Rasberry Ruffle Genoise Cake with Alice Medrich

Boom!

Hello, I'm Julia Child.

Welcome to my house.

What fun we're going to have

baking all kinds of incredible cakes, pies and breads

right here in my own kitchen.

Mmm, yum, yum--

a chocolate genoise raspberry ruffle cake.

Alice Medrich, master teacher and chocolatier

will show us how it's done, step by fascinating step.

Join us on...

This gorgeous creation is a chocolate raspberry ruffle cake.

There are the ruffles and there is the raspberry.

Inside is a chocolate genoise cake, and there are raspberries

and then there's a crme frache chocolate filling

and you can make this right at home.

And Alice Medrich's going to show us how to do it.

And we're going to do it.

Let me move this.

We'll move that out of the way.

When I start this cake at home

I like to prepare for the ruffles first

and that means whenever we're doing chocolate

we start with chopping chocolate

because to melt it properly

it needs to be in small pieces to avoid burning.

And what I try to remember is that we're trying to melt it

not cook it.

And this is very good chocolate

that you would buy at a gourmet store.

Yes, you want some very good chocolate for this

both because it handles well

and because, of course, it tastes delicious.

Oh.

I'm going to scrape this right into a clean, dry bowl

because chocolate and small quantities of water are enemies

so we try to keep drips and wet spoons

and wet bowls away from chocolate.

Does it kind of seize it up or something?

It does, it seizes it up

and we're going to put it right here in the water bath.

Now, the trick here is that as the chocolate melts

in the bottom of the bowl, we turn it

and let the warm chocolate melt the chocolate that isn't melted

and we don't need to go to a precise temperature

but we do need to keep the chocolate from burning

and I aim for about 115 or 120 degrees.

We're not concerned with a very precise temperature

so I can kind of tell with my finger

and we're just about up to temperature

and as soon as I don't see any more unmelted bits in there

we're going to proceed.

How much chocolate do we have here?

We have about 15 ounces

and that's... doesn't have to be very precise.

Looks beautiful to me.

All right, that looks about right.

Let's turn off the heat and just let this sit here

and that will stay at temperature.

Mm-hmm.

The next step is to turn on a burner

and warm the back of the pan.

The pan we're using is not a specially coated pan;

it doesn't have any nonstick coatings

because that would get in our way.

It's clean.

We arrive eventually at a nice warm pan-- you want to feel?

Very warm?

No, you can still touch it.

But not too hot to touch.

And we'll move over here.

And taking the bowl out of the water--

always important when you've been in a water bath

to wipe the bowl

so we don't drip water on the work surface.

Mm-hmm.

And then I'm going to push out

you know, a third of a cup, maybe

and then with a good offset spatula...

Yes, those are awfully useful.

Terribly useful-- we're going to spread a thin layer.

The warm pan enables me to spread a real thin layer

without the chocolate starting to harden too early.

And you're sure that the pan is

thoroughly washed and dry and not greasy.

Absolutely, and then probably the hardest thing here

is finding room in the refrigerator for four of these.

So this goes off into the fridge.

All right, I'll put it in, okay.

Now, here's our sheet of chocolate

that's been well chilled

and I like to chill it well beyond the temperature

that it needs to be before we work on it

and then let it warm up gradually at room temperature.

Aha-- when it's pliable, it makes a gorgeous ruffle...

Oh, that's perfect, there it was.

which I pull off in a kind of sweeping arc.

Now, let's do that slowly.

Let's see if we can go slow.

It gathers up around my fingers--

it makes a great mess of your manicure.

Let's do another one.

As though you're trying to slide underneath

Uh-huh.

and sweep in a kind of a fan-shaped arc and let it gather up.

How many are you going to make for this cake?

Well, we're going to make, maybe, you know

however many we can get out of three pans

and you can do as many as... you can go up to 30

or you could get away with about 15.

That's wonderful.

It's very satisfying once this clicks into place.

I should think, yeah.

And I think we'll finish now.

And then what do you cover them with?

Refrigerate until they're hard

and these can be made in advance

so you don't have to do them right before the party.

So, when they're really hard then you can cover them with...

You can cut... when they're hard, you can layer waxed paper.

So we'll go ahead and put these on ice.

I'll give those to the fridge.

Now you are going to make the cake.

This is a chocolate genoise.

This is a chocolate genoise, very classic.

