Crimmus Stumpy.

One of the things I miss about being a baker is having the opportunity to both try and create new recipes.  I avoid baking like that at home, because it gets obsessive and someone has to eat the "failures".  I'd end up weighing, well... more than I do now.

So I'm stoked when I get the opportunity to bring a dessert somewhere.  Friends and family might be forced to eat a prototype, but they're *almost* always edible.  Really they are.

For Christmas this year I perused the net, solicited advice and eventually decided on a dessert from Food and Wine called "Stump de Noel".  It sounded fabulous.  A chocolate roll with malt buttercream filling and a chocolate buttercream frosting. 

The only problem was the buttercream recipe the recipe used.  It had a tremendous amount of egg whites.  Uncooked.  Uh, nope, I'm too much of a germaphobe for that!  No problem, a buttercream is a buttercream, right?  I'd never eaten an egg white buttercream, at least to my knowledge, so I figured I'd simply adapt my usual buttercream recipe.  Not realizing until afterwards that the buttercream in the recipe is much more mousselike than our "American Buttercream".

So Crimmus Stumpy #1, resplendent in all my buttercream was sweet.  REALLY sweet. Over the years my sensitivity to sugar has dulled, so if I think it's sweet then I'm pretty sure it would mellify anyone else.  Of course this was still proffered to family.

With Crimmus Stumpy #2 I adapted the filling and frosting in my usual fashion- a handful of this and a handful of that based on an idea/basic recipe until it tastes good.  The recipe that follows reflects this- since I rarely bother to write an experiment down, it's a close approximation to the actual measurements.  This is what I'll follow the next time I make it, knowing that I might have to make amendments as I go along.

Stumpy roll:

8 eggs.
1.5C sugar
3/4C cake flour
1/2t baking powder
1/2t salt
1/2C baking cocoa
1t vanilla
8T COLD coffee (brewed as you'd drink it)

Bake in a jelly roll pan until done, roll up in a towel to cool.

When cooled and ready make:

Filling:
1C cream
1/2C malted milk powder
1C confectionary sugar
1t vanilla

Whip until as thick as it's going to get.  It's not going to whip like cream does.  If it's not thick enough, add more confectionary sugar, a little at a time, until it better resembles something that would hold shape when spread.

Frosting:
1C cream
1/4 C cocoa
1/2Cconfectionary sugar

Whip that too, it WILL whip up very stiff, so don't whip it so stiffly that it's obnoxious to spread.

Unroll the cake, and make the decision to make either a log or a stump.  Proceed accordingly with that decision.  Fill with the filling, frost the outside with the frosting.  Volia!

Stumpy #2= I'm done.  No further amendments needed.  I could eat the whole thing.

Cheap and easy soak boots!

I'm a fairly big fan of using Chlorine Dioxide products in hoofcare.  Labeled White Lightning or Oxine AH, these products rely on the production of gas to be effective as a treatment.  You can purchase soak boots that will lock that gas around the hoof.

But I'm cheap.  The boots run $25 to $50 each, which is fine if you intend to use them repeatedly, but if you're hoping to only treat for a week or so, they are not inexpensive.

Making cheap and easy soak boots is a great short term alternative.  I've had them last for several treatments.

Step one:  Assemble your duct tape and some gallon size freezer bags.

Step two:  Apply the tape in layers along the bag.  The duct tape will reinforce the bag and prevent tears.  One layer is sufficient, two is OK, more than two and the bag becomes unwieldy when fitted to the hoof.  Your finished work will look like this:



When you fit the bag to the hoof, it tends to fit best if the corners point toe to tail and not side to side.

I lift the hoof, put the bag on and set the hoof down.

While the horse is standing I pour a quarter cup of the 1:1 chlorine dioxide to white vinegar mixture in, on the front of the hoof wall.  Pouring it directly onto the hoof  wall rather than having it hit the coronary band or heels lessens the chance of the horse reacting.  (translate: lift hoof and spill everything everywhere)

Then I quickly tie a 2' length of an old polo wrap around the pastern.  A basic overhand knot will do- it can be quickly removed if necessary and provides a hold that lasts the length of a 20 minute soak.   The wrap should be tight enough to keep the gases in but not tight enough to restrict circulation.  I like using an old polo because mine have just enough stretch to provide a good closure.  Plus, I have a few polos that need to be recycled.

I do keep the horses in a stall when they're soaking and provide hay to keep them preoccupied.  Otherwise I'm sure they'd tear most every kind of soak boot to shreds.