Génoise [zhen-woz]
n. Buttery sponge cake made without any leaveners other than eggs, which are whisked over a hot water bath until greatly increased in volume.
Génoise is the foundation of many layered desserts, like Pierre Hermé's famous cakes. Sometimes bakeries or restaurants will label any yellow or sponge cake a génoise, but an authentic génoise is distinguished by the technique used to prepare it.
Most sponges will require the egg whites and yolks to be whipped separately until they increase in volume. Then they are gently folded together, along with the dry ingredients.
Not so with a génoise. The yolks, whites and some sugar are warmed over a water bath until they reach a high temperature - about 110° F. Then they are whipped with an electric mixer until they dramatically increase in volume. The first time I made one I was shocked! It nearly overflowed out of my bowl. The volume of the eggs and the steam produced by the butter create a high, pale cake that is dense and sometimes a little dry. But this makes it an excellent foundation for a cake that's going to be slathered with wet fruit topping or soaked in syrup overnight.
Génoise is the workhorse of the cake kitchen: it takes just a few basic ingredients to turn out a cake with a tender yet firm crumb that can support custard fillings, mousses and ganache.
• Pierre Hermé's Génoise recipe, at Martha Stewart Living.
• For the ambitious: Hermé's Carioca cake, which calls for génoise soaked in coffee syrup and layered with mousse and ganache.
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I'd appreciate a recipe if anyone has a good one. Never heard of a Génoise
Juice, I updated the post with a recipe. This is the one I use, and it always gives me good results. It looks lengthy, but as long as I am methodical it comes together quicky.
here is a recipe for chocolate genoise which i've used to great success. click on my name.
Thanks a bunch! I can't wait to try the cake out. I've been looking for some generic cake recipes to start experimenting with.
Please do let us know how it turns out!
Ok, so it the Genoise turned out really well. Moist, spongy and all that good stuff. The resulting cake was constructed by making whip cream and adding yogurt to make yogurt frosting. Finally I added morello cherries (with the juice turned into a syryp with cornstarch. I think it turned out well but nuts and more sugar wouldn't have hurt I think is the general consensus. Unsweet cakes are my preference so I'd go with nuts. Thanks again for the recipe.
Hey, that's great, Juice. Thanks for letting us know.