What's the difference between this and another cake?

It's an unleavened cake, so everything...

although it's very simple

everything depends on technique.

Egg power.

Egg power, a nice foam

folding technique, lots of finesse.

Good.

It's one of the great cakes...

It is one of the great cakes...

for wedding cakes and everything.

and it's one of the great satisfying things to master.

We're going to start out by triple sifting.

First, I have a third of a cup plus a tablespoon--

I'm sorry about that...

( both laugh )

a sifted flour, all-purpose flour in the strainer.

Is this all-purpose flour?

And the same measure of sifted cocoa.

Now, it's very possible to use any kind of cocoa

but I prefer the Dutch process for flavor.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

I'm going to sift this.

Now, the common things that happen to genoise

in my experience, are little flour balls in the cake

and the triple sifting takes care of that problem right away.

Mm-hmm.

Deflating is another problem

that happens with this cake from overfolding

and believe it or not

the triple sifting takes care of that, too...

Oh, really?

because it makes the flour so much easier to incorporate.

Uh-huh, mm-hmm.

So we get less deflating, and I'm going to actually... it seems...

There are little things in that.

Yeah, so we're going to leave that behind

because they're a little gritty and granular.

You don't want to push it too...

No, we don't want to push.

Okay, and I'm going to finish up

by putting the flour and cocoa back.

Of course, the other thing that sifting does

is it mixes the flour and cocoa very nicely.

Mm-hmm.

Back into the strainer

and it'll get sifted yet again when we add it.

Now, that's good preparation.

I didn't realize sifting was that important.

Sifting can be so important.

Mm-hmm.

We're then going to go to four eggs--

doesn't matter if they're room temperature

because we're going to go ahead and warm them anyway.

Yep.

Oops, tough shell.

And these are U.S. graded large eggs.

Farm-fresh eggs, large eggs--

most recipes are written for large eggs.

Now, I'm going to add two-thirds of a cup of sugar to the eggs

and I learned this the hard way:

Once you add sugar to eggs, you must whisk them

before you take a call or answer the door.

Oh.

If we leave dry sugar on eggs, they kind of precook the eggs

and we get these little hard lumps that are very annoying.

We're going to move over to the stove.

We warm the eggs and sugar

and this dissolves the sugar a little bit--

gives a stabler foam.

Some people do it over a water bath;

I'm kind of a speedy character--

I do it directly over a gas heat if I have a bowl like this.

How warm is it going to be?

This is... not too, you know, 110 degrees, 105 degrees

like a baby's milk.

Do they beat up faster if you do this?

I think they do, and more stably

and that means that when you fold ingredients into it

it will be more stable.

How about it, do you want to touch that?

That's about right, or even a little bit warmer

but I think that's just fine.

We're going to move over to the mixer and attach this.

If you have a choice on your mixer, you use the whisk

rather than the paddle because we want volume and air.

Yeah.

( mixer whirring )

In a mixer with this kind of power

this only takes about a minute.

Mm-hmm.

If you're using a handheld mixer

or a mixer that doesn't have power, it takes longer.

So the important thing is to watch the consistency

not the clock, and go until it's about triple in volume

and kind of fluffy like yellow whipped cream.

Mm-hmm.

( mixer whirs down )

The proper consistency is fluffy like this--

you see that ribbon that sits on the surface there.

Mm-hmm.

I'm going to sift in about half of the flour- and-cocoa mixture

and fold with the biggest rubber spatula I have

and folding really is cutting through the center of the batter

and lifting and letting that batter drop over.

Rotate the bowl.

Definitely reach down into the bottom

and get that white batter up.

Then as soon as the color is fairly uniform

I'm going to sift in the rest.

Folding is certainly one of the most important things

in both cake and...

Very important, very important.

What I'm trying not to do is deflate this batter.

Now, when that's folded together, we go to the butter.

Add three tablespoons of clarified butter

kept nice and hot.

Rather than add it directly to the batter

this is a great trick I learned

from a marvelous school in France.

Some of the... the batter is first folded into the butter

and this puts the butter in suspension

in a small amount of batter.

You certainly don't want the butter to sink down.

Oh, to sink to the bottom, this is the worst.

This takes care of that problem quite nicely.

You can make a genoise without butter, I guess.

You can, and, you know, there's not much butter in a genoise

and this just gives it a little bit of extra finesse, I think.

That little something, je ne sais quoi.

