Stump Cake
Surprise Inside!
Makes 12 servings
Don’t be stumped by the bark or the growth rings! This cheeky twist on a bûche de Noël gets its woody look from chocolate shavings on the outside, flavor painting on top, and a wood-grain chocolate roulade inside.
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 recipe Perfect Cake Mix batter (see recipe) made with French vanilla cake mix
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup dark cocoa candy melting wafers (Wilton)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
- 1 can (16 ounces) dark chocolate frosting
- 1 can (16 ounces) cups vanilla frosting
- 1 tablespoon vodka or coffee extract (McCormick)
- 20 mini vanilla wafers (Mini Nilla)
- 20 chocolate kisses (Hershey’s)
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare an 11-x-15-inch jelly-roll pan (see Please Release Me).
2 Spoon ½ cup of the batter into a small bowl. Tint the batter brown with 1 tablespoon of the cocoa powder. Spoon the cocoa batter into a freezer-weight ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag.
3 Spoon the remaining vanilla batter into the prepared pan. Spread the batter to the edges and smooth the top.
4 Snip a small (⅛-inch) corner from the bag of cocoa batter. Pipe thin horizontal lines of the cocoa batter, crosswise, over the vanilla batter to create the wood-grain effect.
5 Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 17 minutes.
6 Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Dust a sheet of wax paper with confectioners’ sugar. Invert the cake onto the prepared wax paper. Remove the pan and gently peel the wax paper from the bottom of the cake. Use a serrated knife to cut the warm cake lengthwise into quarters. While the cake is still warm, start at the short end of 1 cake strip and roll up the strip in a kitchen towel. Transfer the roll and the remaining strips to the wire rack and cool completely.
7 Microwave the candy melts and the shortening in a medium bowl, stirring every 10 seconds, until completely melted and smooth. Pour the melted candy into a 2-x-4-inch rectangular aluminum-foil container and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
8 Spoon 2 tablespoons of the dark chocolate frosting into a ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag.
9 Unroll the cake (it might break, but the frosting will glue it back together). Spread an even layer of dark chocolate frosting over the unrolled cake strip. Roll up the strip, chocolate side in (see photo) and transfer to the center of an 8-inch cardboard circle or a serving platter (see Getting on Base). Frost and add a second cake strip, starting where the last one ended and wrapping it around the first one. Repeat with the remaining 2 cake strips, always starting where the last strip ended. Press the sides of the cake to shape it into a circle.
10 Spread a thin crumb coating of vanilla frosting (see Got Crumbs?) over the rolled cake, filling any gaps, and smooth. Place the cake in the freezer until set, about 30 minutes.
11 Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Unmold the candy-melt brick. Hold the brick with a paper towel to prevent it from warming. Run a vegetable peeler along the long, flat side of the chocolate, allowing the curls to fall onto the cookie sheet (see photo). If the candy becomes too soft, return it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes and then continue making curls. Refrigerate the curls until ready to use.
12 Spread the top of the chilled cake with the remaining vanilla frosting and smooth. Return the cake to the freezer for 15 minutes to firm the frosting.
13 Tint the vodka with 1 teaspoon of the remaining cocoa powder. Use a small pastry brush to paint the vodka mixture in concentric circles on top of the cake (see Flavor Painting). Continue painting to smooth any ridges in the frosting. Tint the remaining vodka mixture darker with the remaining 1 teaspoon cocoa powder. Use a small craft brush to paint the wood grain in concentric circles (see photos, below).
14 Spread the remaining dark chocolate frosting on the sides of the cake. Carefully press the chocolate curls into the frosting for the bark.
15 To make the acorns, snip a small (⅛-inch) corner from the bag with the dark chocolate frosting. Pipe a dot of frosting on the flat side of a vanilla wafer. Press the flat side of a chocolate kiss into the frosting to secure. Pipe a small dot of frosting on top of the cookie as the acorn stem. Repeat with the remaining vanilla wafers and chocolate kisses. Arrange the acorns on top of the cake and on the platter.
