Christmas is a little over two weeks away. If you are hosting the big feast at your house, this means you’ve probably begun thinking about your holiday menu. To round off any meal, a sweet treat is always in order. But have you ever wondered what Christmas desserts are served in other parts of the world?

The bûche de Noël, or Yule log, is served during Christmastime in francophone areas of the world like Quebec, Lebanon and, of course, France. As the name suggests, the cake is shaped and decorated to look like a log. The cake's shape symbolizes the log that burned in the hearth throughout Christmas Eve. It’s a sponge cake that’s filled with chocolate buttercream frosting and rolled into a cylinder shape. The entire cake is frosted and then decorated with powdered sugar and berries.

Every year, Italian families slice into cupola-shaped cake called panettone. It’s usually about 5-6 inches high and is flavored with candied citrus fruit, citrus zest, raisins and sometimes chocolate. Although the origins of the panettone can be traced back to the Roman Empire, the mass production of the holiday cake began in Milan by the Motta brothers who let the dough rise three times before baking. Panettone is traditionally served with a sweet sparkling wine like spumante.

Ah, the fruitcake. It’s up there on the list of the most ridiculed foods of all time, right next to Spam. It might have to do with its ridiculously long shelf life. But the fruitcake is enjoyed around the world, with slight variations to its basic candied fruit, nuts and spices base. In the Bahamas, the candied fruit and nuts are soaked in rum before being mixed in with the batter. A generous splash of rum is also poured over the cake once it’s removed from the oven. In the UK, the cake is covered with marzipan (almond paste) and royal icing. The cake itself has a fluffier texture than the dense varieties we know here in North America.

Alina Tarkhanian is the First Course editor.