Chocolate Genoise Cake

I made these chocolate genoise cakes which I will use as a base in a layer cake which I am constructing. The genoise is basically a whisked sponge cake, that uses no chemical leavening, but only relies upon air beaten into the egg mixture. Unlike other cake recipes, entire eggs are used, and yolks are NOT separated from the whites. The cake is relatively dry.

It took me a couple times to get the texture right. The key step is the "ribbon" step- when the yolk and sugar mixture is heated, it should be pale and thick enough to form a ribbon. The final product is quite spongy, yet a bit on the dry side (as it should be). Relatively healthy too.

- 4-5 eggs (not separated)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup flour
- chocolate powder

1. First mix eggs and sugar.
2. Then over a simmering (NOT boiling) pot of water, aka "bain marie" setup, continually whisk the mixture. Whisk until the mixture is pale and thick, and holds a trail in a clear ribbon.
3. Remove the mixture from the heat, and continue whisking until it has cooled. (At this point, my whisking arm got tired, so I used the stand mixer to beat air into it.)
   
4. Mix flour and chocolate cocoa powder together.
5. Add flour to egg-sugar mixture, fold in gently.
6. Bake at 340 degrees F for about 20-25 min.
   

Dark Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

First, made the tartlet dough- added 1/4 cup of cocoa powder to the usual dough, and some vodka, which resulted in the dough being quite moist. Almost cake-like. Added more flour to compensate, but possibly not quite enough.




Here they are, topped with some strawberry slices. I had too much ganache left over, so I'm saving it to make dark chocolate ice cream. Added a bit of espresso powder and Bailey's to the ganache.



I think the above picture is a little dark. This one below might be better.