Genoise and Raspberries and Cream... Oh my!!

There was no way I was going to pass up a Genoise Sponge when I saw it on The Cake Slice Bakers list this month. 

It is one of my favourite sponges, light and airy and perfect with fresh fruit and cream. I was excited to see how Roger Pizey of World Class Cakes made his and followed the instructions in earnest. 

But alas, it was pretty much the same as every other Genoise recipe I have tried. Not that that was a bad thing, but there was nothing a teeny bit special about it. I did not however, use a the sugar syrup mentioned in the recipe. I really dislike, with all my baking heart sugar syrups used on cake layers to keep them moist. My understanding is, if you have to pour sugar water onto your dried out old sponge, then your recipe is wrong. Maybe that's the novice in me and someone can enlighten... I would love to stand corrected. 

Syrups as glazes and flavours, you can proceed, but sugar water.. YUCK!!! 

What the recipe did make for though, was an exceptionally light sponge, that melted in your mouth. There was no need for the sugar syrup in my opinion. The Chantilly Cream, a basic in most kitchens was a lovely accompaniment to the raspberries, not as sweet at this time of year and which happened to be on sale in my local store this week. And good thing too as there are a lot needed for this recipe.

The recipe it self called for one 8' round. Now. looking at the pictures in the book, I did not think the cake displayed was as small as an 8 inch. But I trusted the book.. I should have went with my gut. I opted to split the batter into two 6' pans, which actually resulted in me using three 6 inch pans and then ended up with double height cakes. You will see in the pictures below, they are very deep layers. Again, not a complaint.. the cake was ate up in no time, just something that I felt coming and ignored. 

Genoise Sponge with Raspberries and Cream

6 eggs

200g caster sugar

160g plain flour

25g plain flour

30g butter, melted

500ml Chantilly cream (recipe below)

625g fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 170°C/325F or gas mark 3. Line two 8 inch round cake pan or three 6 inch with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until white and foamy. Slowly add the sugar and beat until the mixture has trebled in size.

Sift the flour and plain flour together and fold it, using a large metal spoon into the egg mixture, carefully.

Once incorporated, fold in the melted butter.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pans and bake in a preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middles comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

While the cake is cooling make the Chantilly Cream.

Chantilly Cream

500ml double cream

125g icing sugar

Whip the cream to soft peaks, sift in the icing sugar and continue to whip the cream until thick, stable ribbons form. Store in the fridge until needed. 

Putting it all Together

Once the cakes are cooled, spread a layer of the Chantilly cream on the bottom layer before arranging the fresh raspberries in circles on top.

Cover the raspberries with another layer of cream and then place the top layer of cake on the raspberries.

Spread a layer of cream on the very top (and sides if you wish) and place more raspberries. 

Serve.

So what do you think? It's worth a shot for sure.. I know it will be a hit because who doesn't love cake and cream and fruit when the summer is fast approaching!!

Have a great weekend folks!

An InLinkz Link-up

Coffee and Cream Macaron

There was a time there before when all I wanted to make were macaron. The whole process of it... you know the sheer procrastibaking of it... and the fact they take ages to make and are gone in seconds by comparison is one of my favourite things.

But then the pesky Masters got in the way and my time for faffing about in the kitchen, as regulars here will know, was very much curtailed.

But I am happy to announce I am on the home straight folks! All my assignments are up, exam results are next week and I am on track with my thesis writing. It's looking good... So as a treat I decided to indulge in some macaron making! On a Monday no less... you know my penchant for Macaron Mondays!

I love coffee. Ever since the crash I feel like I have been on a diet of coffee and painkillers and as melodramatic as that sounds, I became very conscience of the amount of coffee I was consuming while being at home re-cooperating. So I decide to check myself for it...

And then just found other ways to sneak my vice into my day!! Ta-dah!

Coffee Macarons... made with a delicious amount of espresso powder for that devious, bitter caffeine kick and softened out by a smooth cool, creamy interior. These little morsels of mmmm... are perfect. I, in fact, shared them with a friend who commented 'these are the best macaron I have ever tasted'... he then proceeded to inquire as to whether or not I had actually made them.. but we will leave that one slide!

BEST. EVER. We'll focus on that!

Coffee and Cream Macaron 

aged egg whites (and by aged I mean crack the eggs, separate the whites form the yolks and leave them covered over in a bowl on your counter over night- up to 24 hours.)

100g caster sugar

150g ground almonds

280g icing sugar
2 tbsps espresso powder

Start with a clean, grease free mixing bowl and a mixer. I use the silver bowl and whisk off my stand mixer but, a hand mixer will do perfectly if that’s what you have!

On a high speed, whip your egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue whipping the egg whites on a high speed and start pouring the caster sugar into the mixing bowl. I start off with a slow and steady stream and stop after 1/3 has gone in. I let it whip for a while and start again, adding another 1/3 and then stopping, repeat pouring sugar. Repeat for the third batch. 

Continue whipping for a further 3-4 minutes until your egg whites form a thick and glossy stiff peaked meringue. 

Sieve together the icing sugar, ground almonds, and espresso powder into a large bowl and discard any large lumps or bumps you found were too big to go through the sieve. 

Taking a spatula, fold the egg whites into the almond, dry mixture. Your aim here is to squash out any air in the meringue. You can be rough with your folds, just make sure to keep folding through, making sure all the dry mix has been incorporated into the meringue.

You’re going for, what the internet describes as a “thick ribbon” consistency. Essentially that means the mix almost falls back on itself in around 10 seconds.

You can print off macaron templates... which are very helpful in giving you a good reference for size. I just use one I made myself as a guide... I cut heavy paper to fit the size of my tray and using a cookie cutter to help, just drew as many circles as I could on it to fill the whole page. Homemade. Cheap. Simple.

Line a few baking trays with parchment, and using your template, pipe circles onto the tray. I like to leave it a little from the edge, they fill the entire circle when you bang them out in the next step.

Holding your tray about a foot off above the counter top or table you are working it... drop it! Repeat this procedure a few times to pop any air bubbles left in your shells and allow the circles to settle. 

Leave the shells to rest so that they form a skin. look like the picture above and have become dry enough on the outside that you can lightly touch them.  This process could take up to an hour. (TIP: Leave them in a warm part of your house, like the windowsill where the sun is shining in.. they’ll be dry in no time!)

Preheat your oven to 130’. Once the macaron are ready for the oven,  pop them in for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, insert a wooden spoon into the oven door to keep it a little bit open. Continue baking for another 4-6 minutes until the top of the shell is crisp and if you wiggled it, gently, from side to side it should be one piece!

Remove from the oven onto a cooling tray and cool completely before filling. Continue baking whatever other shells are left in the same way. 

Cream Filling 

125g mascarpone cream cheese
125ml single whipping cream
65g icing sugar
1 to 2 tsp of vanilla extract

Take the mascarpone, cream and icing sugar and whip it up until you have a thick consistency. Add the vanilla to your taste and sandwich two shells, spooning it out using a teaspoon or piping bag filled with the cream filling. Serve.

Watch people melt as they collapse under the weight of your patisserie skills.

If you do have any left over, these will need to be stored in the fridge because of the dairy content but once you put them on the table.. they are not going to last.. Leftovers won't even be considered a real thing!

I really wish I had some left. That's the problem with baking and eating them all and then blogging afterwards... There's never enough.

Have a great week folks! Hope the summer is shaping up to all you want it to be and if you're popping by from colder parts.. hope Jack Frost isn't nipping too much at your nose!!