Chocolate Genoise Cake

3 minute read

Updated:

I used Joy of Baking recipe. The recipe is designed for 9” round cake pan.

If using 6” pyrex round bowls, I would recommend halving the recipe. I used 2/3 and the layers and resulting cake ended up quite tall (~3 inches).

Genoise

Recipe

Ingredient Baker’s Percentage Amount for 4 eggs (2/3)
Flour 100% 60
Cocoa 50% 30
Salt 2.5% 1.6
Eggs 333% 200 (4 eggs)
Sugar 220% 133
Vanilla Extract 6% 4 g
Melted Butter 66% 40 g

Technique

  1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
  2. Grease two 6” pans. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment.
  3. Sift together flour, cocoa, and salt. Sifting is important, this will allow the dry ingredients to be folded in to batter with minimal movement. Set aside for later.
  4. Whisk egg and sugar together over a bain-marie.
  5. Heat the mixture until 45C. Gently whisk the mixture to ensure it heats evenly and doesn’t scramble.
  6. Whisk the heated mixture until it forms ribbons. The batter will be very airy.
  7. Mix in vanilla extract.
  8. Sift 1/3 of dry ingredients and fold in. Repeat with 2 more times. Try to minimize excessive mixing and deflating of the batter.
  9. Mix 1/4 of the batter into melted butter.
  10. Mix the butter mixture back into batter and fold in.
  11. Split batter among two pans. This will be ~220 g.
  12. Bake cake until toothpick comes out clean. This will be internal temp of ~195F.
  13. Cool cake completely in pan.

Soaking Syrup

Soaking Syrup - Recipe

I used coffee and sugar to make a simple syrup.

  • 60 g water
  • 60 g sugar

Unfortunately, I only used 2/3 of the syrup because I was worried it would be soggy. And I only soaked one surface.

Soaking Syrup - Technique

  1. Bring water and sugar to a boil.
  2. Boil for a minute or until the sugar fully dissolves.
  3. Let cool to room temperature.
  4. Mix in additional flavourings or fruit juices, if desired.

Mousse

Mousse - Recipe

  • 100 g semi-sweet chocolate
  • 160 g heavy cream
  • 10 g sugar

Mousse - Technique

  1. Melt chocolate over bain-marie.
  2. Whisk cream and sugar to soft peaks.
  3. Whisk 1/3 of whipped cream into chocolate, to lighten the mixture. Quickly mix to avoid chocolate seizing.
  4. Repeat two more times.
  5. If keeping in fridge, be sure to let the mousse warm up and soften. This will make it easier for frosting.

Ganache

Ganache - Recipe

  • 100 g semi-sweet chocolate
  • 80 g heavy cream
  • 10 g butter

Ganache - Technique

  1. Bring cream to a boil.
  2. Pour over top of chocolate.
  3. Gently stir until the chocolate is melted and mixed. Let the heat melt the chocolate if needed.

As the ganache cools, it will thicken. Microwave in small bursts to melt the mixture. The ganache should “coat back of spoon” runniness. This will make it spread more evenly and get a super-smooth ganache topping.

When heated cream is added to chocolate, we want to only melt the chocolate. Avoid whisking and introducing air bubbles. Bubbles will affect the smoothness of the ganache.

Assembly

  1. Soak the cake with syrup. Can brush it on or spoon it on. It will seem like a liquid but the cake can hold a lot of moisture.
  2. Pipe or spread the mousse onto top of layer. Ensure it’s evenly spread out and overhangs all around.
  3. Place top layer on, centering as needed.
  4. Smooth the sides. Use the overhanging mousse to cover the gap in between layers.
  5. Refrigerate the cake.
  6. Place cake on rack over a pan.
  7. Pour ganache on top. Use spatula to coax the ganache over the edge.
  8. Cool in fridge for 30 minutes to set the ganache.

When serving, let the cake or slice warm up. This will soften the cake and mousse.