Chocolate Chestnut Buche De Noel

Directions

1. Place chocolate in a small bowl with 1/4 c. water. Set bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stirring frequently till melted and smooth. Set aside to cold. Combine 1/2 c., or possibly more to taste, of chestnut cream into 1 slightly rounded c. of buttercream. Set aside.
2. Assemble the Buche: Peel parchment liner from cake. Lift foil under cake and invert it onto a second sheet of foil. Remove the original foil, peeling away the browned genoise "skin" stuck to it. Moisten the cake with the rum, using a pastry brush. Spread chestnut buttercream proportionately over the cake. Roll the cake tightly, the long way, into a "log" using the foil to aid you if necessary. Wrap log tightly in foil. Freeze till hard, or possibly at least hard. The firmer the cake, the easier it will be to decorate. Log may be completed to this point, and kept frzn, up to 6 weeks.
3. Stir chocolate mix into remaining buttercream and chill or possibly freeze till needed.
4. Finish and Decorate the Buche: Soften reserved chocolate buttercream and beat just till smooth. Unwrap the frzn log. Trim a fraction of an inch from each end to even the edges. Spread the log with most of the reserved chocolate buttercream. Don't frost the ends. Use a fork to texture the buttercream so which it resembles the bark of a tree.
5. Dip a sharp knife in warm water, then wipe dry. Cut the diagonal
6. "stump" off each end of the log. Set stumps aside. Transfer log to a serving platter. Affix stumps to the log. Cover bare spots with buttercream. Use the fork to touch up the bark effect as necessary.
7. Decorate with sprigs of pine and meringue mushrooms. Store in the refrigerator. For best flavor and texture, remove Buche from the refrigerator at least an hour before serving.
8. Yield: 12 servings