Baked Sunday Mornings: Stump de Noel

STUMP DE NOEL

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY CYBER FRIENDS!

Better late than never.  And speaking of never, I have never made a Buche or Stump de Noel.  When this recipe was posted for our New Year’s Day “Baked” assignment I was excited.  But...with all the parts to this recipe, and with all my crazy end of 2011 life,  it took me 2 weeks to complete...finally got it finished one week late and used the stump as a celebration for Baby M’s 1st birthday.  

 

MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS PROJECT WAS MAKING MUSHROOMS--LOTS OF MUSHROOMS

 Three of my grandkiddies came to help me make the decorations for this special holiday cake.

WITH A BATCH OF GROUND ALMOND FLOUR MARZIPAN  WE MADE PINE CONES

PENGUIN MADE ANIMALS AND PLANTS

PEACOCK MADE LOTS OF ANIMALS

TURKEY MADE ANIMALS BUT ATE THEM ALL

In the event that I would never get to the cake baking part of the recipe, I purchased a pan from Williams-Sonoma that would make do...and I did use it for Baby M’s cake and also for family members who requested a dark chocolate cake with a ganache glaze...try to please everyone.  (# 1 Son’s favored the “Baked” cake.  Frolicking Night Owl and Emmy Lou Who both liked the dark chocolate best.  Hubby enjoyed both varieties and considered skipping dinner and eating only cake. )

Emmy Lou Who and Baby M are home for a few weeks while her hubby is doing an internship in WA...he will visit here at the end of the month...more fun!!!  Then they return to NE Idaho for a final semester of University...almost finished...YEA!

I HAD LEFT OVER CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING AND WISHED I'D MADE MORE OF THE MALTED BUTTERCREAM IN FOR THE STUMP FILLING

I decided not to include process photos this time...too many processes.  (I think the Baked boys should hire me to edit their next cookbook...some of the instructions are vague and some and a bit confusing.  And if they are confusing to me, a home baker of many years, I’m sure they are more confusing to a newer baker!  Example: “It is thin but large.” Does this refer to the cake or to the slices?  I’m guessing the slices?  Why not just write, “For full effect, slice the cake horizontally into 24 thin pieces.”???  

A THIN BUT LARGE SLICE--FILLS A DINNER SIZE PLATE

 I found myself reading the recipe over and over...and over and over...to get all the steps accomplished and I was not at all sure I was getting everything done correctly and according to the Baked recipe. 

The finished project  made a lovely centerpiece for our continuing holiday table.

And, yes, it is delicious!

FRONT OF THE DARK CHOCOLATE STUMP WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

BACK OF THE DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

For those in my family who prefer a non-buttercream frosted cake I made the following:

Dark Chocolate Bar Cake with Ganache Icing

Preheat oven to 350^ and prepare a bundt pan by greasing/flouring.

Ingredients and Procedure:

8 oz chopped chocolate bar (I used a fruity 70% dark chocolate)
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup boiling water

Mix above 3 ingredients together until melted together and smooth.  Set aside while getting remaining ingredients readied.

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup cocoa ( I used Trader Joe’s)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Whisk these dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

2 eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment, mix these three ingredients together until well blended.  Then add ½ the dry and ½ the melted chocolate mixture and blend again.  Add the remaining dry and melted chocolate mixtures and blend until smooth and well combined.

Bake about 45 minutes...begin checking at 40 minutes.  Cake is done when a tester is inserted and comes out dry and the cake is springy to the touch.

While cake is baking make the ganache: Bring to boil 1 cup heavy cream.  Pour hot cream over 1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate (I used the same as for the cake).  Mix until melted and smooth.

When the cake is done, remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes on a rack.  Invert onto a cake plate and let cool an additional 10 minutes.  Then drizzle ganache over the top; let set for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

A 3rd CAKE--A SHORTER HALF SIZE FOR BABY M'S  #1 BIRTHDAY CAKE--WAS BAKED BY TURKEY WHO LET ME BE THE BAKER'S HELPER

BABY M LOVED HIS BIRTHDAY CAKE

BACK SIDE OF THE STUMP DE NOEL