I have been busy; I walked across Spain (most of it, anyway).
I did the Camino of Santiago- a walk that starts in the French Pyranées and ends up at the Atlantic Ocean- 500 or so miles later. It was amazing, to say the least.
I returned from Spain to attend the wedding of a beloved friend on the Sunshine Coast of British Colombia. When I heard they planned to not have a cake, part of me rebelled. I decided to override the plan.
I aimed to make a cake that avoided the things most people dislike about cake- overly sweet, unbalanced, and a dry, boring texture.
To find a recipe for the cake I searched the family’s massive collection of cookbooks. The Rombauers pulled though, yet again, with this wonderful Génoise cake recipe in the Joy of Cooking. The authors of The Joy define the Génoise cake as, “the layer cake of Europe, an unleavened whole-egg sponge cake with a delicate butter flavor.”
An abundant redcurrant bush was beckoning to have its fruit enjoyed, so I decided to make a cake that would feature the fruit. I added strawberries to the redcurrants to mellow their intensity, and to balance the sweet brightness of the fruit I filled the cake with a cream filling.
Redcurrants are rare in the U.S which is unfortunate because they are delicious and amazingly rich in vitamin C (four times more than oranges) and antioxidants. Look and ask for them at farmer’s markets or grow your own if you have the space. And as a side note- the dried currants easily found in commerce are not true currants at all, but actually a small raisin- not the same at all.
Between the layers of cake is a not-too-sweet strawberry and goat cheese frosting. The cake is topped with a strawberry cream. Keeping the fruit raw maintains the antioxidants and vitamin C that would be destroyed in cooking. Serve the fruit on the side or atop the cake just before serving.
This original recipe serves 10. For the wedding cake I doubled the recipe twice and used big baking sheets- avoiding having to split the cake to make the layers.
Génoise Cake
Makes two 1 inch layers.
Have all ingredients at room temperature and preheat the oven to 350*
Grease and flour the sides of two 9 X 2 inch round pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Sift together 3 times (I know this seems excessive but think of it as a ritual of love):
1 ¼ cups sifted cake flour (more sifting)
¼ cup sugar
Melt in a saucepan:
1/3 cup butter (preferably clarified)
Whisk together in a large heatproof bowl:
6 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
Set the bowl in a skillet of barely simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is warm to the touch, but be careful not to get too hot. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat on high speed until the mixture is light colored, has tripled in volume, and is the consistency of softly whipped cream (about 15 minutes with a hand-held mixer or 5 minutes with a heavy duty one).
In 3 additions, sift the flour mixture over the top and fold in with a rubber spatula. Reheat the butter until it is hot and transfer to a medium bowl. Fold into the batter with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated about 1 ½ cups of the egg mixture along with:
1 teaspoon vanilla
Scrape the mixture into the remaining egg mixture and fold in. Scrape the batter into the pans and spread evenly. Bake until the bake begins to pull away from the sides of the pans and tht top springs back when lightly pressed, about 15 minutes. Let cool in the pans 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pans; invert the cakes remove the liners. Let cool right side up on the rack.
The Cake Filling:
6 oz cream cheese (cold)
8 oz chevre (cold)
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup very ripe, finely chopped, very ripe strawberries
Beat with a mixer until blended and smooth.
Add slowly, mixing between additions:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar- or to taste. Add in half cup increments and taste as you go. You want the mixture to be thick but not too sweet. Divide the mixture in half.
Beat until peaks form:
½ pint of heavy whipping cream.
Gently fold the whipped cream into half of the filling mixture. This is for the top of the cake. Add more strawberries if you prefer stronger color and flavor- be careful not to get the topping too runny.
The Fruit:
12 oz strawberries, sliced
8 oz redcurrants
a few tablespoons of sugar
Gently mix the fruit and sugar together. Pour off a quarter cup or so of the juice into a small pot. Add and whisk to combine while cooking over medium-high heat until thickened:
3 teaspoons cornstarch
Remove from the heat and stir into the berries.
When the cake layers are completely cool spread the thick filling mixture over the middle and sides of the cake. Just before serving spread the soft cream filling over the top. Top the cake with roses or sliced strawberries. Spoon the fruit on the side of each plate.
