One of the things I wanted to try out this year was a Genoise Sponge. Heard about them but never had a go.
When I did I absolutely loved the texture, so light and moreish. I am now a big fan!
This is my recipe for a vanilla flavoured sponge. I had chosen to use 3 tins as I wanted 3 tiers and am just no good at cutting the cakes across, the sponge is so light I thought I’d end up crushing it! So you could just as easily use a deeper pan and put all the mix in one. Then slice it later. It’s your call.
Vanilla Genoise Sponge
I made 3 x 8” cakes with this.
3 tbsp melted butter in a small bowl
100g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt
5 medium eggs
135g granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 180 C (fan 160 C)
Sieve the flour & salt into a bowl and set aside.
In a heatproof bowl whisk the eggs & sugar. Place over a pan of simmering water and continue to whisk until the mix is just warm, approx 3-5 minutes.
Remove the egg mix from the heat and place in your mixer bowl and beat on high until it has cooled and also tripled in volume about 4-5 minutes. This is intense beating so a mixer is highly recommended. The batter will leave a ribbon like trail when lifted out of the bowl with a spoon. Beat in the vanilla.
Then sieve in about a third of the flour and fold in. Repeat with half of the remaining flour and then repeat again with the rest of the flour until just mixed. Try not to over mix as this will knock all the air out.
Take a large spoonful of the mix and add to the melted butter and beat, then add this to the rest of the whisked mixture and fold through, it’s easier to incorporate this way.
Spoon into the tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until they are slightly shrinking away from the tin or until a skewer comes out clear. Cool for 5 mins in the tin then loosen the edges with a knife and transfer to a cooling rack.
The Genoise sponge is supposed to be drier then your average sponge, you are best to brush the tops of the cakes with a sugar syrup solution.
I remove a thin layer of the cake from the top when they’re completely cold and brush with the syrup.
To make the vanilla syrup place 75ml water with 75g of caster sugar in a saucepan and slowing bring to the boil, giving it a stir to help dissolve the sugar. Once it’s reached a boil remove from the heat and allow to cool then add 1 tsp vanilla extract stir through. This will keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container in the fridge and can be used to brush the tops of cupcakes too.
To fill my sponges I used 284ml carton of whipping cream which I whipped up and added 1 tsp vanilla extract and a tbsp of icing sugar.
I used a cherry pie filling but you can use whatever you fancy or have available at the time. Keeps in the fridge covered for a few days.
I recently made one and had to freeze it as the occasion was postponed so have great hopes that this will be just as wonderful when defrosted. Enjoy!
6 Responses to Vanilla Genoise sponge