Génoise (Genoa sponge)
A Génoise (or Genoa sponge) is a very light and delicate cake. It is good on its own, but is more often used as the base for many different French-style gâteaux, with layers of mousse or cream between 2 (or more) layers of sponge. It is a tricky recipe to get right, rather technical, but here's a simple and very effective method.
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Last modified on: May 22th 2011
For 1 Génoise (Genoa sponge), you will need:
- 1 : 4 eggs
- 2 : 50 g butter
- 3 : 110 g caster sugar
- 4 : 15 g Vanilla sugar
- 5 : 125 g flour
- 6 : 30 g flaked almonds (optional)
- Total weight: 570 grams
How long does it take?
| Preparation | Resting | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 min. | 15 min. | 35 min. | 1 hour 23 min. |
At what time?When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?
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When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?
Work this out...
Step by step recipe
| 1 |  | Put 4 eggs in a pan of hot water from the tap and leave for 10 minutes to warm, just to warm eggs not to cook them. If your eggs have been in the fridge, leave them for 20 minutes, renewing the hot water halfway through. |
10 min. |
| 2 |  | Also fill the food-processor bowl with very hot water and leave to warm up. This is so that the eggs can be beaten in the warm, which improves their texture. In most Genoa sponge recipes, the eggs are beaten in a bain-marie, which is more difficult. |
5 min. |
| 3 |  | Meanwhile, prepare "noisette" butter: melt 50 g butter over low heat and leave to heat until it has almost stopped boiling. Remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). |
10 min. |
| 4 |  | Empty and dry the food-processor bowl, break the eggs into it and add 110 g caster sugar and 15 g Vanilla sugar. | 5 min. |
| 5 |  | Beat immediately at high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy... | 10 min. |
| 6 |  | ...and sticks to the beater slightly. | |
| 7 |  | Reduce the speed and add the noisette butter, pouring in a thin stream (through a sieve to remove all the small impurities left after heating). | 5 min. |
| 8 |  | Stop the machine and sieve 125 g flour into the mixture. | 5 min. |
| 9 |  | Incorporate the flour into the mixture quickly using a hand whisk. Important: this is the tricky part. You have incorporated lots of air into the mixture be beating the eggs and sugar together and it is this air in the form of tiny bubbles that will make the mixture foamy and give you a light sponge. You need to incorporate the flour as quickly as possible (within 30 seconds if possible) so that the mixture doesn't "fall". |
1 min. |
| 10 |  | Prepare a mould or tin by lining the bottom with a sheet of cooking parchment, as Genoa sponge sticks terribly and turning it out can be difficult. You can also scatter a few flaked almonds in the bottom. |
5 min. |
| 11 |  | Pour the batter into the mould and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. | 2 min. |
| 12 |  | Turn out while hot onto a wire rack. | 25 min. |
Remarks
For a chocolate Genoa sponge, reduce the flour by 50g and add 20g of powdered chocolate or cocoa powder.
Nutritional information
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How much will it cost?
For 1 Génoise (Genoa sponge) : 2.11 €
Recipes which use this 4
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Source: After Hervé This, who states that this Michel Bras's method.
More recipes?
This recipe use (among others) | Flour: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Strawberry and rhubarb crumble, Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée), Coconut tuiles, Little Christmas biscuits, Panettone, ... [All] |
 | Caster sugar: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Pink Reims biscuits, Stewed apricots, Pistachio ice cream, Stewed rhubarb, Plain cake, ... [All] |
 | Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Walnut short bread, Roast pork with sage, cooked in a bag., Eggs Benedict , Du Barry soup, Marchand de vin sauce, ... [All] |
 | Vanilla sugar: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Toasted almond cake, Pecan fruit rolls , Flambéd bananas , Chantilly cream, Quince and apple compote, ... [All] |
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Your 5 comments or questions on this recipe
Thanks,
Kristin
www.erisbeauty.com
@biggles: It could be a problem of not enoughly mixed flour to the egg+sugar mixture.
Keep courage!
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