This time I did a genoise sponge in a tray-bake tin, and used blackcurrant jam as a filling, then topped it with white chocolate. I broke one of my own rules (never coat a cake with chocolate) as I didn't have any cream to make a ganache...novice! The balance of the genoise was off a bit, as I wasn't sure if I should reduce the flour to allow for the blitzed pistachio. I probably put too much dry ingredient into the sponge, and it was a little dry.
So, I'll do this again (proably for work next time), with the following changes;
1) Less dry ingredients...I'll reduce the flour, as I really want it to be a pistachio sponge mainly
2) Ganache the chocolate
3) Possibly a bit more blackcurrant...it's a really nice tart contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate
4) Try and get the pistachio to a finer grade, or find ground pistachio
Pistachio and Blackcurrant Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 200'C
- Grease and line a swiss-roll tin with baking parchment
Genoise Sponge Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 100g caster sugar
- 100g self-raising flour
- 100g pistachio kernels
- 40g butter (melted, and allowed to cool)
2) Whisk the eggs and sugar over the heat until it is thick, creamy, and leaves a trail when the whisks are removed (you really need an electric hand-whisk for this, it takes 7-8 minutes)3) Sieve the flour into a bowl
4) Put the pistachio kernels into a food processor, and blitz to a fine powder
5) Mix the blitzed nuts and flour together6) Gently fold the flour and nuts into the egg mixture, taking care to keep as much air in the mixture as possible. Stop folding once combined, and any dry pockets have been removed
7) Pour the cool melted butter around the edge of the bowl, and fold in carefully
8) Pour the batter into the swiss roll tin, and carefully tilt to get the batter into the corners
9) Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes. it's done when it springs back in teh middle when you pres gently on it.
10) Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Assembly
- 100g white chocolate
- 3-4tbsp blackcurrant jam
- Blitzed Pistachio (to decorate)
Note - I did this by melting 2/3rds of it carefully, then stirring in the final 1/3rd. This cools the mixture down. Do the microwave in short bursts, stirring after each burst to dissipate hot spots
2) Cut the sponge in half, to form 2 equal-sized rectangles
3) Spread one rectangle with the jam, getting it all the way to the edge
4) Form a sandwich, with the jam in the middle5) Coat the top of the cake with the white chocolate
6) Sprinkle the top with the blitzed pistachio
7) Allow the chocolate to set before slicing.