Genoise Cake

My mum told me about this type of sponge cake a little while ago, something I'd never heard of, a genoise cake. I've adapted this recipe from Annie Bell's Baking Bible but put my own twist on it. 

Genoise cake is meant to be a lighter sponge and is easy to flavour with syrups or layers. I decided not to flavour mine, this time, but added a cream and fruit filling. 

Ingredients:

3 eggs, separated

125g Caster Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

100g Plain Flour

50 Butter, melted

250g Marscapone

250g Creme Fraiche

3 dsp icing sugar

Blueberries

Grapes

Method:

Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add some of the sugar until the mixture is glossy and thick. I added around 4 dessert spoons. 

Egg whites whisked and glossy. 

Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture is really pale and has thickened up. Stir in the vanilla extract. 

Egg yolk whisked and very pale. 

Fold half of the egg yolk mixture into the whites mixture and then the remaining half. 

Finally add the cooled melted butter and fold this in until the mixture is combined. 

All ingredients folded together.

Pour the mixture into a buttered 20cm loose bottomed tin and place in the oven, 150oC, for 40 minutes.

Cake in the oven.

The cake should feel firm to touch and be slightly golden brown. turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool down. 

Cake cooling on the rack. 

Mix together the marscapone, creme fraiche and icing sugar. 

Marscapone mixture

Cut the cooled cake in half and spoon some of the mixture into the cake. Cut the cake in half.

Cake halved.

Place most the fruit on the centre of the cake, top with some more of the marscapone mixture. 

Fruit in the middle of the cake

Top the cake with the remaining marscapone mixture and add a few pieces of fruit to decorate. 

Finished cake.

The Verdict: I really enjoyed this cake but it was more the filling rather than sponge that drew my attention. The cake was a nice background to the cream and fruit, it wasn't too heavy and was definitely a nice light cake. I found this recipe more fuss than a normal sponge and I'm undecided as to whether it was worth the effort. I think if you were looking for a nice summer cake to go with summer fruits then it works very well so worth considering. The recipe worked very well and there isn't anything I would adjust. I would be tempted to experiment with different flavours and maybe try flavouring the sponge next time. I would give this cake 8/10 and Gary gives the cake 7/10. He thinks it should have had more fruit in the middle of the cake. 

Inside view.