I love the summer schedule; I teach some nights, some days, and have other nights, other days off. It’s perfect. Because the students will come over a year’s time, it also takes the pressure off from having to do everything now. I have also had time to go back into older notes, research menus from the days at Le Trou, my restaurant in San Francisco. This week I presented this little cake, called Beau Tenebreux, that my notes indicate originated from a book called The Normal Table. The cake is easy to make, light as angel cake, and the perfect accompaniment for incomparable summer fruit we’re beginning to discover in our farmer’s markets or back yards.
The construct for making Genoise, a cake whose only leavening is beaten eggs, is easy to internalize. Ribbon eggs and sugar; that ensures that the sugar will be dissolved, and that the egg protein will be strengthened enough to carry the weight of the flour. Fold in flour and bake.
We put the batter in a round cake pan, but could as easily have filled a sheet pan and made a jelly roll. In either case, you have cake in no time. Adding to the ease of preparing such cakes is a good mixer which causes the ribboning to happen in a matter of minutes. I love telling students, “You can knock out a cake in 5 minutes. There’s no reason ever not to have cake.”
The version of Genoise that follows calls for the normal ribboning eggs and sugar. The flour mixture is a bit different, a blend of flour and corn starch that produces a cake truly light as air. We baked it in a round cake pan in for about 30 minutes.
Once done, we simply whipped cream, added a bit of confectioner’s sugar, sliced the cake horizontally, and slathered the cream in the middle. Next we arranged a layer of strawberries on top of the cream, and finally replaced the top of the cake. It was dusted with powdered sugar for cosmetic reasons. I poured a little red wine onto the strawberries remaining in the bowl, along with a tablespoon of orange marmalade for additional interest, and garnished each slice with juicy strawberries.
BEAU TENEBREUX (Norman Table)
This is a cake that will take to any berries. Since the stone fruit are on their way, by the time you master this little cake, you’ll be ready for a filling of peaches and cream.
unsalted butter for the cake pan
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
4 large eggs
4 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp flour
Filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp Calvados
powdered sugar
Butter and flour cake pan. Preheat oven to 325oF.
Beat sugar and eggs together till they ribbon. Sift together flour and cornstarch, add to base and fold into mixture. Pour batter into pan and bake 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then on cake rack.
When cool, slice 1/4 inch off the top and set aside.
To make the filling, whip the cream, sugar and calvados to soft peak. Spoon cream evenly, then top with a layer of fruit. Replace top and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Use any leftover berries as a garnish on each plate.
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