Je ne sais quoi.

This, then, goes in, and then with very few folds now

we'll have the butter in the batter.

The pan, very simply prepared--

eight-inch pan, no butter, no flour

just the parchment paper in the bottom.

Mm-hmm.

Turn the cake batter into the pan

and, you know, this may sit a little bit low

because the size of eggs vary and everything varies every day.

Is that about a two-inch...

It's two inches tall.

Mm-hmm.

Then let's go to the oven with this.

Then we have the... what's the oven...

The oven is at 350 and the rack is either in the lower third

or just below the center so that the cake is in the center.

And how long does it go?

About 30 minutes, give or take five.

Okay.

So, after about 30 minutes, we check for doneness.

It's not the time that's important

but what's happening with the cake.

I don't test with a toothpick, I just wait till it springs back

and I don't hear a lot of moisture under the surface.

A little earlier when I peeked, it was domed up a little bit.

When it gets done, it shrinks down just a bit and levels.

Mm-hmm.

So I'm going to call this done.

I like the way it looks, I like the way it smells

and I like the way it feels.

Here's our cooled cake

and you'll notice I left it in the pan.

I didn't try to get it out while it was hot.

I set it on a rack and I don't work on it

until it's completely cool.

A slim little spatula or this...

even this little plastic thing, and I just push it in the side

and I try to hug the side of the pan

so I don't make a ragged edge.

Well, that's good because that's flexible.

It's flexible.

Even if I do make a ragged edge, no big deal.

Flip it out, remember there's parchment on the bottom

so we never worry about the bottom.

Oh, that came out perfectly.

And that looks nice to me.

It smells chocolaty, indeed.

And I'm going to flip it over on its face...

Mm-hmm.

and get rid of the rack.

All right, I'll get rid of it for you.

And put it on a piece of parchment paper for now.

Slicing the cake in three is really simpler than it seems

Mm-hmm.

There are a couple of tricks, and one is a good serrated knife--

a ragged-edge knife, not a straight one.

I'm going to start about a third of the way down

from the top of the cake

and I'm not going to try to get all the way through

but I'm just going to cut a little score or a track

and now once I've got it scored all the way around

I'm kind of home free until I meet in the middle

and that gives me an even layer.

Very good.

For the second layer

I'm going to do the same thing.

I'm going to go halfway down the remaining distance here.

Mm-hmm.

And again, I'm going to rotate.

The paper makes it much easier.

So now we have three layers.

Let's set the layers aside for a moment

and go to the simple syrup.

I've cooked in advance

a third of a cup of sugar with a third of a cup of water

simmered for a couple of minutes

just to reduce a little bit and dissolve the sugar.

Mm-hmm.

To this, we're going to add this wonderful framboise liqueur

which smells like a garden.

This is a judgment call...

And costs a fortune.

And costs the earth but worth it.

This is a judgment call.

I say about a third of a cup, but I usually add a little less

then taste it and then I give in and add the rest

so we'll pour this in and you can give a taste

and tell me whether more is merrier

or it's just right as it is.

Now, some people like it sweeter and some people like it boozier.

Good and boozy, I would say, just right.

Good and boozy, okay.

Filling is made with crme frache.

Okay, we're going to beat this lovely cream like whipped cream

but first, I'm going to add two teaspoons of vanilla.

So we'll go ahead and beat this--

and we're not going to beat it maximum stiff...

just yet.

This isn't quite as stiff as I want it

but let's add a bit of that sugar.

Again, sugar is to taste

because the crme frache

is always a little different when you make it.

Okay, now, once the cream is beaten--

and it's a soft beat, you can see--

it's not too stiff, and that's just what I want.

Now, we're not going to wait very long

but if we did, we'd put it either on ice

or in the refrigerator.

So I'll do that now, to get it out of the way.

Good to get us used to doing that.

So, let's go back to the assembly step.

Here's our cake nicely cut in three.

And we're going to layer this cake, actually, in a pan.

A springform is good-- you know, with a spring on the side--

or this, my favorite, which is a loose-bottom pan

Oh, I see, that's... so they can be unmolded.

These are available, so this is my preferred pan.

This first layer gets flipped up...

our syrup and, uh...

framboise, we're going to moisten that first layer.

And this is all done in the pan.

It's a very wonderful way of layering a cake, and...

Now, this is a very French thing

of putting a liqueur syrup.

