Cream Cake with Sour Cherries and Almond Genoise

Posted on by DVarb

This is my family’s favorite cake, that I created many years ago. Sometimes, when the creative muse strikes or I want to surprise my friends or family, I create variations of it like using chocolate mouse instead of vanilla cream. This version, however, remains the all-time favorite layered cream cake of my family and friends and it has ruined many diets through the years 😉

Cream cake with sour cherries and almond genoise

  • Servings: 12-16
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

Ingredients

Almond Genoise

  • 5 large eggs (whole) at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar (can be replaced with brown sugar)
  • 1 cup bread flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp citric acid powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp warm water
  • 1 cup finely ground unsalted baked almonds. ( I always buy raw almonds and bake them in the microwave before I make the genoise)
  • 1 tsp bitter almond extract

Whipping Cream

  • 750 ml whipping cream 35% fat (I use the Nelson Whipping Cream)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla exctract

Other

  • 1 jar (approx 1 liter) sour cherries compote. Take the cherries out carefully and let them drain fully on kitchen paper. Keep the compote juice to moisten the genoise with it.
  • 5-7 tbsp sour cherries or raspberries jam.

Directions

Bake the genoise layers

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
  2. Cover 2 baking pans (i.e. cookie pans) with parchment paper. Make sure the sides of the sheet are covered as well, since the genoise will rise and we do not want it to stick to the sides of the baking sheet.
  3. In an secondary bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda and the citric acid powder.
  4. In the main bowl, beat the eggs (egg yolks and egg whites together) with a mixer at maximum speed. Add the sugar and continue beating them until they turn opaque yellow-white and the mixtures has at least doubled in size.
  5. Stop the mixer and add gently the flour mixture (flour, soda, citric acid). Gently fold the flour into the eggs with a spoon. Do not use mixer from this point on, as it will only deflate the batter!
  6. Add the finely ground almonds and gently incorporate as well. At this time the batter will appear thick.
  7. Add the warm water and gently mix it in. The water will invigorate the chemical reaction between the baking soda and citric acid and will create big air bubbles in our butter, which will make our genoise light and fluffy. Do not overmix!
  8.  Split this batter into 2 equal parts. These are now the 2 genoise layers of the cake.
  9. Pour each part into one of the baking pans.
  10. Bake each genoise layer at 350F/180C until golden. You can make the toothpick test.
  11. Take the layers out of the oven when they are baked, turn on a cooling rack and remove the parchment paper.
  12. Let the genoise cool completely.

Whip the cream

  1. Add the sugar and vanilla extract to the whipping cream
  2. Whip the cream with a mixer at high speed until very stiff. This will ensure that you can work with it with ease and the final decorating will be a breeze.

Put together the cake

  1.  Cut each genoise layer in half. This way we get 4 cake layers
  2. Put the first genoise on the plate/serving dish where you will have the complete cake.
  3. With a tablespoon pour a little from the sour cherries compote juice over it. Do not soak the layer, but make sure the whole surface got a little moisture! If you put too much juice, the genoise will become mushy and the cake will be ruined!
  4. Spread some ( about 1/5th of the cream) of the whipped cream over the moistened genoise. The cream should be approx. half inch thick.
  5. Put another genoise layer on top.
  6. Moisten it with a bit of sour cherries juice.
  7. Spread the jam thinly over the layer.
  8. Spread the well-drained sour cherries over the genoise layer.
  9. Spread another 1/5th of the whipping cream.
  10. Put another genoise layer on top.
  11. Moisten it with sour cherries juice
  12. Spread whipping cream.
  13. Put the last genoise layer.
  14. Moisten it with the sour cherries juice.
  15. Spread a thin layer of whipping cream. Make it nicely even on top.
  16. Cover the sides of the cake with a thin layer of whipping cream and make the walls nicely even.
  17. Decorate the top of the cake as you like.

Leave a comment