A couple of days ago I talked about ordering Daisy Flour.
It arrived! And the timing could not have been more perfect; I was charged with bringing a dessert to The In-Law’s for the Labor Day Dinner.
I immediately pulled out Baking with Julia. It’s definitely one of my more-favorite cook books and has lots and lots of really excellent recipes – some complex and others not-so. I vacillated between several, but finally decided on a variation of the French Strawberry Cake. I had raspberries. I decided to use the “Perfect Genoise” and make a raspberry cream. And maybe a little chocolate.
A genoise can be intimidating, at first, but this particular recipe really takes a lot of the angst out of it. A true genoise is an Italian sponge cake named after Genoa. It is also the foundation of many French cakes and desserts. It uses whole eggs – perfectly whipped – as leavening. No baking powder, baking, soda, or other leavening agents.
I thought it perfect for using the Daisy Pastry Flour. And, of course, it was!
The basic for a genoise is whipping whole eggs until they’re tripled in volume, gently folding in flour, and then gently adding melted butter. It’s not difficult – if you pay attention.
Perfect Genoise
Baking With Julia
makes enough batter for one 8-inch round cake
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup sifted cake flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Pour the melted butter into a 1-quart bowl; reserve. Return the sifted flour to the sifter or sieve and add 1 tbsp of the sugar and the salt; sift onto a piece of waxed paper and set aside.
Put the eggs and the remaining sugar into the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer (or work with a hand-held mixer). Holding the whisk attachment from the mixer in your hand, beat the mixture to blend the ingredients. With the bowl and whisk attachment in place, whip the mixture on medium speed until it is airy, pale, and tripled in volume, like softly whipped cream, 4 to 5 minutes. You’ll know that the eggs are properly whipped when you lift the whisk and the mixture falls back into the bowl in a ribbon that rests on the surface for about 10 seconds. If the ribbon immediately sinks into the mixture, continue whipping for a few more minutes. Pour in the vanilla extract during the last moments of whipping.
Detach the bowl from the mixer. Sprinkle about one third of the sifted flour mixture over the batter. Fold in the flour with a rubber spatula, stopping as soon as the flour is incorporated. Fold in the rest of the flour in 2 more additions.
Gently spoon about 1 cup of the batter into the bowl with the melted butter and fold the butter in with the rubber spatula. Fold this mixture into the batter in the mixer bowl. (This is the point at which the batter is at its most fragile, so fold gingerly.) The batter should be poured into a prepared pan and baked immediately.
Bake at 350° about 25-27 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched and just begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Cool in pan about 10 minutes then remove, cooling right-side up on cooling rack.
May be prepared 24 hours in advance. leave on rack, uncovered, at room temperature.
Whip eggs until they’re triple in volume and ‘ribbon’ back into the bowl when the beaters are lifted
Mix a cup of batter into the melted butter to lighten it – and then fold it into the main bowl.
Baked for 27 minutes and cooled overnight. The cake came out perfect. It sliced perfectly. It just could not have been better.
I made a whipped raspberry cream by adding thawed, frozen raspberries to 2 cups of heavy cream along with a teaspoon of vanilla. I did not add any sugar.
I split the cake into three layers and dusted the bottom layer with unsweetened cocoa.
I could have used more, but I wasn’t sure how it would come out. I actually thought of making a cocoa simple syrup but decided this would work.
I spread the layer with the raspberry cream and then added more thawed raspberries.
I then repeated wuith the next layer.
I topped the third layer with more raspberry cream and then piped rosettes along the outside edge. I added chocolate curls by using a potato peeler on a chocolate bar and added fresh raspberries for the final garnish.
Neither Daisy nor Julia disappointed! This cake came out great! It was light and airy without having an ‘eggy’ flavor that some sponge cakes can have. A genoise is a slightly dry cake by nature and the cream offset that dryness perfectly.
So… my first dessert with the Daisy Flour was a resounding success. There’s a recipe in the book for a white bread that I haven’t made in a few years. I think that may be my next project!
This is going to be a fun Fall and Winter!