Genoise Sponge/ Apricot Gateaux with Chantilly Cream

Another traditional recipe which is a very good recipe for a Christmas centre piece. This cake is not for the faint hearted and wear some loose fitting trousers for this. 

Great for a Christmas Lunch Dessert

A Genoise sponge is an Italian cake and is linked to both French and Italian baking that doesn't require any leavening agents such as baking powder. Which means thats its a natural cake, no artifcial stuff in here! It is also traditional flavoured with either vanilla, almond or lemon. This is a whole egg cake which is cooked over a bain marie and whisked. The whisking is important as this is the way to make the cake light and fluffy, and of course makes the cake rise. Remember to make your stock syrup and chantilly cream to decorate (both of these recipes are below).  
Ingredients

• 5 Eggs 
• 250g Sugar 
• 250g Plain flour 
• 25g cooled melted butter
• 2 g natural vanilla essence/ 2 vanilla pods
• 200ml of stock syrup
• 120g strawberry jam
• Toasted almonds, enough to cover the sides of the cake
•   Any fruit (I used apricot but strawberries, blackberries or cherries work very well.)

Equipment 

• Sieve
• Wooden Spoon
• Bowl
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Small bowl for syrup
• Metal spoon
• Sauce pan
• Whisk/hand held electric whisk
•    Piping bag with a star nozzle
•    Pastry brush
•    Baking sheet greased with butter and flour 
•   7 inch cake ring greased with butter and flour

    1. Over a warm bain marie, whisk the eggs until it has doubled in volume. This should look yellow and frothy. Then whisk in the sugar.
2. Continue to whisk the sugar in until the mixture is pale and at the ribbon stage. (The mix should hold its shape for few seconds when dropped back into the mixture.)
3. When you remove the whisk from the bowl. DON’T BE TEMPTED TO TAP IT AGAINST THE BOWL! Very gently fold in half of the sieved flour. Gently fold in the second half of the flour and the melted butter. Pour into an 8 inch silicone line cake ring on a flat tray line silicone paper.
4. Cook at 190c/ 375f/Gas Mark 5 for 30 minutes until cooked. To check if cooked, use a small knife or a cake skewer into the centre of the sponge.
5. Leave the cake in the tin for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
6. To decorate, cut into 3 equal slices. Place the bottom layer on a cake board and brush the top with a little syrup. Spread with a layer of jam followed by a layer of chantilly cream.
7. Place the second layer of sponge on and repeat but add a layer of fruit.
8. Place the last sponge on top and brush the top with the syrup.
9. Mask the gateaux with cream with a palette knife and pipe on a rosette on each portion and garnish with fruit.
  
   Variation: Replace 50g of flour with 50g of cocoa flour to make a chocolate gateaux. Also, this recipe makes a great Yule Log cake.


 Chantilly Cream is a vanilla sweetened whipped cream named after a medieval market town in Paris. It is often used with desserts and puddings. 

   Recipe:Chantilly Cream
   Ingredients:

•    284ml/10 fl oz whipping cream
•    1 vanilla pod
•    Icing sugar to taste

     Equipment:
   ·       Sieve
   ·       Knife
   ·       Chopping board
   ·       Mixer/whisk
   ·       Bowl
    1. Place cream into a bowl. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to cream.
    2. Whip the cream until forms soft peaks. Add the sieved icing sugar, to taste, and mix gently.

This Vanilla and Cinnamon stock syrup will be more then enough to glaze your cake and can be saved for other cakes.

Recipe: Vanilla and Cinnamon syrup 
   ·       200 ml/7 fl oz water
   ·       225g/8oz caster sugar
   ·       2 vanilla pods
   ·       1 cinnamon stick
     Equipment:
   ·       Sauce pan
   ·       Measuring jug

   1.    Place the water and caster sugar into a heavy based pan.
   2.    Add the vanilla and cinnamon and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes. 

This gateaux can be decorated with most fruit

  Bake On and Merry Christmas!
  Penny 

Fun Things to do with Puff Pastry

My previous post was how to make puff pastry from scratch. This post is about the fun things you can make from puff pastry including Bande aux Fruite, Cream Horns, Eccles Cakes, and Palmiers. 

A Bande aux Fruite is an rectangle shaped fruit tart that is filled with pastry cream originating in France. 

