| This was made from one chocolate cake mix. Portion
off the cup cakes first, then fill the large papered and greased 10" x
15" pan with the remainder of the batter. After baking thin sheet
cakes, I sprinkle it lightly with granulated sugar and cover
it while slightly warm with plastic wrap. This helps it retain a fresh
moist crust. Allow the cake to cool. |
| Remove the paper from the bottom of the cake and
place it on a sheet of plastic or paper suitable for the rolling/wrapping.
Level the cake if needed and brush with half the syrup. Spread out
the butter cream evenly from edge to edge. Lay the cup cakes across
the far edge of the cake (see the photo album) , spreading a small
amount of buttercream between each cake. Brush some rhum syrup onto
each cup cake. |
| Lift the plastic and roll the cake towards you,
keeping it tightly rolled. Press it tight. Un-wrap and brush any remaining
syrup onto the outside of the log. Now wrap and roll the log in the
sheet. Tuck the ends in tight. This log is then (optionally) stored
in the refrigerator for three days before decorating and serving. |
| Prepare your fabrication ganache. Slicing at an
angle - remove a nice piece of cake from each end of the rolled log.
Freeze them. Place the log cake on the serving tray or tranche board.
Ice the ends of the log with soft buttercream. Next apply the "Bark" coating
with the cake icing tip in a large pastry bag. Start at the plate
and make long continuous passes of the fabrication ganache from end
to end. Work up from both sides and finish on top by over lapping
with a final pass of the pastry bag. |
| Remove the "end cuts" from freezer and press onto
the log, smooth side up. Place as desired. Ice the ends with soft
buttercream. Apply the fabrication ganache "Bark" to all surfaces
of the two decorative stumps. Any rough edges can easily be feathered
down using a table fork, in fact this log was brushed lightly all
over with the tines of the fork. |
| Make a spiral stamp tool from a piece of stiff wire.
(See Equipment menu) Wet it and shake it dry then dip it in a small
flat dish of cocoa powder. Repeat the wetting and dipping until a
good build-up appears. Then stamp it into the soft buttercream ends.
Dip over and over in the cocoa to be sure its fully loaded before
using it. |
| Using three small bags of buttercream to make stems,
flowers and leaves. Pictured with a small plastic Merry Christmas
sign. |
| After Icing the log, it can be decorated any number
of ways. One option is to only trim the ends of the log cake slightly,
and discard the scrap not using stumps at all. Then with the
longer log you could divide it into more pieces easily with small plastic
Christmas "picks" from your local party or cake decorating supply. Merry
Christmas.! |
Album
Click to view Instructions (10 samples remain) 
