- Value: 5/10
- Overall score: 4/10
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Milk Chocolate Yule Log (440g)
- £5
- £1.13 per 100g
- Calories per slice: 238
The biggest issue here is that all the chocolate coating falls off when you cut it so your slice ends up looking a bit of a mess.
The sponge was a little dry, too.
The buttercream was lovely and rich though without being overly sweet and it had a lovely homemade appearance lots of ganache. Good value too.
- Taste: 7/10
- Value: 8/10
- Overall score: 7/10
Aldi Specially Selected Yule Log
- £4.49
- £1.03 per 100g
- Calories per slice: 274
Loved the homemade appearance of Aldi's offering with snowy icing sugar sprinkled on top.
You could easily pass this off as your own. It was traditional, creamy with a rich milk chocolate flavour.
Aldi has perfected the ratio of cream, sponge and ganache – and it's great value too at just £1.03 per 100g.
- Taste: 10/10
- Value: 10/10
- Overall score: 10/10
Waitrose Christmas Chocolate Yule Log (440g)
- £6.50
- £1.47 per 100g
- Calories per slice: 256
Rolled and filled with chocolate frosting and finished with a decadent chocolate buttercream and a sweet dusting.
It's rich and there is a lot of icing, but I found it overly sweet.
The cake was a bit dry, too.
It's pricey – the most expensive per 100g – but a proportion of the cost does go to charity if you want to spread some festive cheer.
- Taste: 6/10
- Value: 4/10
- Overall score: 5/10
M&S Food Hand Decorated Yule Log (495g)
- £7
- £1.41 per 100g
- Calories per slice: 380
This was the most expensive yule log I tried priced at £7, which is £1 more than it did two Christmases ago.
You can't fault M&S on flavour though.
The chocolate sponge is filled with chocolate buttercream and covered in milk chocolate.
It's coated with a chocolate fudge frosting and finished with an attractive dusting of sugar, that gives it a traditional appearance.
It's £2.51 more expensive than Aldi's cake and whilst delicious, I'll take the savings right now and buy Aldi instead.
- Taste: 10/10
- Value: 7/10
- Overall score: 9/10
Morrisons The Best Chocolate Fudge Yule Log (465g)
- £6
- £1.29 per 100g
- Calories per slice: 292
A simple and effective design complete with rose gold chocolate swirls.
The milk chocolate flavour was good, there was lots of ganache and it was pretty easy to serve up.
But the sponge was a touch too dry and I found the whole thing incredibly sweet, verging on sickly.
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One slice is pretty bad for the waistline too, with a whopping 292 calories and 28.4g sugar.
- Taste: 7/10
- Value: 5/10
- Overall score: 6/10
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