Recipe: Bande aux Fruite

• Puff pastry
• Pastry cream (click here for recipe)
• Fresh fruit of your choice (I used kiwi, strawberry and peach)
• Apricot jam to glaze

Equipment:

• Rolling pin
• Knife
• Non-stick board
• Piping bag
• Baking sheet with silicone paper

1. Roll out the puff pastry to rectangle shape. Trim the sides so its straight edges.
2. The side strips should be about 1 1/2cm thick.
3. Dab water down the sides and lay strips on the long sides of the rectangles. Make a pattern on the strips if needed.
4. Brush with egg wash and rest for 30 minutes.
5. Prick the middle of the puff pastry to let the steam out. Cook at 215c/Gas Mark 7/ 425f for 15 mins.
6. Once taken out of the oven and cooled. Put the pastry cream into a piping bag and pipe onto the middle of puff pastry.
7. Cut desired fruit and place in lines to decorate.
8. Heat up an apricot glaze to finish the fruit.

Cream horns are strips of puff pastry rolled around a horned mold (no jokes please) baked and filled with cream chantilly (icing sugar and whipped cream).

Recipe: Cream Horns

• 200g puff pastry    
• 100g jam
• Cream Chantilly
• Egg white
• Caster sugar
• Softened butter
• Flour to dust

Equipment:

• Rolling pin
• Non stick board
• Pastry brush
• Knife
• Cream Horn molds
• Star nozzles
• 2 piping bags
• Baking sheet with silicone paper

1.  Brush softened butter over the cream horn molds and flour them well.
2. Roll out the puff pastry to 2mm thick very long rectangle.
3. Trim off edges that measure 1 ½ cm wide.
4. Start wrapping the pastry strip around the pointed end of the cream horn mold. Make sure the pastry overlaps slightly.
5. Seal the end of pastry with egg white and dip the round horn end into caster sugar.
6. Bake 220c/Gas Mark 7/ 425f for 20 minutes.
7. Once cooled pipe a line of jam on flat end cream horn.
8. Pipe in a swirl of cream.
9. Dust the cream horns with icing sugar.

The eccles cake, rather puff pastry not really a cake, is named after the town in North England, and has been around since 1793. Some rather interesting nicknames for this 'cake' is fly cake, flies graveyard and squashed fly cake! This may be for the currents squashed into the cake. 

Recipe: Eccles Cakes

• 250g Puff pastry
• 100g Brown Sugar
• 30g butter
• 120g currents
• A pinch of mixed spice
• Egg white

Equipment:

• Rolling pin
• 2 Circle cutters
• Baking sheet with silicone paper

1. Roll out the pastry approximately 1.5mm thick.
2. Cut out with a round, 4 inch cutter.
3. Place a tablespoon of filling in the centre of each piece.
4. Fold the edges into the centre, sealing in the filling and then turn over.
5. Either flatten with the palm of the hand.
6. Wash the tops with egg white or water and dip into caster sugar.
7. Make 3 slits on the top with aknife so the filling shows through.
8. Allow 30 minutes resting time.
9. Bake at 215c/Gas Mark 7/420f for 10 minutes
10. Check after 10 minutes.

Recipe: Palmiers

The palmier, meaning palm tree, has very mysterious origins but has earned the nickname 'elephant ears' due to the shape. They can be made with cinnamon or dipped in chocolate or made with savoury ingredients. 

• 250g Puff pastry
• 100g Caster Sugar
• A pinch of cinnamon
• Water

Equipment:

• Rolling pin
• Baking sheet with silicone paper
• Small bowl

1. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.
2. Sprinkle ¼ cup of sugar on a clean work surface.
3. Gently unfold one of the pastry sheets. Place the pastry sheet on top of the sugared work surface.
4. Sprinkle the top side evenly with water and ½ of the sugar to within ½ inch of the edges. Gently press the sugar into the pastry.
5. Using  rolling pin, gently roll out the dough into a 9 x 15 inch rectangle.
6. Using your fingers, roll the dough length-wise into a long cylinder, as tightly as possible without stretching it. Stop when you reach the middle. Do this for both sides.
7. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
8. Using a sharp knife cut the dough crosswise so that you have little thin ‘scroll’ slices.
9. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an 1 hour.
10. Preheat oven to 220c/Gas Mark 7/425f and bake for 5 minutes.
11. After 5 minutes reduce the oven to 200c/Gas Mark 6/400f and bake for another 10 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven using a thin spatula transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

I hope you enjoyed this post about the wonders of puff pastry! 

Bake On!

Penny