305850 Fri Jun 30 02:54:02 -0700 2006 11 31 Home Cooking 0 1720296 does anyone have a great recipe for a genoise cake for my strawberry short cake? not dense like a pound cake but SUPER fluffy. like a japanese sponge cake.. thanks for your help Fri Jun 30 02:54:02 -0700 2006 11351 yum 1 1720321 I'll add that any instructions for technique would be greatly appreciated. I just tried two different genoise recipes last week, and both fell flat--literally and figuratively. I followed instructions very carefully, after reading several websites as well as Hensperger's Cake Bible. The only thing I can think of was that last week was a bit humid. some questions: -what does your final cake batter look like, incredibly thick or runny? -how do you know when it's done? Fri Jun 30 03:17:57 -0700 2006 1720296 11577 Pei 2 1720656 Pei, I usually use the genoise recipe in the revised Joy of Cooking. The only difference between their method and some others is their use of clarified butter. But their instructions are very precise which is helpful when you're starting out. I would guess that your technique is off somewhere, genoise is not the easiest cake to make (speaking from experience here). I think the hardest part is folding in the butter. If you overhandle, you knock the air out of the egg/sugar sponge. If you underhandle you get a solid layer of buttery cake at the bottom with a thin layer of sponge above. After a couple of failures I learnt to incorporate the butter thoroughly. Joy helps here - they tell you to keep everything warm (with exact temperatures IIRC) which makes it all come together easily. To answer your questions, my final batter is thick and foamy. If you lift it with a spatula it takes a few seconds to ooze back down. It's usually done when the edges are slightly pulled away from the sides of the pans. And the surface has some spring if you press it lightly. I find these more reliable than piercing with a toothpick. Hope this helps. Fri Jun 30 13:00:35 -0700 2006 1720321 12335 cheryl_h 3 1720955 It does! It's interesting that you say underhandling results in a thick layer with a sponge on top. That's what happened to my first cake. The top half of it was pretty good, the bottom half was a thick doughy mess. I sliced off the top and ate it with fruit. The second cake, I was much more careful with all the things you mentioned: temperature, mixing, etc. The batter I got was much foamier, but the resulting cake couldn't be called tasty. It was indeed a firm cake with a coarse crumb, but VERY coarse. Almost like badly made cornbread. Any idea what I did wrong? Fri Jun 30 15:45:28 -0700 2006 1720656 11577 Pei 4 1721024 Was it moist? If it was dry I would guess that it was overbaked. Genoise isn't particularly interesting without all the frills - the syrups, fillings etc. It's firm so it can stand up to that, it can be sliced into thin layers, rolled up with fillings etc. But as cake by itself, I don't think most people would find it that tasty. Perhaps your genoise was right on the money! Fri Jun 30 16:08:20 -0700 2006 1720955 12335 cheryl_h 5 1721031 I think I slightly overbaked it, because it pulled away from the pan quite a bit. The recipe said to take it out when it just started to release. It was too dry to eat by itself, but you're right that genoise isn't very exciting by itself. What kind of spongey layer cake do bakeries use? Specifically, the ones in better American bakeries or Asian bakeries. Really fluffy, adorned with only fresh whipped cream and fruit? It's sort of like a cross between pound cake (sturdy) and chiffon (light), but is baked in sheets or rounds for making layer cakes. Fri Jun 30 16:09:45 -0700 2006 1721024 11577 Pei 5 1721060 Pei, I can't respond to your post below it, so I hope you see this one. I don't know what the commercial bakeries use - I know what you mean by light and fluffy and I'm pretty sure genoise is not it. My guess is some kind of chiffon or hot milk sponge, both of which make a nice light cake. I think this calls for some experimentation. Fri Jun 30 16:22:07 -0700 2006 1721024 12335 cheryl_h 1 1720648 I think you are looking at the wrong source if you want a fluffy cake. Genoise is a firm sponge, meant to stand up to multiple layering and frosting. For a soft-textured cake I would probably go with a hot milk sponge or a chiffon cake. One good source for techniques as well as recipes is: http://www.joyofbaking.com BTW traditional shortcake is made somewhat like a scone, quite different from a sponge. The website above also has recipes for strawberry shortcake. Fri Jun 30 12:52:08 -0700 2006 1720296 12335 cheryl_h 1 1720686 I agree with the previous post that the cake you are looking for is a 'sponge cake' and not a genoise. A genoise is drier with a coarser crumb that likes a soaking syrup to moisten it. There are a lot of good standard genoise recipes around. Basically, it is whole eggs, warmed a little in a double boiler with the sugar, then beaten in a electric mixer until very thick and foamy. Flour is folded into it and finally folding in the melted butter. The tricky part of genoise is folding in the flour and the butter thoroughly without deflated it. A sponge cake is lighter, has a very fine crumb and more moist than a genoise. It is great with fruits and lighter frosting such as whipped cream. The primary difference is that for a sponge cake, the eggs are separated, the yolks and whites are beaten separately with the sugar, then folded together with the flour mixture. Some recipes has butter folded in for richness and some recipes has a little bit of baking powder. There is a good foolproof recipe in any of the Cook's Illustrated Cookbooks. There is also an excellent recipe in Flo Braker's Simple Art of Perfect Baking, a great book if you are interested in cake baking. Fri Jun 30 13:26:28 -0700 2006 1720296 10756 PBSF 2 1721247 Hello, My understanding of those sponge cakes in Asian bakeries is that there are a couple of differences. First, they are "high-ratio" sponge cakes. In other words, the amount of sugar is almost the same as the amount of flour. Second, they use a commercial emulsifier (a teacher I had in baking school had one called Jilk, I think). I believe I have some notes at home -- I will see if I can find them. But, as I see them, European sponge cakes (geniose, and the American variation chiffon, etc.) in general are meant to be cut in layers, soaked w/ cake syrup, and just generally manipulated a lot. Not that tasty on their own, although I eat up the trimmings dipped in icing just to make sure they taste okay. ;) Fri Jun 30 17:40:24 -0700 2006 1720686 14823 bruce 1 1721385 Maybe you could make a chiffon cake? Those are easy, but still quite light and fluffy. Fri Jun 30 18:49:44 -0700 2006 1720296 12171 bolletje 1 1722160 I think this sponge cake recipe is exactly what you're looking for. I make this all the time so its tried and true. Its a light and very delicious cake and very easy to make. Although the filling for this recipe is for raspberries and mascarpone you can easily substitute with strawberries and whipped cream. BTW, the caster sugar it refers to is known as Superfine Sugar here in the U.S. If you make it, please post your results. Good luck! http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/all-in-one-sponge-cake-with-raspberry-and-mascarpone-cream,1033,RC.html Sat Jul 01 01:03:27 -0700 2006 1720296 11867 charlieboy