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a first grade teacher

Sunday, February 7, 2010

HCB making: True Orange Genoise

Here I am, gladly entering my first posting in HCB, although I baked several cakes from Rose's Heavenly Cakes in the past.
To paraphrase what Rose meant by "true orange" is the use of actual Seville oranges, the intense sourness of those oranges is served to win over the chocolate flavor which always dominates. I totally agree based on what I heard and read about the Seville oranges.
Not knowing that it would be a  challenge to find the recommended kind of oranges to be used, I waited till the last three days to realize that it's impossible to make "La vraie genoise d'oranges avec les oranges de Seville". Plainly but deliciously, my last resort was to make the cake with Navel oranges which I had sittting on my kitchen's counter anyway.

  • Starting point: Friday afternoon when I made la Genoise, using the preferred beurre noisette, I added a hint of orange pineapple flavor in combination with vanilla extract, also I added a pinch of salt to the foamy batter. Ma genoise was baked in about 27 minutes; after it was cooled down, I sealed it with the plastic film and put it on the top of  the fridge (in lieu of in the fridge). As soon as I turned off the oven I threw those Navel orange slices in there to dry out and get nice and crispy.
  • Next: I made the orange curd for the first time; the results were very satisfying, I really liked the orange zest flavor which camouflaged that eggy taste. I skipped straining the curd (with no noticeable impact on its quality) and I doubled the quantity of the orange zest (used 16 grams) for more zesty sensation on the palates..(in my case the sensation was in my throat :))
  • Saturday morning I made the dark Ganache using 72% cacao dark chocolate, when I tasted the ganache, it was leaning on the bitter side so I added 1 1/2 tbs of heavy cream + 1 tbs of sugar. Soon after, I made the syrup using exclusively Navel orange juice and sugar.
  • Sunday afternoon which marked the event of assembling, finalizing,and eating the cake. I used the bottom of the cake as a top for smoother glazing; I had some problems with the syrup not being sufficient, as I completely forgot about adding 1/4 of cup of additional orange juice as a sub for triple sec (can't consume any forms of liquor) the cake was a bit dry, but tasted goooooooood.:)

Fun Fact:
 I never imagined that freshly squeezed juice, if concentrated and reduced to a thicker consistency will generate a totally strong and tart flavor. After boiling the orange juice in the microwave, I hated to waste the highly concentrated vitamin C sticking on the sides of the bowl , I scraped it down with a small spoon and ate it (yummy) despite its high acidity, it's supposed to be good for you skin :)) don't you agree?

La Genoise after last night's dinner
Hubby asked for a second piece:) yeah!!
I liked this picture :)
I sandwiched both halves of the cake with the curd for an even look
La genoise sans ganache drizzle.
From a slice perspective.
Soon after putting the choc. glaze, I had to compare /contrast my cake's look with Rose's cake picture for quality control

11 comments:

Hanaâ said...

You are now officially a Heavenly Cake Baker! Congratulations! :o)
Your cake looks great. Love the chocolate drizzle on top. I’m very impressed at the dried orange slices that you made for the cake. They look exactly like the picture in the book. I’m glad the family liked it. Thanks for bringing over a slice yesterday. Hubby liked it. I had another bit after you left and paid more attention to the cake. It was indeed a bit dry. Now that I read your post, I know why (you were missing a ¼ cup of syrup). I saved you a slice of each cake. Will try to bring it over tonight, if the snow lights up a bit.

Gartblue said...

yay!

congrats on making the list. and i love the drizzle too .. like hanaa .. by the time I wanted to do the drizzle, mine has firmed enough and if I tried to drizzle, i'll be plonking instead. hahah

gartblue

faithy said...

Welcome! :) Your cake looks amazing!

Lois B said...

Welcome, Wafae! Beautiful looking cake!

Vicki said...

Lovely! What a good idea putting orange curd on both halves. And thank you for the Seville orange history. They are an amazing fruit.
Look forward to seeing more of your cakes.

NancyB said...

Beautiful cake! The orange-pineapple flavoring sounds very intriguing, if it wasn't overwhelmed by the strong Seville orange curd. Did you think it made a difference?

Wafae said...

Nancy,
Good question:) I could taste a hint of the orange-pineapple flavoring if I eat the cake without the curd. as for my curd and syrup, I didn't use Seville oranges, so it wasn't as strong.

Nicola said...

Welcome to the group.

Your cake looked great. A shame that it was a bit dry. It is a thirsty cake and really does benefit from all that syrup.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Whoo-hoo - welcome to the group! I'm looking so forward to following your blog!

Your cake looks wonderful - so glad it was a hit.

:)
ButterYum

~ ~ Ahrisha ~ ~ said...

Your cake looks amazing! I have got to get this book. Wish I had an invite to the birthday party you outdid yourself. Sweet little cake too. It's nice to meet you.

Jill @ Jillicious Discoveries said...

Wafae--thank you for your comment over at my blog and welcome to the HCB as well! :) Your cake looks beautiful and just like the picture in the book! Well done! :)