Tuesday, February 9, 2010

True Orange Genoise

 

Warning - My pictures turned out very blurry.  I guess something about the lighting was off.  Sorry in advance.  I also apologize for the lateness of my post.

Cake Step 1: Google "Genoise" to find out what the heck it is!

2: Get really nervous about making a cake without leavening.

3: Search for Seville oranges.

4: Abandon search for Seville oranges.

5: Make orange curd.

6: Search for free Triple Sec.

7: Abandon search for free Triple Sec and buy a bottle.

8: Make beurre noisette.


9: Make genoise - Yum, by the way!  My cake was much less than two inches, but it still tasted good.

10: Make ganache - used my newly acquired Scharffen berger.

11: Try Triple Sec - VERY sweet, but still good.

12: Make orange syrup.

13: Cut off crusts and then cut cake in half (badly).

14: Eat crusts.

15: Brush with orange syrup.

16: Spread ganache (poorly).

17: Eat at Super Bowl party!  These are the happy guests.

18: Eat again next day - Much better in my opinion.  The flavors seemed to mellow.

Time: one evening, one morning and one afternoon.  I would say this cake probably took at least 5 hours of active baking.  That does not include all the time spent running around looking for Seville oranges!  I'm sure it can be done quicker, but I'm very slow.

I didn't love the cake.  The orange/chocolate flavors were so strong, I couldn't taste the cake (my favorite part!).  It was good and my party guests raved.  I've never made a cake or even a dinner with this many steps!  Wow.  It was definitely an experience.  I know there are a lot of complicated cakes in this book and I have faith the results will be somewhere between good and great.  But I'm not sure if I'll make this cake again.  I wonder if the Seville oranges make the difference as it looks like most of the bloggers absolutely loved this cake.  I recently saw the substitution suggested with limes and I find that interesting, as well.  I used the suggestion in the book and cheated with Simple Orange juice.

I did like the chili I also made on Sunday!

7 comments:

  1. Love your post! And no.. you are not alone. For that long in the kitchen, I expect drop dead breathtaking results. I would have been just as happy with the curd on toast. Boy, that curd..wonderful!

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  2. I love the photo of the cake devourers. They look very very pleased with your cake!

    Your cake looked great. And yes, the seville orange curd was really different to plain OJ curd. More tart. I think Vicki made it every which way, and her comments are on the "this cake/last cake post" from last week.

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  3. I love your step-by-step post.. your are funny!

    And at the end, or guest are the ones that should like it right?

    I agree with you, the book is totally taking me out of my baking comfort zone, but I'm liking it.

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  4. Glad you and your guests enjoyed it, even though it's not an instant favorite!

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  5. Personally, I'm not a fan of chocolate and orange together, so I didn't try very hard to find the Sevilles. Btw, I really like your "steps". Very funny!

    :)
    ButterYum

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  6. Loved the commentary for each step on your post. :) And your chili looks delicious too. :)

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