This light and airy sponge cake hails from the Italian city of Genoa. Created with no chemical raising agents, the cake’s incredible lightness comes solely from ultra-whipped eggs. Feel free to decorate your Genoise sponge as you choose, but we think it is a perfect way to use up all the delicious fresh raspberries that are being harvested at this time of year. The simple light sponge and cream will perfectly compliment the tangy raspberries - delicious!
30 g/1 /4 stick butter
6 eggs
200 g/1 cup caster/granulated sugar
160 g/scant 1 1/4 cups plain/ all-purpose flour
25 g/1/8 cup cornflour/cornstarch
250 ml/1 cup double/heavy cream, softly whipped
400 g/14 oz. fresh raspberries
icing/confectioners’ sugar, to dust
23-cm/9-inch round loose-bottom or springform cake pan, greased and lined with baking parchment
MAKES 1 LARGE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) Gas 3.
Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
Place the eggs and the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a hand-held electric whisk and large mixing bowl) and beat together on a high speed until trebled in size and a light and creamy colour. This will take about 5 minutes.
Carefully sift the flour and cornflour/ cornstarch onto the egg mixture and slowly fold in using a metal spoon to combine.
Gently fold through the melted butter – you do not want to lose all the air that you have whisked into the eggs at this point, so take your time to combine everything.
Pour the mixture carefully into the prepared cake pan and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until well risen, golden and springy to the touch.
Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then slowly run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Turn it onto a wire rack to cool completely and remove the baking parchment while still warm.
Using a serrated knife, slice horizontally through the middle of the sponge to create two even layers. Spoon the whipped cream onto the bottom layer of the sponge and arrange half of the raspberries in a circular pattern. Place the other layer of the sponge on top, then decorate with the remaining raspberries. Lightly dust with icing/ confectioners’ sugar.
Serve straightaway with a cup of tea or glass of champagne if you wish – delicious!
For more tempting cake recipes check out, LOLA's A Cake Journey Around the World.