Genoise Cake With Passion Fruit Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3.0

(95)

1 Review

Martha's genoise cake is a classic.

Updated on April 19, 2024

A regal celebration cake, this four-layer genoise is filled and frosted with a passion fruit Swiss meringue buttercream. It’s a classic genoise cake, leavened only by whipped eggs and sugar—there’s no baking powder or baking soda in this lofty cake.

A genoise is similar to a sponge cake, except in a sponge cake, the eggs are separated, and the whites whipped to provide the leavening. For a genoise, whole eggs are gently heated with sugar, then whipped until voluminous. After baking, the cake is divided into four even layers and then filled and frosted with the rich buttercream flavored with Martha’s homemade Passion Fruit Curd.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray with flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
⅔ cup cake flour, sifted
½ cup cornstarch
Passion-Fruit Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Directions

Preheat oven and prep baking pan:

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack set in the lower third. Spray a 9-by-3-inch round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; line pan with a parchment paper round and spray again. Set aside.
Make browned butter:

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until nut-brown in color, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour butter into a large bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind; stir in vanilla and keep warm (110 to 120°F).
Whisk eggs and sugar and heat gently:

Lightly whisk together eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; set mixer bowl over (but not touching) simmering water and heat, whisking constantly, until lukewarm to the touch.
Whisk egg mixture until quadrupled:

Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until light, airy, and quadruple in volume, at least 5 minutes.
Whisk some of egg mixture into butter mixture:

Whisk 1 cup egg mixture into warm melted butter mixture; set aside.
Sift dry ingredients:

Sift together flour and cornstarch.
Fold half flour mixture into egg mixture; repeat:

Gently and quickly fold half the flour mixture into remaining egg mixture until all the flour is absorbed. Repeat process with remaining flour mixture.
Add butter mixture and transfer batter to pan:

Fold in butter mixture to combine and transfer cake batter to prepared baking pan.
Transfer pan to oven:

Place pan in oven and bake until golden brown and it starts to shrink slightly from the sides of the pan, 20 to 30 minutes.

If possible, avoid opening the oven door until cake has baked at least 30 minutes, as cake is fragile and may fall.
Unmold and cool cake:

Remove cake from oven and unmold immediately onto a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before cutting into layers and frosting with buttercream.