Chocolate Genoise Cake:
6 Large Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
4 Tbs. Butter, (melted)
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/3 Cup Hot Water
1 tsp.Vanilla Extract
¾ Cup Cake Flour
METHOD:
Make the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a sheet of parchment paper onto a 12 ½ -x-171/2-inch jelly roll pan. Spray lightly with oil.
Sift the cake flour three times to aerate.
In a heat-proof bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Set the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water and whisk constantly until mixture is warm to the touch. Remove bowl from
the heat and beat with hand or stand mixer on high, until the mixture is light-colored and has tripled in volume. It will resemble the consistency of softly whipped cream (about 3 to 5 minutes in
a heavy-duty mixer with whisk attachment, about 15 minutes with hand mixer). On low speed, stream the warm butter into the batter and mix until incorporated.
Combine the cocoa powder, hot water and vanilla in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Fold the cocoa mixture into the egg foam with a whisk. Fold in half the flour and mix lightly. Add the
remaining flour and mix just until incorporated. Pour onto the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed.
Remove from the oven and immediately cover with tin foil. Place the pan on a rack and allow to cool.
Filling:
1 Cup Whipping Cream
1 8 ounce container Mascarpone Cheese
2 Tbs. Powder Sugar
METHOD:
Whisk the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Add the powder Sugar. Carefully fold mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream until well-blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to fill the cake.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
4 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate
4 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate
4 ounces Unsalted Butter, (softened)
½ Cup Powder Sugar
METHOD:
Finely chop the chocolates into ¼ -inch pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with the butter. Heat in the microwave on low power until the mixture is melted. Sift the powder sugar into the chocolate and slowly mix until all the powder sugar is absorbed.
To Assemble:
Turn the cake out onto a large piece of parchment paper. Spread the whip cream filling over the cake and use the paper to roll the cake into a log. Transfer to a sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
To finish the cake, remove from the refrigerator and unwrap from the parchment paper. Trim one end of the roll on a bias and place cut side up on the log to form a branch. Transfer the log to a serving plate and coat with the frosting. Decorate with meringue mushrooms and powder sugar.
Meringue Mushrooms:
2 Egg Whites
¼ tsp. Cream of Tartar
½ Cup plus 1 Tbs. Superfine Sugar
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. Add in cream of tartar and beat at medium speed. Gradually ad in 2 tablespoons of the superfine sugar. When soft peaks form, add another tablespoon of superfine sugar, increase speed to high.
When stiff peaks from, gradually beat in remaining sugar until very stiff and glossy.
Piping Instructions:
Fit a pastry bag with a #3 or small round tip. Fit a separate piping bag with ½” round decorating tip. The #3 will be used to attach stems to the caps, while the ½” tip is used to pipe the caps and stems.
Fill the pastry bag with the smaller tip with about ¼ cup of the meringue. Set aside. Fill the other pastry bag with the remaining meringue mixture.
Line a baking sheet with nonstick liner or parchment paper. Glue down corners of parchment with little drops of meringue.
To make the Caps:
Hold the bag upright with the tube slightly above the baking sheet. Squeeze with steady, even pressure, raising the tip as the meringue begins to build up. The trick is to keep the tip buried in the meringue. When nicely rounded, release pressure as you raise the bag and “cut” sideways with the tip. Any small tails can be carefully pressed down with your finger, dipped in a little water.
To make the Stems:
Hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet with the tip touching it. Squeeze with heavy pressure, keeping the tip buried in the meringue, raising the bag slowly until a ¾” high cone is made. Be sure to make the base wide enough so that the mushrooms won’t topple over.
Bake at 200 degrees for 45 minutes. With the point of a sharp knife, make a tiny hole in the undersides of the caps. Use the pastry bag with the smaller tip to pipe a tiny dab of the meringue in the hole and attach the stem to the cap. Place mushrooms, caps down on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 170 and bake another hour. Turn oven off leaving mushrooms inside to dry out overnight. Store in an airtight container.
Notes: It is very difficult to make good meringue on humid days as the moisture in the air will make the meringue forms get very sticky and crack. Meringues can keep up to 6 months in an airtight container. If you don’t have superfine sugar, process granulated sugar in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. When working with meringue, keep all utensils, pastry bags, tips etc., absolutely grease free.
