The Thousand Oaks bakery Chocolatine is bringing a bit of France here with a cake in the shape of a traditional Christmas yule log.

The yule log tradition began when all the family members would gather around the hearth for Christmas. The children sang songs and listened to stories told by their grandparents while an enormous log burned in the fireplace. The log was made of hard wood that would burn all night and was decorated with leaves and ribbons. The log was lit by the youngest and oldest family members after being blessed.

The custom started in the 12th century and traveled throughout Europe and to Quebec, Canada. In Italy, the log was called the "ceppo" and in England, the yule log.

The tradition disappeared by the end of the 19th century because the large fireplaces were replaced by smaller, iron stoves.

The big log was substituted with a small one that was decorated with candles and greenery and used as the centerpiece on the Christmas table.

Today, cakes are shaped and decorated like the Christmas log. The cake is the color of wood and is covered with chocolate or creme de café, sprinkled with glazed sugar and surrounded by little woodcutters and meringue mushrooms. The typical French dessert was first created in Paris at the end of the 19th century in the ovens of historian and pastrymaker Pierre Lecam.

The Christmas log cake is available at Chocolatine through special order only in three flavors: chocolate mousse, chocolate-hazelnut mousse and mocha mousse.

For more information, visit the store at 2955 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, call (805) 557-0561 or go online to www.chocolatine.net.