The Best Tree Stump Cake
The Best Tree Stump Cake dessert, with its irresistible chocolate buttercream frosting and the beauty of a true show stopper. It’s perfect for Christmas, any holiday, or a woodland theme party.
The Best Tree Stump Cake
The Best Tree Stump Cake dessert, with its irresistible chocolate buttercream frosting and the beauty of a true show stopper. It’s perfect for Christmas, any holiday, or a woodland theme party.
Ingredients
Tree Stump Cake Ingredients
2 cups – all-purpose flour
½ tsp. – baking soda
1 tsp. – baking powder
¼ tsp. – sea salt
8 large – eggs (I used home raised chicken eggs)
1 ½ cup – granulated sugar
1 tsp. – vanilla extract
1 cup – buttermilk
Tree Stump Cake Frosting Ingredients
Chocolate ganache – (6 oz. – Hershey chocolate bar + ¼ cup – whole milk)
12 oz – unsalted butter
8 oz. – cream cheese
½ tsp. – sea salt
½ tsp. – vanilla extract
½ cup – cocoa or cacao powder
3 cup – powdered sugar
Tree Stump Cake Decor
Pine Tree stems
Frosted Cranberries
Instructions
How to Make Tree Stump Cake Batter
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and line a 16×22 inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.
Beat eggs and sugar on high for 5 minutes or until light, fluffy and pale yellow in color. Reduce the mixing speed to medium/low and add vanilla extract and buttermilk. Mix for a minute for the ingredients to blend well. The batter will be a little thin and that’s what you actually want.
Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and add in the prepped dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt) into the egg mixture, ½ cup at a time. Using a hand whisk, gently mix in the dry ingredients with each addition, trying not to deflate air pockets as much as possible.
Tree Stump Cake Baking Instructions
Transfer the batter into the earlier greased 16×22 inch baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F (180 C) for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Allow the cake sponge to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring it from the baking sheet onto a cooling rack.
Make another batch of this sheet cake sponge using the same ingredients for this cake.
Cool both sheet cake sponges completely before frosting.
Tree Stump Cake Frosting Instructions
While the cake sponges are cooling, make the frosting.
First, you will need to make the chocolate ganache (my favorite NO FAIL recipe) and cool completely before proceeding with the rest of the frosting instructions.
Start by beating softened butter until creamy and smooth. Add softened cream cheese and beat again until both are well combined.
Then add cooled chocolate ganache and mix until well combined, for a minute or so. Scrape down the cream off the sides of the mixer bowl halfway through.
Mix in cocoa powder and then add powdered sugar, half a cup at a time. Once the powdered sugar is well blended in, increase the mixing speed to high and beat for a minute.
NOTE: This entire batch of frosting is for the inside of the cake only. You will need to make another batch of this frosting recipe to decorate the top and the sides of the cake later on after the cake sets for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Assembling the Tree Stump Cake
You should have your 2 sheets of 16×22 cake sponges cooled completely before frosting them.
Split each sheet cake sponge in half vertically to have four 7×20 inch cake sponges (even though the photo below is showing just one sheet).
Using a half-cup ice cream scoop, add 4 scoops of frosting to each of the 4 strips of sponge cake.
Using a cake spatula spread out the frosting evenly over all 4 strips of cake sponges. (The image below shows only one sheet cake sponge, repeat the same frosting steps with the second sheet).
This is a tricky and very important step. Start rolling the first strip like you would roll a regular cake roll. Firmly roll the sponge while at the same time focusing on preventing the cake sponges from breaking. Add the next strip by lining it up the short sides next to each other as soon after the previous one ends.
Use the parchment paper for stability to help hold the roll together during the rolling process so that it does not unroll. Use all 4 strips of sheet cake sponges as one continuous long roll. When rolling up the last strip leave the parchment paper on and wrap additional strips of parchment paper (the ones you baked the cakes on) around the entire perimeter to hold this cake in place.
Flip the cake log upright. You will need an assistant to hold both ends of the parchment paper snug around the cake, while you secure the parchment papers together by taping a long strip of 2″ wide clear scotch tape over the parchment paper all the way around the cake.
If you have some frosting left (usually a cup or so), use it up by spread it over the top of the cake. Then refrigerate the cake for 4 hours or overnight (my preference).
Make the Frosted Cranberries the night befor
