For the genoise, I sifted flour and cocoa together, whisked together eggs and sugar over simmering water, and then used an electric beater on the eggs for fifteen minutes. During this time, JW fled downstairs to play video games and get away from the noise. I mixed everything up and stuck it in the oven. Not half as hard as I thought it would be.
I was feeling pretty confident -- all I had to do was fill and frost the cake. I cut it in half vertically and horizontally, so I had a four-layer half-cake. (I halved the recipe for the test cake. And to be honest, I had JW slice it horizontally because I am incapable of cutting in a straight line.) I brushed the layers with Chambord. I topped the first and third layers with chocolate cream, and the second with fresh raspberries and Frangelico-spiked whipped cream.
By the time I got to the top layer, the bottom layers were starting to slide around. A few things went wrong: the kitchen was too warm, I hadn't whipped the cream stiff enough, and the half-cake wasn't very stable. So by the end, I was attempting to hold the bottom layers in place and somehow keep the various layers of cream from squeezing out the sides. Finally I gave up and slathered on whipped cream until you could no longer see the melting cake.
Behold the Mound of Cream, before and after:
Even after creating the Mound, I had about two cups of cream left over. I ate as much as I could, and then had the idea of mixing the rest together with the leftover chocolate and Chambord and putting it all in the ice cream machine. The result didn't have the greatest texture (it wasn't quite ice cream, after all -- no milk, no eggs), but it tasted good. Eating an entire cup of whipped cream isn't bad for you, is it?
I might try another test cake; I'm not sure I can pull this one off, considering how far it has to travel. It has to go on a four hour car ride and then wait a day before being eaten. The Persian Love Cake from Epicurious looks intriguing, but that has a whipped cream frosting too. Anybody have a cake recipe that tastes great, looks impressive, travels well, and can be made a day or two in advance? It's a tall order.
Update: YUM! I'm usually not completely satisfied with things I bake, but this was SO GOOD. I think the day in the fridge improved the cake; the layers were more compact than I expected given the creamy mess when I put it together, and the chocolate cream layers sort of melted into the cake. This is the birthday cake. I'm going to chill the whipped cream before frosting the cake to make it more manageable, and here is my brilliant idea: I'll assemble the cake in a springform pan. That way it will stay together, and to transport it I'll just put plastic wrap over the top. (I don't have a covered cake plate.) I'll bring a container of whipped cream and keep it in the fridge. It should keep for one day. When it's time to eat the cake, I'll just frost the sides quickly.
Mmm... genoise! With lots of booze!
