Sometimes the occasion is so special that you just want to undertake a homemade cake from scratch.  It’s my boss’s birthday today and I’ve been selected to make his birthday cake.  So Tony, this gateau is for you…you love chocolate, strawberries and cake….many happy bites!  Don’t forget to take a piece home for your new bride:)

Genoise batter is perhaps a wee bit time-consuming, but well worth the effort.  It is like a blank slate…it can give you the flavor profile you need for the dessert you are making…whether its a fancy trifle, or charlotte russe, or a layered birthday cake.  Often this is accomplished by soaking in a flavored sugar syrup, or sprinkling with your favorite liqueur, or in this case, folding in grated orange peel.

Here I am making an orange genoise to put together a two-layered birthday cake.  I have grated orange peel frozen from past baking.  So, not only will this Gateau Anthony be fragrant with orange scent, but I am also sprinkling Grand Marnier liqueur over each genoise layer, to enrich the flavor experience.

Next I will fold together a fresh strawberry mousse to use as a filling between the layers.  Then I will frost it with a white chocolate mousse.  Lastly, I am surrounding the perimeter of the gateau with crisp ladyfingers that I made earlier in the week and stored in the freezer (recipe under Cookies).  The grand finale will be decorating the smooth top of the gateau with white chocolate dipped ripe strawberries, and tying it all together with a red ribbon.  C’est magnifique!  This makes for a stunning presentation and hopefully many happy birthday memories!

Gateau Anthony

Ingredients:

• 4 whole large eggs
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cup cake flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
• 1 tablespoon grated orange rind

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour 2  9 inch pans.

Into a large, heat-resistant bowl of a stand-mixer, place all the eggs, yolks, sugar and salt and whisk together.  Place bowl over a barely simmering pot of water (taking care not to allow water to touch the bottom of the bowl).

Whisking the whole time, allow the egg mixture to reach 130 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Remove the bowl from the double-boiler, and using a whisk attachment, beat the mixture for 5 minutes on medium speed.

The batter will triple in volume as it cools, turn very pale yellow, and when you lift the beater out of the batter, it will slowwwwwwly ribbon down into the batter.  The bowl will be cool to the touch.

Sift 1/3 of the flour over the batter, and gently fold in with a spatula…when the flour is not quite incorporated, sift the next 1/3 over the batter and continue to fold.  Repeat with the remaining 1/3 of the flour…and just before you see the flour is fully incorporated, drizzle the cooled butter over the surface, sprinkle the grated orange peel in, and fold only until incorporated, but not deflated.  Pour into 2  9 inch pans.  Spread evenly and rap lightly on the counter to burst any air bubbles.

Bake for 30 minutes until the center of the cake springs back from your light touch and the sides are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the cake layers from the pans to a cooling rack.

Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped ripe strawberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup heavy cream

Soften the gelatin by sprinkling over 1/4 cup of water.  Process the strawberries with the sugar in a food processor until fairly smooth.

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of the strawberries to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin mixture.  Stir until gelatin is dissolved.  Add remaining cup of strawberries and stir to combine.  Cover and refrigerate until consistency of raw egg white, stirring occasionally.  This may take 30 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, whip cream over low speed until foamy.  Increase speed to medium high and beat until soft peaks form.

Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture until well blended.  Cover and chill again until mousse is thick enough to hold its shape when mounded, but not solid.

To assemble Gateau Anthony:

Using a springform 9 inch cake pan, lay one layer of genoise on bottom.  Sprinkle with Grand Marnier.  Spread with strawberry mousse.  Add second layer of genoise over mousse, and sprinkle with Grand Marnier.  Cover tightly and refrigerate to set the mousse.

White Chocolate Mousse Frosting

Ingredients:

• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 lb white chocolate

In a food processor, finely chop the white chocolate.  Heat 1 cup of heavy cream in a small saucepan to a boil.  Pour the hot cream through the feed tube of the processor while the machine is running.  Process the mixture until smooth, about 20 seconds.

Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until it is completely cold and has started to thicken, stirring occasionally….45 minutes.

In a chilled bowl, whip the remaining 2 cups heavy cream until a slowly dissolving ribbon forms when the beaters are lifted.  Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chilled white chocolate mixture.  Fold in the remaining cream until blended.

To finish the Gateau:

• 20 to 24 ladyfingers (recipe under Cookies)
• 3 1/2 feet red ribbon
• 8 oz white chocolate, chips or coarsely chopped
• 8 perfectly ripe whole strawberries cleaned and dry

Unmold the gateau and place on serving platter or cake round.

Reserve 1 cup of the white chocolate mousse for piping.

Spread the remaining mousse over the top and sides of the gateau, smoothing to cover all surfaces.  Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, press the ladyfingers onto the sides of the cake, with the rounded sides out.  Tie the ribbon around the ladyfingers, in a pretty bow.

In a double-boiler over hot (but not simmering) water, melt the white chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth.  Remove from the heat.

One at a time, dip the points of each strawberry halfway into the white chocolate.  Let the excess drip off and place the berries onto the cake in a circular pattern.  You can also let each strawberry set-up on a piece of wax paper and place them decoratively onto the gateau when the white chocolate is set.  Pipe rosettes (using a #4 star tip in your pastry bag) between each strawberry.

Refrigerate until serving time.  (note: the longer the gateau sits in the refrigerator, the softer the ladyfingers will become)