WHAT IS A GENOISE SPONGE RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Brush 2 x 20cm cake tins with melted butter, line the bases with baking paper, then dust well with flour tipping out any excess. Set aside.
• Put the sugar and eggs in a large heatproof bowl, then set it over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk with an electric hand whisk for about 7 mins or until the mixture is pale and has trebled in volume. Remove from the heat, then slowly pour in the butter folding it in as you pour until it is completely mixed in.
• Gently fold the flour and a pinch of salt into the egg mixture, then pour into your prepared cake tins. Cook for 25 mins until the cake is golden and risen – a skewer pushed into the cake should come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for a few mins in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then set aside. Whizz about a quarter of the strawberries with 1 tbsp sugar until smooth, then fold this purée through the cream so you get a ripple effect.
• To assemble the cakes, cut each one in half horizontally. Put one sponge on a serving plate, spread a quarter of the cream mix on top, then dot a quarter of the blueberries and raspberries around the edge. Repeat this step two more times, put the last layer of cake on top (save a top half of cake for the top layer), spread the remaining cream over, then put the blueberries and raspberries around the edge and pile the strawberries in the centre. Dust with icing sugar just before you serve.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
• Half-fill a saucepan with water, bring to the boil, then take off the heat. Meanwhile break the eggs into a large heatproof bowl and add the sugar. Set the bowl over the pan so it’s not touching the water. Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric hand mixer for 3-5 minutes until light, mousse-like and doubled in size.
• Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk more until cooled and the ribbon stage is reached. To test for this, turn off the mixer, lift out the whisks and let the mixture fall back in. It should fall in a ribbon-like trail and hold itself there for a few seconds before sinking back in. If not, whisk more, then repeat.
• Carefully pour the melted butter around the edge of the mixture, keeping the white milk solids in the pan (discard these). As you pour the butter, start gently folding it in using a balloon whisk, lifting and folding the mixture in a figure-of-eight motion but NOT beating or whisking it. Continue until there are no traces of butter left.
• Sift the flour over the cake mixture with a pinch of salt. Fold in as above, being as light and gentle as possible, until no traces of flour are visible.
• Carefully pour the mix into the tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cake has shrunken slightly from the sides and the top springs back when pressed lightly. Cool in the tin for a few minutes on a rack, then remove from the tin, peel off the paper and cool completely on the rack.
• For the syrup, gently heat the sugar, lemon zest and juice in a pan with 75ml cold water to dissolve the sugar. Bubble briefly until lightly syrupy, then cool slightly. Prick the top of the cake all over, then spoon the syrup evenly over it.
• Put the syllabub ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to pillowy peaks – the mix should be firm but not stiff. Taste and add more sugar if need be. When the cake is completely cool, put on a platter and top with the syllabub. Decorate with fresh summer fruit.