The Cursed Woodcutter’s Stump

It's up to you.

10 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Prepare the two cookings

   Heat the oven to 170 °C static and lines the round paper mold. Keep the 90 g of flour separate from the cake and the 100 g of flour from the biscuit. Also put aside the 45 g of cold butter: they do not go into the fondant.

2. Melt the dark chocolate

   Melt the 225 g of dark chocolate over low heat with the 150 g of butter. Stir and then remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Incorporate the 375 g of chestnut cream into the spatula.

3. Add eggs and flour

   Break the 4 eggs one by one in a bowl and beat them briefly. Fold them into the chestnut-chocolate mixture in three additions, then add the 90 g flour. Mix until a smooth paste and pour into the mold.

4. Cook the fondant

   Bake 35 to 40 minutes: the edges must be taken and the center still flexible, without moving like a liquid. Let it cool for 30 minutes in the mold and then demould and wait 1 additional hour. The cake becomes firmer as it cools.

5. Make the axe paste

   Rub between the fingers 100 g of flour, 45 g of cold butter in dice and 30 g of icing sugar to make a sand. Pour the 20 g of milk, press without kneading for a long time, then flatten the dough. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

6. Cut a flat edible tool

   Spread the dough over 5 mm between two sheets of paper. Cut a 14 cm coarse axe: 10 x 2 cm handle finished with a 6 x 5 cm trapezoidal blade, into a single cookie. Keep the offcuts to pieces. Bake at 170 °C for 12-15 minutes, until golden edges; cool for 30 minutes.

7. Create the bark

   Add 100 g of milk chocolate. Heat the 60 g of cream until it simmers, pour over the chocolate and stir after 2 minutes. Leave to thicken for 20 minutes, then coat the sides of the fondant. Trace large vertical streaks at the fork and two circles on top.

8. Whiten the cookie blade

   Melt the 30 g of white chocolate in a soft bain-marie. Spread it only on the wide part of the axe, leaving the brown cookie handle visible. Let it stand flat for 20 minutes, without looking for an appearance of real metal.

9. Splitting the Strain

   Remove a narrow quarter of the cake, 4 cm wide at the edge and up to the center. Put the pieces on your foot. Pour 120 g of cherry jam into the slot and 60 g drag onto the dish, for a cursed Christmas log.

10. Lay the axe and serve

    Place the biscuit axe diagonally on the stump, blade in the slot and handle pressed on the cake: it should not be raised. Add the cookie chips around. Refrigerate for 20 minutes then cut parts without pressing the axe.