Walnut Genoise

Big statements need big foundations. Did you see this week in the NYTimes when the fancy classical music guru James R. Oestreich basically declared Mozart a hack? (Perhaps I overstate a tad for drama.) Now that's a big statement--which certainly wouldn't have had the same punch if your cousin Melvin had said it. "But Melvin, you watch Friday Night Wrestling." Call me crazy, but it doesn't have the same impact.

Which is why a layer cake is all about the genoise (French, from Genoa [for some obscure reason], jenn-WAHZ). Big statements, big foundations. These layers are sturdy but delicate, delicious on their own, but even better frosted. Other types of cake layers can be wishy-washy, too easily smooshed or too chewy, almost elastic. Blech. Even Melvin wouldn't approve.

Traditionally, genoise layers are made with butter. But Bruce has gotten into making them with walnut oil for a slightly nutty taste, just a little heft to meet the thick, rich frosting halfway.

Here's how to do the layers up right, a recipe from our Ultimate Cook Book.

First, take 5 large eggs out of the fridge and set them on the counter for 15 or 20 minutes. They should be near room temperature so that their proteins are supple, rather than cramped from the cold like me in January.

Meanwhile, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Dab a little untoasted walnut oil on a wad of paper towel and use it to grease the insides of two, 8-inch cake pans, getting down into the seam between the side and the bottom. Add a little flour to each, then turn and tip the pans until the flour has coated their entire insides. (You'll also be able to see if you missed a spot with the oil. Go back and retouch it, then reflour it.) Dump out any extra flour by tapping the pans gently against the side of the sink to loosen what's excessive. Not too hard or you'll lose too much flour. Just a gentle tap should do it before you tump the excess into the sink.

Put the 5 eggs in a bowl along with 3/4 cup sugar. Bruce used raw, unrefined, unfiltered, fair-trade-certified cane sugar from Wholesome Sweeteners for this one--and boy, did it make a difference: a deeper, richer taste, a wonderful addition to the cake. If you want to find out more about this terrific sugar, check it out here. Definitely real food--no chemicals to process the stuff, no removal of the nutrients that (yes) exist in sugar cane. I'm not saying cake is good for you, but. . . .

Beat the eggs and sugar with mixer (using its whisk attachment if one is available) at medium speed until tripled in volume and velvety, about 8 minutes. Basically, when the beater is turned off and lifted out of the batter, a thick ribbon should pour off the tines, a ribbon that doesn't instantly sink back into the batter.

Beat in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Scrape down and remove the beater(s). Sift in 3/4 cup cake flour by setting a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl, dumping in the flour, and slowly shaking it over the batter.

Why the sifting? To remove any tiny clumps, of course--and to get the flour the consistency of talcum powder so it can be folded into the batter without too much stirring, thus dissolving quickly without getting those glutens stretched out

Fold in the flour with a rubber spatula just until moistened. Now pour in 6 tablespoons untoasted walnut oil and 1/2 tablespoon water. Fold a few times to make sure 1) the oil is uniform in the batter and 2) there are no pockets of white flour remaining, even in the bottom or on the sides of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the two prepared pans. Rap them twice against the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Then bake until lightly browned, set but still a little soft or spongy to the touch, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into one of the layers comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 22 minutes. 

Set the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for a couple minutes, then run a thin knife around the inside rim to loosen the layes and invert them onto the rack, removing the pans. Set a second rack over them and flip the whole thing so that they're now top side up on the second rack. Remove the first rack and continue cooling to room temperature, 1 or 2 hours.

To frost them? Bruce used Seven Minute Frosting, which you can find here.

And the final result? Well, see for yourself. What's that in the center of the cake? A gorgeously decadent candied clementine slice, one from a jar we've had in the fridge since late winter. And how do you make that little jewel? Ah, well, for that, you'll have to wait for an upcoming edition of Fine Cooking magazine where Bruce and I go nuts over these candied babies.

Comments

[Tom]

Sounds like a great recipe, but with five eggs in it, it will definitely something I will have to take a pill for.