Genoise?
October 1st, 2006 | by Loretta |Genoise is a cake that originated from Genoa. It’s a foam cake the has no leaveners except for eggs. And perhaps the fancy name alone is an indication that I should not have chosen to make a basic genoise for my first serious cake attempt.
Cakes from scratch has always been a game of chance– I never have the same security of knowing it’ll turn out fine as I do when I make cookies or even brownies (though brownies have been having some cake issues lately.)
Ok. Anyway. Here’s what I think went wrong. I followed the directions, but I overbeated the eggs. Thus, I deflated them. And maybe incorporating the flour by sifting it into the batter rather than sprinkling it with a spoon might also reduce any unnecessary deflation. I think, however, the biggest culprit is inappropriate pan size. 
Genoise should not look like a surface covered with toasted coconut, which is really egg protein forming a really nice crust. Nope. Crust should be an even golden color. That’s smooth.
It also should not be thin (and wouldn’t be if you use the right sized pans.) Also, there should be a good emulsion in the batter to keep the batter and eggs suspended together rather than allow them to separate.
Moral of this story? When genoise fails, you basically get a thick, giant crepe.