Genoise part two with the year's hottest tip.

  ​​​​Welcome back, though if you missed yesterday's post I recommend you go back and read it so this will make a lot more sense. At the end of the last post I was explaining that whisking the mix over a pan of simmering water gives a nice thick, creamy mix. I should also mention that you need to be careful to make sure the bowl is above the water but not touching it so you don't accidentally cook the eggs.

  Though you can make the recipe without butter, it adds a lovely richness (as you'll know from recent blog posts) and the hot tip I was telling you about will help you incorporate the butter. If you're a more experienced cook, you may have made recipes that ask you to fold melted butter in to whisked egg yolks and knocked more air out than you wanted.

  It's a real bastard because the densities of the two ingredients are so different. The melted butter sinks to the bottom and you end up knocking a lot of air out of the eggs as you try to very gently force the two incompatible ingredients together. But that struggle will soon become a distant memory as I share this fab tip.

  In the recipe, which I'll post tomorrow in full, you're asked to fold the flour and melted butter into the whisked eggs. Instead of pouring the melted butter into the bowl with the eggs (as I always had done), add a large dollop of the egg (about one scoop of the size of spoon in the picture) into the butter and fold them together. This way you're only knocking the air out of a small amount of the egg and at the same time creating a buttery egg mix that will easily incorporate.

  To be honest, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this before as it seems so obvious in hindsight. There's a ridiculously phenomenal chocolate tart recipe I make that needs a melted butter and chocolate goo folded in to whisked eggs. I can't wait to try it using this little tip as just the thought of making and eating it makes me dizzy with excitement. Come back tomorrow when I'll give you the genoise recipe in full. It's a fantastic and super easy recipe for a towering celebration cake that makes a great centrepiece.

Kirk out

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