Christmas cake!

My friend Diane gave me a Nordic Ware "Stump de Noel" cake pan.  I used it to bake an adaptation of the Golden Grand Marnier Cake from The Cake Bible. I call this version my "Tipsy Orange-Almond Cake."  I made two glazes to suggest "bark--" again from The Cake Bible, the Chocolate Cream Glaze, one batch with bittersweet chocolate and a small batch with milk chocolate.  The "dirt" is brown sugar and shaved chocolate.  Sugar paste (aka gum paste) leaves and cranberries add color.

How many years have I said, "I want to make some of those meringue mushrooms...." I finally got around to it!  They are so cute!  So much fun to make, just pipe the caps and stems separately, then attach them with a little bit of extra meringue.  When they're dry, a sprinkle of cocoa powder gives them a realistic look.  This is a recipe from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  

Two batches of Chocolate Cream glaze (yep--from The Cake Bible again).  One batch made with bittersweet, one with milk chocolate to add different shades of "bark" to the tree!  The "dirt" is brown sugar, but I did add chocolate shavings at the end. This was so much fun to make!  


I sent one of my Tipsy Cakes to my brother Sam and his wife Abby in Louisiana for Christmas, and gave one to my friend Julie also.  I love these cakes, they are delicious!  


Merry Christmas, everyone!