Cake

It was my sister's 24th birthday yesterday and these days I prefer to make the cakes myself, so I made a chocolate cake, 1st layer: raspberries and whipped cream, 2nd layer whipped cream, 3rd layer more raspberries and whipped cream. The cake was a chocolate genoise (with Green & Black's dutch processed cocoa powder, aka cocoa powder processed with alkali. Most cocoa powders aren't even labelled Dutch process, so it's best to check the ingredients list for cocoa powder processed with alkali. Green & Black's isn't that good, I think... It's a lot like natural, but that's all they had at the Cupertino Whole Foods...alas, they didn't have that precious European red box, who's name escapes me now, like they do in NY), which is an unleavened cake; it gets its volume from beaten (and beaten and beaten to soft peaks) whole eggs. Only three tablespoons of [clarified] butter in the whole thing, and soo good.. I used a pint of cream whipped to soft peaks. I tried to beat that cream by hand, but it took way too long. I was beating for 10 minutes, probably, until I gave up and used my mixer. Why do I beat by hand? ...eh...good exercise, I suppose?... and I think It's kind of fun.. I beat the eggs by hand :> I am looking forward to a very large right bicep. Anyways, the cake was soaked in a Grand Marnier sugar syrup (didn't have any Framboise like the recipe called for, but t'was a good substitute) and layered up. The cake was supposed to be baked in just one pan, but I made the mistake of baking it in two (like I did with my mother's birthday cake...), but I just sliced them in half and we had four layers of cake; no big deal; I just had to use my whipped cream sparingly. Anyhooze, it was a delicious cake and everyone should give genoise a try. It's a little bit delicate to make, but it is a goodie that few, if any, bakeries these days sell.

-Patricia