Genoise Sponge

A slice of genoise sponge with a good cup of coffee is one of my favourite mid-morning snacks! If made properly the cake is light and delicate and won’t leave you with that heavy post-cake lull that so many heavy over-produced cakes do. I originally started to make this cake as I wanted to go to chef school but couldn’t afford the full 3 terms, so to bypass the first term I started learning what was needed – whisked sponges being one of them!

The lightness of this cake makes it ideal for layering. It can last for a few days and if cutting in half is best made the day before. It can also be frozen very well.

This is the cake I made on the first episode of The Great British Bake Off and yes it’s the one I dropped on the floor. The cake was demolished by everyone so quickly that even the bit dropped on the floor was wolfed-down by passers by outside the tent much to the amusement of us all! The cake from the programme was filled with dark chocolate mousse, whisked cream and then topped with a chocolate ganache. I'll post the mousse recipe and ganache shortly!

Genoise Sponge:

Ingredients:

4 eggs

55g melted butter

125g caster sugar

125g seived plain flour

A pich of salt

Method:

- Prepare moule a manque in a 9in cake tin*

- Put 4 eggs with 125g sugar in a clean bowl over a pan of simmering water (not boiling)

- Using an electric whisk whisk over the heat until thick, creamy, and until you can make ribbons in the mixture that last for a few seconds

- Whisk off the heat for a further few minutes to cool the mixture slightly

- Add 55g of melted butter around the side of the mixture and fold in a few times but won’t incorporate it fully

- Seive over half the flour and give the mixture another few folds
- Add the last of the flour and salt then carefully fold until all incorporated

- Carefully pour into the prepared cake tin

- Bake for around 30-35 minutes

- To make a chocolate genoise substitute 15g of flour with 15g good quality cocoa

* put baking parchment on the bottom of the tin, brush the whole tin with butter, put 2 tbsp sugar in and shake around the buttered tin, pour of any excess and repeat with 2 tbsp flour