I notice a lot of American cakes don't do it.

I always miss it.

Although it seems like the wrong time to do this

we're going to break away and make the chocolate filling

because the chocolate filling, once it's made, cannot wait.

This is done by taking five ounces, again

of my good bittersweet or semisweet.

Mm-hmm.

And this is a little unusual--

we're going to add boiling water to it.

Oh.

Mostly, we're told not to keep water and chocolate together

but if there's enough water, it's a safe thing to do.

Three tablespoons hot water, and...

It's melting immediately.

And if I've been good

about cutting the chocolate at just the right size...

by the time the chocolate's melted

this mixture will be just under lukewarm

which is perfect for folding in the cream.

Now, believe it or not

usually we test the temperature--

ah, perfect-- on our upper lip

which gives us a chance to lick it off.

This is perfect!

Here's our crme frache.

I recommend measuring for this task

but I've done it so many times that I can tell you

that this is about a quarter of a cup.

Correct?

Mm-hmm.

Just a first folding in of a quarter of a cup.

You want to move here

because you don't want to let the cream and the chocolate set.

Mm-hmm, which, of course, they would.

And then, finally, another half--

does this look like a half a cup?

I think so.

Exactly.

About exactly, right?

But measure it the first time, so you...

Yeah.

And you can see that the little bit of color change

and it begins to look like chocolate silk.

Beautiful color change.

As soon as I know that this is all mixed in

and without letting it sit any longer

it all goes on that first layer.Uh-huh.

All of it, and that's why I went ahead

and put that first layer in there

and moistened it right away.Mm-hmm.

So there would be no waiting.

And spread.

With your favorite spatula...

Now, we don't have to worry about ultimate smoothness

because we're going to have another layer on there.

Now we can go back to the proper assembly part of this.

We're going to moisten the next layer.

This is going to get moistened on both sides--

Mm-hmm.

that should be kept in mind

Yeah... so we don't soak it silly

so to speak, this first go-around.

So we're going to flip this over

put it moist side down into the pan

and do some nice pressing to level.

And we'll soak again.

Okay, and now here comes the loose...

what we call the loose layer of raspberries

which means lots of raspberries

but a little space in between

for the cream to seep down.

That's an awfully good idea.

Well, you couldn't keep this around very long

with the fresh berries, could you?

No, I would assemble it

up to a day in advance.Mm-hmm.

But I think the best would be

assemble it in the morning to eat at night.

Because the berries are like fresh flowers

they go so quickly.

That's about right-- plenty, but not too crowded.

Now, at this point, I want to whip this cream a little stiffer

so it will hold up.

I liked it soft for the chocolate

and a little bit stiffer for the rest.

It's very useful for people to know when whipping cream...

How do we know when it's enough?

Well, you know, I'd like it to stand up a little

but I know that when I spread it, it'll stiffen more.

That holds its shape in the...

Yes, it does, it's nice, it's nice.

So, you know, this much, a cup and a half to two cups.

I spread it and push it

because I'd like it to get down in there...

Mm-hmm.

between the raspberries.

And if I need to put more on, I will.

That's a beautiful consistency, isn't it?

Crme frache makes an extra-luxurious consistency

when it's whipped.

Some people who might not care for the crme frache taste

could do this whole dessert with whipped cream.

This is the third layer; it's getting its little moistening.

Flip it up, and again, it's moist side down...

Well, if you... and a fair amount of pressing.

If you had people who didn't want alcohol

I suppose you could make the sugar syrup

with vanilla, couldn't you?

Yes, you could, and dilute it a little bit more

so it's not so syrupy sweet-- or nothing, you know

nothing would be fine.

So, once it's soaked

we refrigerate it for a couple of hours

or up till tomorrow.

Good.

Well, here's our cake several hours later

or maybe up to 24 hours later--

Well chilled... well chilled, and assembled.

But not more, because you've got them raspberries.

No, we've got those raspberries.

We don't want them to die.

Now, unmolding the cake is simple.

We need to elevate it in order to get the pan off.

And so, we need these--

a canister, a can of peas, or something like that.

A very... heavy one.

A heavy one

so you don't knock over after all that work

and all that framboise.

And just slide it off...

and, you see, the advantage

to having assembled it in the pan

means everything is straight and beautiful.

Mm-hmm, it looks beautiful.

So let's get rid of the can of peas...

