I have embarked on the task of understanding Genoise cakes. So I ambitiously tackle the chocolate genoise cake out of the Baking with Julia book. This is part of the chocolate ruffle cake.
First attempt at the cake:
cake was tasty but it was only about 3/4 inch tall, no doubt that I totally deflated the eggs while folding the dry ingredients.
Second attempt at the cake:
Cake is now about 1 and 1/4 inches tall. So better than the first attempt but still deflating the eggs
Third attempt:
I tried to be much more gentle with folding the dry ingredients. This time around the wet batter itself filled up more than half way up the pan. I used a 8inch round and 2inches tall, as the recipe called. The cake rose very well, all the way up to the top and domed a bit. checked the cake at 30 minutes it sprang back (once again following the recipe). But once I took the cake out of the oven the center sank down quite a bit.
Should I have baked it a little longer?
here is the recipe
3 tablespoons hot clarified unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus
1 tablespoon sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, plus
1 tablespoon sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven or just below the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F Fit the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan, one at least 2 inches high, with parchment paper and set aside.
Pour the clarified butter into a 1-quart bowl and stir in the vanilla extract, if you're using it. The butter must be hot when added to the batter, so either keep the bowl in a skillet of hot water or reheat at the last minute.
Although the flour and cocoa were sifted before they were measured, they need to be triple-sifted together. Sift or sieve the flour and cocoa together 3 times, then set sifter on a plate or piece of waxed paper and return the dry ingredients to the sifter. Keep close at hand.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Set the bowl over direct heat or in a pan of barely simmering water and heat the eggs, whisking constantly, until they are warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the heat and, working with a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a hand-held mixer), beat the eggs at high speed until they are cool, have tripled in volume, and hold a ribbon when the whisk is lifted.
Sift one third of the dry ingredients over the eggs and, using a large rubber spatula, fold in gently but thoroughly. When the color of the batter is almost uniform, fold in the rest of the flour-cocoa mixture.
Spoon about 1 cup of the batter into the hot clarified butter add fold together until well blended. Spoon this over the batter and, using the large rubber spatula, gently fold into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the pan: there's no need to smooth the top or rap the pan on the counter, as is sometimes done with foam-based cakes. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, or until top of the cake springs back when pressed gently. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake cool in the pan.
When the cake is completely cool, run a small knife around the sides of the pan to release the cake and unmold onto a rack; invert right side up onto a piece of parchment paper. (The cake can be made ahead to this point, wrapped well, and kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.).
First attempt at the cake:
cake was tasty but it was only about 3/4 inch tall, no doubt that I totally deflated the eggs while folding the dry ingredients.
Second attempt at the cake:
Cake is now about 1 and 1/4 inches tall. So better than the first attempt but still deflating the eggs
Third attempt:
I tried to be much more gentle with folding the dry ingredients. This time around the wet batter itself filled up more than half way up the pan. I used a 8inch round and 2inches tall, as the recipe called. The cake rose very well, all the way up to the top and domed a bit. checked the cake at 30 minutes it sprang back (once again following the recipe). But once I took the cake out of the oven the center sank down quite a bit.
Should I have baked it a little longer?
here is the recipe
3 tablespoons hot clarified unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus
1 tablespoon sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, plus
1 tablespoon sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven or just below the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F Fit the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan, one at least 2 inches high, with parchment paper and set aside.
Pour the clarified butter into a 1-quart bowl and stir in the vanilla extract, if you're using it. The butter must be hot when added to the batter, so either keep the bowl in a skillet of hot water or reheat at the last minute.
Although the flour and cocoa were sifted before they were measured, they need to be triple-sifted together. Sift or sieve the flour and cocoa together 3 times, then set sifter on a plate or piece of waxed paper and return the dry ingredients to the sifter. Keep close at hand.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Set the bowl over direct heat or in a pan of barely simmering water and heat the eggs, whisking constantly, until they are warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the heat and, working with a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a hand-held mixer), beat the eggs at high speed until they are cool, have tripled in volume, and hold a ribbon when the whisk is lifted.
Sift one third of the dry ingredients over the eggs and, using a large rubber spatula, fold in gently but thoroughly. When the color of the batter is almost uniform, fold in the rest of the flour-cocoa mixture.
Spoon about 1 cup of the batter into the hot clarified butter add fold together until well blended. Spoon this over the batter and, using the large rubber spatula, gently fold into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the pan: there's no need to smooth the top or rap the pan on the counter, as is sometimes done with foam-based cakes. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, or until top of the cake springs back when pressed gently. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake cool in the pan.
When the cake is completely cool, run a small knife around the sides of the pan to release the cake and unmold onto a rack; invert right side up onto a piece of parchment paper. (The cake can be made ahead to this point, wrapped well, and kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.).
