I use this chocolate genoise sponge cake to make Black Forest Gateau. It takes some skill to make but definitely worth making. Genoise sponge cakes are light and fluffy and go really well with a light filling, e.g chocolate mousse between the layers.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 200 grams caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 65 grams hot melted unsalted butter
• 90 grams self raising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 45 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Butter three, 20 cm round cake tins and line the bottom of the tins with baking paper then butter and flour the sides and the baking paper.
• Put the flour, salt and cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk together.
• Put a pot of water on a stove and let it simmer.
• Then put your eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl and then place the bowl on top of the pot without it touching the bottom of the pot and also not letting the simmering water touch the bowl. Whisk this until the mixture is lukewarm
• Remove from heat and pour the egg and sugar mixture into the bowl of your electric mixer or use an electric hand mixer. Beat on high speed until the mixture is thick, the batter will fall back into the bowl in a ribbon-like pattern).
  Add the vanilla extract and keep whisking.
• Then sift about one-third of the flour mixture over the egg mixture and gently fold in using a rubber spatula or whisk. Sift and fold in another third, and then fold in the rest. Take 1 cup of the batter and fold it into the melted butter. Then gently fold it into the egg batter. Divide the mixture between the three prepared cake tins smoothing the top. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
• Leave the cakes in the cake tins for about 5 minutes and then remove from the tins and put them on a cooling rack to cool completely.