From Failure to Success

One of the technician's in our lab recently had a birthday so I decided to make him a birthday cake at the last minute. I had a recipe for a filled genoise cake that looked super yummy so I started mixing and baking. A genoise cake has no leavener (baking soda or baking powder) so all of the volume comes from gently heating and then whipping your eggs until they are really fluffy. My batter turned out perfect and when I put my cake into the oven the batter was at the top of the pan. After 28 minutes in the oven I was so excited to see the results...




As you can see, the cake didn't do too well! This is the third time I have made a genoise and I have never had one work. If any one out there has advice for a genoise, please send your comments my way.

For my second try, I made a simple sour cream vanilla cake. I sliced off a little of the top and then hollowed out the middle.

I filled the cake with strawberry and cream cheese/whipping cream.

I put the top back on to hide the yummy filling!

And then topped it with more of the cream cheese/whipping cream mixture. I sprinkled on some of the cake I hollowed out from the middle and topped it with a strawberry. The result...a deliciously light and refreshing summer cake!