Genoese Sponge Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10 inch tube pan.
• Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup sugar gradually, beating until very stiff.
• In a large bowl, cream butter or margarine and 1 cup sugar well. Add egg yolks, and beat until thick and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt over batter. Fold in. Gently fold in egg whites. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. Cool. Ice with your favorite frosting.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Brush 2 x 20cm cake tins with melted butter, line the bases with baking paper, then dust well with flour tipping out any excess. Set aside.
• Put the sugar and eggs in a large heatproof bowl, then set it over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk with an electric hand whisk for about 7 mins or until the mixture is pale and has trebled in volume. Remove from the heat, then slowly pour in the butter folding it in as you pour until it is completely mixed in.
• Gently fold the flour and a pinch of salt into the egg mixture, then pour into your prepared cake tins. Cook for 25 mins until the cake is golden and risen - a skewer pushed into the cake should come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for a few mins in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then set aside. Whizz about a quarter of the strawberries with 1 tbsp sugar until smooth, then fold this purée through the cream so you get a ripple effect.
• To assemble the cakes, cut each one in half horizontally. Put one sponge on a serving plate, spread a quarter of the cream mix on top, then dot a quarter of the blueberries and raspberries around the edge. Repeat this step two more times, put the last layer of cake on top (save a top half of cake for the top layer), spread the remaining cream over, then put the blueberries and raspberries around the edge and pile the strawberries in the centre. Dust with icing sugar just before you serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch round cake pan. Line with parchment paper and grease it as well. Lightly flour pan and paper.
• Sift together the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt onto a piece of wax paper.
• Place the eggs into a mixing bowl set over a pan of hot (not boiling) water. Add the 1/2 cup sugar to the eggs and whisk until the mixture feels warm (not hot) to the touch, about body temperature. Place the bowl onto a mixer and beat on medium speed until the mixture becomes pale yellow in color and falls off the end of the whisk attachment in long ribbons. Add the vanilla. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the beaten egg and fold in. Continue to add the remainder of the flour, folding it in each time.
• Place about 1 cup of the batter into the bowl containing the melted butter and combine the butter with the batter. Add this back to the main batter and fold it in. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Immediately bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 25 minutes or until the top is a light brown. Cool in pan on a rack about 10 minutes and then invert onto a rack. It is best to invert it again onto another rack so that it cools with the top up. Let cool completely before cutting or frosting.

Steps:

• Coat a 12-by-16-inch rimmed baking sheet or a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment; coat with cooking spray. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Stir together flour and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. Preheat oven to 450 degrees for sheet cake or 400 degrees for round cake, with rack in lower third.
• Put eggs, egg yolks, and granulated sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a pan of simmering water; whisk until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch. Return bowl to mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Raise speed to high. Beat until mixture is pale and thick, about 4 minutes more.
• Remove bowl from mixer. Sift flour mixture over the top; using a large rubber spatula, carefully fold into egg mixture, cutting through middle and lifting gently over sides. When almost incorporated, pour melted butter down side of bowl; gently fold to incorporate completely.
• Spread batter evenly in sheet or pan with a large offset spatula. Bake until golden brown and springy to the touch, about 6 minutes for 12-by-16-inch cake and 15 minutes for 9-inch round cake.
• For the 12-by-16-inch cake: Run a small knife around sides of sheet; invert onto a wire rack. Remove parchment. For the roll, transfer cake to a dish towel dusted with confectioners' sugar, and roll up, starting at a short end; for the torte, reinvert cake onto the rack. Let cool completely. For the 9-inch round cake: Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; run a small knife around sides of pan. Invert onto rack; remove parchment, and reinvert onto rack. Let cool completely.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Blend the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a mixer bowl with a wire whip attachment until the mixture doubles in volume-about 15 minutes on high speed. Just before stopping the mixer, add the vanilla and mix inches.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sift together the cake flour, cornstarch and salt. Fold dry mixture into egg mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, just until blended.
• Coat two 10-inch round cake pans with shortening. Pour the batter into the pans and put them immediately into preheated 350 degree oven.
• Bake until tops are springy to the touch, about 45 to 50 minutes.
• Remove the cakes from the pans and cool on a wire rack.
• When cool, use a long serrated knife to slice off the tops of the cakes.
• For tiramisu or other layer cakes, divide each cake into three uniform layers with a serrated knives.