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Ah, April 15th. Christmas Day for the IRS. A day of mourning for the rest of us. All those weeks of interminable phone calls with our accountants and unfair negotiations with our kids to help us figure out TurboTax. It's exhausting -— and depressing.
The first thing most of us reach for after slipping our tax returns in the mail is a good stiff drink. This year, we thought, why not play a little Marie Antoinette and -— literally -— let you have your cake and eat it, too?
We looked around for the booziest cake we could find -— everything from fruit cakes worthy of A.A. to the rum cake off the back of the Barcardi's bottle. But nothing had both the booze and the class we wanted. After all, April 15th is a day to drown our sorrows in a drink, yes, but also to celebrate the fact that many of us are fortunate enough in this economy to actually have some income to be taxes on.
Enter Rose Levy Beranbaum. We asked Rose for a classy boozy cake, and she offered up her Génoise Rose cake. We think it has the perfect balance of liquor and lightness and is a great way to mourn. Rose did suggest that if you want to practically drink the cake, when you make the boozy syrup, you can reduce the water from 2/3 to 1/2 cup and increase the Grand Marnier to a total of 6 tablespoons.
Génoise Rose
Serves 8 to 10
It was exciting to discover that this moist and gossamer cornerstone of French cake baking can be made in a decorative mold. And the beauty of it is that it demonstrates that the cake is delicious enough to stand alone without the further adornment of frosting. For this cake, I prefer to use cake flour or all-purpose flour with cornstarch for the highest possible rise. If you don't have a rose pan, any Bundt or tube pan will work. For the best flavor, complete the cake a day ahead to let the flavors meld. —Rose Levy Beranbaum
Special equipment:
One 10-cup metal rose tube pan (or other shape tube pan)
Ingredients
For the cake
Vegetable spray with flour
1/4 cup (2 ounces) clarified butter, preferably beurre noisette (see Note)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (4.5 ounces) super fine sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake flour or bleached all-purpose flour, sifted into the cup and leveled off (2.3 ounces)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) cornstarch
For the boozy syrup
1/3 cup (2.3 ounces) granulated sugar
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
Method
Make the cake
1. Set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). If using a dark pan, preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Coat the pan with baking spray with flour.
2. In a saucepan over low heat, warm the butter until almost hot (110° to 120°F or 40° to 50°C). Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and cover to keep warm.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, lightly combine the eggs and sugar with a long-handled wire whisk. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat, whisking constantly to prevent curdling, just until the mixture is lukewarm to the touch. Remove from the heat.
4. Attach the whisk beater to the mixer and beat the egg mixture on high speed until the mixture becomes very thick and airy and more than quadruples in volume, a minimum of 5 minutes. (If using a hand-held mixer, this will take you at least 10 minutes.)
5. Sift together the flour and cornstarch. Remove a little less than 1 cup of the beaten egg mixture from the mixer bowl and whisk it into the melted butter until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
6. Sift about half of the flour mixture over the remaining egg mixture in the mixer and, with a large balloon whisk, slotted skimmer, or silicone spatula, fold the mixtures gently but rapidly until almost all the flour has disappeared. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture until all trace of flour has disappeared.
7. Gently fold the warm butter mixture into the flour mixture just until incorporated, being sure to reach to the bottom of the bowl. Immediately and gently pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula. If you've beaten the batter long enough, the pan will be a little more than half full.
8.
