yule stump cake

yule stump cake

i really want nothing more on my birthday than cake. ...and snow, but it never seems to snow on my birthday here in albuquerque. so, although i can never count on snow, i can always count on cake.

most years, i put a lot of thought and planning into trying new and different kinds of cakes and frostings. for me, part of the fun is trying new recipes. i've made many birthday cakes for myself over the years: a pear spice cake with brown sugar buttercream frosting, a buttermilk cranberry cake with vanilla buttercream, and a vegan coconut layer cake with coconut cream frosting last year when i was taking a break from dairy, for my poor newborn nursling's tummy troubles.

this year though, it marks the end of birthday cake experimenting and the beginning of a very sweeeet (and chocolatey) december tradition. for years i've been wanting to try baking a classic rolled yule log cake (a bûche de noël) and i may still do it at some point this month, but i got an excellent idea from the hither and thither blog to make a yule stump cake instead. i used the amazing sour cream chocolate cake recipe i always use, from smitten kitchen, and used the chocolate sour cream frosting suggested by ashley in her blog entry. this cake looks impressive, but it was surprisingly simple to do.

the experience and this cake were amazing. it is such a fun cake to make. and so yummy. i could eat it everyday, seriously. it's so good. so rich and sweet and chocolatey. it just sort of melts in your mouth. and it's messy, so clearly, the kids are drawn to it as well. ha ha! i let charlie have two tiny bites of mine, and dinah had one small slice on my birthday, and i hid the rest. sorry kids; too much chocolate for you! dinah had plenty of chocolate when she licked the mixing whisk.

whipped pudding filling

first, when making this cake, i can't state firmly enough: greasing and dusting the cake pans with flour (or cocoa powder in this case) is a must or they will get stuck in the pans and come crumbling out instead. And freezing the individual cake layers before icing it, is an absolute must. if you don't, you will be sorry. you'll be left with a huge crummy mess and will never successfully frost it. it is such a moist and delicate chocolate cake. i bake it the day before and freeze it overnight, and then frost it a few hours before it's to be eaten so that it has time to thaw out before cutting into it.

next, for the filling between layers, instead of using the same sour cream frosting as i used to ice it, which is amazing and so, so rich and sweet, i went with a lightly sweetened and very creamy whipped chocolate pudding filling between each cake layer. between the rich chocolate cake and the rich chocolate icing, having a rich chocolate filling would have been just too much.

so, once the three cake layers are stacked and iced, then comes the exciting part - decorating! you can decorate this yule stump cake with a whole array of different things; edible or not. it was fun and easier to decorate than you might think. dinah and i had so much fun, we will absolutely be doing this again next year.

for our decorations, dinah and i used sprigs of rosemary for greenery, cranberries and chocolate covered cherries for red berries, crushed pistachios for moss, and a dusting of powdered sugar for snow. and for the mushrooms - the decoration that really made the cake - we used pepperidge farm's rolled wafer cookies for the stems and for the mushroom heads, we cut a marshmallow diagonally, dusted it with powdered sugar, and stuck it to the end of the rolled cookie, then lightly dusted it with cocoa powder. then, dinah's favorite part, she placed a beloved christmas ornament, our red cardinal, atop the cake, and we were done!

  

sour cream chocolate cake

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. neutral vegetable oil

1 c. sour cream

1.5 c. water

2 TBS. distilled white vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

preheat your oven to 350 degrees. grease bottoms and side of three 8-inch round cake pans. line the bottoms with parchment paper, then grease and dust with flour or cocoa powder.

sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. whisk to combine. in a mixing bowl, blend oil and sour cream. gradually beat in water, then blend in vinegar and vanilla. whisk in eggs and beat until well combined. gently mis the dry ingredients into the wet. scrape down the sides of the bowl to be sure the batter is mixed well. 

divide batter evenly between the three prepared cake pans. bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. let the cake cool for 20 minutes and gently invert onto wire racks. once completely cooled, wrap in plastic and freeze for at least 30 minutes (i left it over night) and ice while cakes are still frozen. 

whipped pudding filling

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 3.9 oz. box instant chocolate pudding powder

beat with a mixer on high speed until smooth and creamy. divide evenly between cake layers.

chocolate sour cream frosting

1/2 c. butter softened

2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. sour cream

in a mixing bowl, beat butter at a high speed until it's creamy. add cocoa powder and vanilla. continue beating until creamy. add milk and sour cream and then powdered sugar, one cup at a time. continue beating until creamy. refrigerate leftovers.

 

sour cream chocolate cake

dinah asks to make a cake frequently, like every day, probably. i generally say no, not today, honey. but finally, when she asked for a dinosaur chocolate cake (she loves dinosaurs), i agreed. this year for our new year's day cake, we made a chocolate sour cream "dinahsaur" cake.

the original recipe is from smitten kitchen, which i made for my little brother's birthday a few years ago. it has peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze (ummm, yummm!), but this time, i just made the cake part with a chocolate buttercream center.

this cake is super moist, almost brownie-like, and super delicious, but really, really super fragile. the cakes will completely fall apart if you don't grease the pans properly or freeze the cakes for 30 minutes before trying to frost them. normally, with all round cakes i make, i vigorously grease the bottom and sides of the cake pan, add parchment paper to the bottom, grease the bottom again, then dust with flour, and so far all my cakes have popped out perfectly. this time, although i was excited about baking a cake with dinah, waller was not. i usually cook and bake wearing him, and it's generally no problem -- he's either asleep or happily cuddled up against me. this time, he was not happy and fussed and squirmed the entire time. so, trying to rush, i skipped the o.c.d. cake pan greasing step, and merely greased and floured. ugh, big mistake. the cakes didn't come out very pretty. one was so stuck in the pan, that it came out in a million pieces. of course, the scraps were still tasty, so it's not like i tossed it or something, but still, what a bummer to have a two tier cake instead of three.

it's a rich cake all by itself, so i whipped up a simple chocolate buttercream frosting to slap on the middle of the two cakes and decided to dust the top with powdered sugar instead of icing the top as well. and anyway, dinah asked for a dinosaur cake, so i had to get creative with decorating the cake top.

sour cream chocolate cake

this makes an 8-in triple layer cake that serves 12-16 people

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups sugar (i used only 2 and it was plenty)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i used hershey's special dark)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup canola oil

1 cup sour cream (i didn't have enough sour cream, so i used 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup buttermilk)

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBS distilled white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

grease pans, line with parchment paper, then grease and dust with flour.  whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, set aside. in your mixing bowl, whisk oil and sour cream until blended, gradually beat in water, vinegar and vanilla. beat in eggs until well blended. mix in dry ingredients and mix very well. divide among the three prepared cake pans.

bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. let cool in the pans for 20 minutes. invert onto wire racks, and carefully peal off parchment paper liners, then let cool completely. since these cakes are so soft, place in the freezer for 30 minutes before frosting. 

chocolate buttercream frosting

1 cup salted butter, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i used hershey's special dark, again)

4 TBS heavy whipping cream 

2 tsp vanilla

cream butter until smooth. mix in powdered sugar and cocoa powder on low, then add whipping cream. beat on high until blended and fluffy.

put a generous layer between cake layers and dust the top with powdered sugar.