Still time to fetch Christmas desserts from Valley bakeries

If you are still not sure about what to serve for dessert on Christmas, chew on this: red velvet dream pie, chocolatey yule logs and cakes resembling Santa.

Fresno-area bakeries are loaded with options for dessert. And the best part is that there is still time to pre-order at most bakeries. But don’t delay; the clock is ticking.

Susan Gutierrez, baker and cake decorator at Parisien Bakery in Clovis, says one of the more popular Christmas desserts is the Bûche de Noël, or yule log. The French dessert is rolled sponge cake filled with everything from chocolate ganache to raspberry jam. A generous coating of butter cream frosting is applied to make it look like a log.

Fancier versions can include meringue mushrooms or marzipan holly sprigs.

Gutierrez says the dessert is a good option because it’s lighter than other desserts and also makes a great centerpiece.

“It looks very pretty on a table,” she said. “And it tastes even better.”

Parisien Bakery, 401 Clovis Ave, is accepting pre-orders until Tuesday. The cake sells for $35.90.

La Boulangerie in Fresno, 730 W. Shaw Ave. in Fig Garden Village, will also have yule logs and stollen, a bread filled with dried fruit and covered with powdered sugar or icing. The items will be available during Christmas week, but on a first-come, first-served basis. The yule logs vary from $29 to $52, depending on the size, while the stollen is $14.

Stollen is also a popular item at Eddie’s Bakery Cafe, 7089 N. Cedar Ave. in Fresno. They make the bread in both the shape of a Christmas tree and as a regular loaf. Store manager Cherise Araica said the Christmas tree stollen is made with a Danish bread dough and filled with almond paste and candied fruit. The regular stollen has marzipan and candied fruit.

The Christmas tree stollen is $21.95; the bread stollen is $12.95. Pre-orders will be accepted until Wednesday.

If you are looking for something less traditional and with a bit of whimsy, check out the Frosted Cakery’s dessert lineup. The Tower District bakery, 1292 N. Wishon Ave., is taking pre-orders until Tuesday.

Beverly Gable, owner of the Frosted Cakery, said her custom cakes are big sellers. The cakes come in three themes: Santa, snowman and Charlie Brown Christmas. The cakes start at $125 and serve about 10 people. Also available are signature cakes, chocolate peppermint bark, vanilla bean dream and ho-ho chocolate. Those cakes start at $35.

And if that wasn’t enough, Gable says some of her customers will serve special holiday decorated cupcakes and cake pops. So far, the sales of her holiday treats have been doing very well, as more people buy their Christmas desserts.

“It is probably because we actually have a winter this year,” Gable says.

If you are a fan of Marie Callender’s, the chain restaurant and bakery is bringing back its red velvet dream pie. The pie’s flaky crust is filled with vanilla cream, layers of red velvet cake and cream cheese icing. The Red Velvet Dream is $14.99.

Home cooks who like to make their own desserts but don’t want to spend a lot of time doing it may want to take Serena Locatelli’s advice and make her candy cane shooters.

“This dessert is light and easy to make, anyone can make it, and there is no baking required,” says Locatelli, who operates Mammarella’s Sweets & Treats.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Still time to fetch Christmas desserts from Valley bakeries."