Get rid of... and get rid of this...

and I'll just put this right back on the turntable

because it's so useful.

We're about to make a sheet of chocolate to wrap around.

We can do it on this freezer wrap.

You know, this is the stuff the butcher puts around the meat

Yeah.

and you can buy it.

It's got a slick side and a paper side.

We would spread on the slick side...

On the slick side, yeah.

What I've found useful and reusable

is this piece of plastic matting.

You buy it in the housewares department

of the hardware store... What's it for?

it comes on a long roll

and it's for draining your glassware.Oh.

It has a ridged side and a slick side

and we're going to use the slick side.

Mm-hmm.

I'm going to put it first on a big piece of waxed paper.

This is going to save the mess on the counter.

Make sure in advance that your cake

is just a little shorter than the width of this.

This is three inches.

We didn't use all of our chocolate for the ruffle making

and here's the leftovers

rewarmed to about 115 or 120.

And here I'm just going to pour.

And it takes about three ounces

but you know, it's not so precise as that

because the excess will allow it to run off the band.

Nice and smooth... Now, just spread it on there...

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo...

It's heavy.

Okay, up and around.

The trick is to wrap it around while it's still wet...

Let one side actually hug the cake, and the other side--

be careful, we don't want to wrap the plastic in there;

we want to leave it away from the cake

and if it wants to touch

just slip in some waxed paper for now.

This, then, gets chilled, at least an hour or so

so that we can then pull the plastic.

So that goes right into the fridge.

Okay.

Once again, here's our well-chilled, assembled cake

with a well-chilled wrap.

And this is one I did with the freezer paper

rather than my plastic wrap

and you can see the difference.

Mm-hmm.

Here is the whipped crme frache

which we've kept it cold in the fridge.

And we're just going to pile some of it in here.

This is going to be the glue for the ruffles

and also additional cream for the cake, of course.

So, this is a real work of art, isn't it?

I made lots of fans for us... Mm-hmm.

or ruffles-- and because they're individual like this

I can arrange them any way I want.

And I start at the periphery of the cake, arranging them.

Mm-hmm, those are just charming, aren't they?

Isn't that nice?

And looking at this, you wouldn't think

a normal human being could do it.

We would expect you to...

Question about normalcy, right?

Okay...

Now, I'm just going to go around and around

and you know, the turntable is great

because you can inspect your work.

Now, in the center, you know, you can pick out

some of your little less successful smaller ones

because they fit just perfectly.

When we finish with the fans, it's nice sometimes

for the center just to give a little hint of what's inside

maybe with a raspberry.

Can you find a beautiful one?

I think that's a gorgeous one.

Should we just put it right in there?

Some people like to tuck some here and there

but I kind of like the look of a single....

Oh, I like just the pristine quality of one.

Now I like to chill it and do the final unveiling

when I know everything is cold on the outside

so we'll put that in the fridge now.Okay.

Here we are again, once again well chilled

or well chilled out.

This is the great moment now.

This is the great moment.

If you've put waxed paper in there

you want to pull that out.

Mm-hmm.

And then with a little knife, or even a fingernail...

I'm just going to want to peel the inside one back.

Pull it back just a little for now--

that's going to be beautiful

but we have a little repair to make

and that is to join these...

a little melted chocolate

left over from before, or remelted.

Now, I'd like to peel...

this is a moment of... glory, really.

And once again, if the chocolate sticks to the paper

get it right back into the fridge.

Oh, look at that... it's so shiny!

Beautiful.

One thing I like to do

just to highlight the ruffles

just to give a little dusting...

a little snowfall of powdered sugar.

It's not a drench, it's a light...

A subtle final dressing.

Oh, my.

You know, it's so nice nowadays

that it's fashionable to dirty the plate.

We don't have to wipe the plate

and we want a little snow on the plate.

That's just beautiful!

So, it's ready to serve.

The really nice thing about this

is that we have a book that comes with this TV show

so if you forget what to do

it'll be in the book...

It's all in the book.

in your words, which is great.

In my words.

That's just lovely.

So, this is now serving time.

Mm-hmm.

After you.

Mmm...

I'll have to have another piece.

( both laughing )

That's lovely.

I think we should drink to you and the cake, Alice.

This has been a wonderful lesson.

Thank you, it's been a pleasure.

Thank you so much for coming.

That's just beautiful.

IzIÑ Julia Child: Bon appétit!