- Serving: Makes one 9-inch cake
Genoise with Amaretto and Chocolate (Sponge Cake)
Genoise is a type of foam cake, a cake which rises because of the air beaten into the eggs during preparation. This genoise, lightly flavored with lemon zest, is sprinkled with Amaretto and iced with beaten chocolate ganache.
Ingredients
- Genoise
- Eggs - 7
- Sugar - 2/3 cup
- All-Purpose Flour - 3/4 cup
- Cornstarch - 3 tablespoons
- Lemon zest - 2 teaspoons, grated
- Amaretto and Chocolate Filling
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 3 cups
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 6 ounces
- Amaretto - 1/4 cup
- Genoise Cake - One 9-inch, split (above)
Instructions
To prepare the genoise (sponge cake): Preheat the oven to 425 F. Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans. In a bowl set over barely simmering water (no more than 115 F), whisk the eggs and sugar until doubled in volume. Sift the flour and cornstarch together. Carefully fold the flour mixture and lemon rind into the egg mixture. Pour into the prepared pans and bake until the cakes are set and the centers spring back when touched, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool ten minutes in the pans, then turn out on wire racks and cool completely.
To assemble and serve: Heat the cream to 180 F over medium-high heat. Stir in the chocolate chips and remove from heat. Let stand 30 seconds, then stir until the mixture is smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill overnight. This mixture is called ganache.
Sprinkle half of the genoise with half of the Amaretto. Whip the ganache (cream-chocolate mixture) until stiff. Spread 1/4 of the ganache on the cake. Add the top layer of genoise and sprinkle with the remaining Amaretto. Ice the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of ganache, then put the remaining ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a medium fluted tip and decorate the cake.
