Absolutely that would work! I do like the bitterness of a blackberry but I think cherries would be good. I would probably not drizzle extra honey on top during the build tho
This combination of flavors sounds so delicious! I like everything deep and toasty :) Do you believe I could swap the flour for 100% coconut flour since genoise does not need gluten? Or is it a step too far?
There's only one way to find out! With my experience of today's cake I think GF flour would work but as I haven't tested it I can't be 100% sure. I do know that the toasted flour does NOT behave like any thing resembling gluten containing flour. So i imagine it would work!
I've tried to make this genoise twice now, and both times the egg mixture has been stable and remained mostly stable even after I folded the flour in. However, both times the moment I start making the liason batter (even before adding that into the main mixture) is when everything goes south and starts collapsing. The second time I was more careful about folding and temp control but it still fell apart, albeit a little less dramatically. My kitchen has been cold, so room temp has been around 64F/18C for the eggs, and butter has been around 85F/29C--do you think I need to warm up the eggs more or cool the butter down a bit closer to egg temp--or do you think it might be something else?
I really want this to work bc even the failed cakes taste lovely, just completely incorrect texture. Thank you!
Comparing this to your initial genoise recipe, I'm noticing that there is no replacing some of the flour here with cornflour. Is this because the flour is toasted? Would we be wise to toast and use a lower protein flour like cake flour (in Canada), or just go ahead and toast all purpose?
Toasting the flour reminded me of how you make a Asian sweet wheat pudding which is served at the temple. My granny always made it for us when we were kids. You toast the flour to bring out a nutty taste and to cook it off then you add ghee and it’s a rich, warming pudding
This is so incredible! I’ve just made it and wow - every component is so delicious.
With incorporating the burnt honey into the butter for the frosting, do you have any tips? It was so thick and wouldn’t go into the butter so I had to warm it slightly, which then of course melted the butter. I ended up leaning into it and just melting the whole honey butter combo and then setting in the fridge and re-whipping. It’s turned out great but I’m sure there’s a better way!
i'm so excited to get into this kp dispatch as well as the genoise one. i recently made a layer cake using brown butter and toasted ground almonds (layered with homemade cherry compote + white choc buttercream) and while it tasted delish, i thought the cake had ended up a bit dense.
i also had so many questions along the way because i was just doing things without knowing or understanding why; like i didn't know whether it was okay to use the cooled melted butter in the cake recipe or wait for it to properly chill back down into a soft solid (i went for the latter in the end!) so i feel like your last two newsletters are going to be very helpful in revisiting that layer cake with a fresh perspective. plus i'm excited to give this honey and blackberry vibe a go, it sounds heavenly!
i forgot to ask...! do you think it'd be fine to do the full amount of ingredients and cook the cake in 2 x 8in tins, slicing each into 2 layers? i'm never quite sure on sizing up or down with cake tins 😬
I LOVE your newsletter, thank you for explaining your recipe development process so thoroughly!
I've never seen toasted flour in a baked good, but I love its flavor in "Sellou"/"Sfouf", a moroccan ramadan dessert that also features toasted sesame seeds and almonds.
I cannot wait to make this tomorrow. I dropped the ball and didn't make a cake for fathers day today, so I will now be making up for this in the best way! Thanks Nicola
Thank you for explaining why my cream cheese frosting to date has always been so disappointing!! Love the idea of the toasted flour - will definitely be giving this a go.
This looks great! Definitely one for the August Blackberry Glut list 😀
The cream cheese thing drives me BONKERS! I don’t understand at all why we’re not allowed proper block cream cheese like they have in the US - it’s so bizarre. Some entrepreneur could definitely make their millions by importing (or making) it to the U.K.
Do you think cherries would be a good flavour combination with the honey?
Absolutely that would work! I do like the bitterness of a blackberry but I think cherries would be good. I would probably not drizzle extra honey on top during the build tho
I'm going to go for cherries too I think as I have a rather large box of them!
This combination of flavors sounds so delicious! I like everything deep and toasty :) Do you believe I could swap the flour for 100% coconut flour since genoise does not need gluten? Or is it a step too far?
There's only one way to find out! With my experience of today's cake I think GF flour would work but as I haven't tested it I can't be 100% sure. I do know that the toasted flour does NOT behave like any thing resembling gluten containing flour. So i imagine it would work!
Hey Nicola!
I have some questions for troubleshooting!
I've tried to make this genoise twice now, and both times the egg mixture has been stable and remained mostly stable even after I folded the flour in. However, both times the moment I start making the liason batter (even before adding that into the main mixture) is when everything goes south and starts collapsing. The second time I was more careful about folding and temp control but it still fell apart, albeit a little less dramatically. My kitchen has been cold, so room temp has been around 64F/18C for the eggs, and butter has been around 85F/29C--do you think I need to warm up the eggs more or cool the butter down a bit closer to egg temp--or do you think it might be something else?
I really want this to work bc even the failed cakes taste lovely, just completely incorrect texture. Thank you!
Hi Nicola,
Comparing this to your initial genoise recipe, I'm noticing that there is no replacing some of the flour here with cornflour. Is this because the flour is toasted? Would we be wise to toast and use a lower protein flour like cake flour (in Canada), or just go ahead and toast all purpose?
Thank you!
Toasting the flour reminded me of how you make a Asian sweet wheat pudding which is served at the temple. My granny always made it for us when we were kids. You toast the flour to bring out a nutty taste and to cook it off then you add ghee and it’s a rich, warming pudding
This is so incredible! I’ve just made it and wow - every component is so delicious.
With incorporating the burnt honey into the butter for the frosting, do you have any tips? It was so thick and wouldn’t go into the butter so I had to warm it slightly, which then of course melted the butter. I ended up leaning into it and just melting the whole honey butter combo and then setting in the fridge and re-whipping. It’s turned out great but I’m sure there’s a better way!
i'm so excited to get into this kp dispatch as well as the genoise one. i recently made a layer cake using brown butter and toasted ground almonds (layered with homemade cherry compote + white choc buttercream) and while it tasted delish, i thought the cake had ended up a bit dense.
i also had so many questions along the way because i was just doing things without knowing or understanding why; like i didn't know whether it was okay to use the cooled melted butter in the cake recipe or wait for it to properly chill back down into a soft solid (i went for the latter in the end!) so i feel like your last two newsletters are going to be very helpful in revisiting that layer cake with a fresh perspective. plus i'm excited to give this honey and blackberry vibe a go, it sounds heavenly!
i forgot to ask...! do you think it'd be fine to do the full amount of ingredients and cook the cake in 2 x 8in tins, slicing each into 2 layers? i'm never quite sure on sizing up or down with cake tins 😬
I LOVE your newsletter, thank you for explaining your recipe development process so thoroughly!
I've never seen toasted flour in a baked good, but I love its flavor in "Sellou"/"Sfouf", a moroccan ramadan dessert that also features toasted sesame seeds and almonds.
I cannot wait to make this tomorrow. I dropped the ball and didn't make a cake for fathers day today, so I will now be making up for this in the best way! Thanks Nicola
Can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks Nicola 😊
Thank you for explaining why my cream cheese frosting to date has always been so disappointing!! Love the idea of the toasted flour - will definitely be giving this a go.
This looks great! Definitely one for the August Blackberry Glut list 😀
The cream cheese thing drives me BONKERS! I don’t understand at all why we’re not allowed proper block cream cheese like they have in the US - it’s so bizarre. Some entrepreneur could definitely make their millions by importing (or making) it to the U.K.