French Strawberry Cake

My friend asked me last week if any of the Tuesday with Dorie recipes had failed.  I replied that they hadn't, that the recipes are so specific and detailed it would be hard to have a failure.

Well, that was last week.

And this is this week.

Genoise.  It failed.  My first failure.  I now realize it will be the first among many.   I now know the butter I mixed into my ever so carefully beaten batter was too hot.  I only realized this, because after this flub, I scoured the internet for Julia's video making genoise and watched it intently looking for my mistake.   Ah, the butter.  Usually my favorite part of a recipe but this time, my nemesis.  

I went ahead and finished the recipe.  I am not sure why but I wanted to see what the whole recipe was supposed to be like at least on the outside if not on the inside.

I picked up fresh Hood strawberries at the market.  They were gorgeous and super sweet.  Sugaring them went without a problem, and they were by far the best part of this recipe.

Whipping the cream was another failure.  I whipped it too long.  Right when I was about to turn the mixer off, it turned from smooth and silky to chunky and stiff.

I was so tempted to try this recipe again right on the spot, but I know we are doing more recipes based on genoise so I held back.  In the morning, I scraped the whipped frosting off the cake and gathered up the leftover sugared strawberries, and spread it all over fresh pancakes.  That was not a failure.

For the recipe click on the links below:

Sophia’s Sweets 

Allison of Sleep Love Think Dine

Oasis Naan

Final product- Oasis Naan

These big little dough poufs were just fine, not amazing, not bad, just fine.  I am racking my brain trying to think of why they were just so.

They were a bit chewier than expected.  I think I followed the recipe correctly and did everything it said.    I don't think I overworked the dough at any point, although I must say, I had to add a bit more flour than the recipe stated.  I probably added a good 1/2 cup more than it stated in the ingredients list because the dough remained sticky after I added all that it called for.  I kneaded for 10 minutes and the dough felt right at that time.  But still the chewiness...

The flavor was lacking.  Maybe I didn't add enough green onions or cumin seeds.  Or maybe salt.  The first two I made I forgot to add the salt along with the onions and seeds and added it after they came out of the oven.  And come to think of it I ate one of those with dinner.  The next morning I had one from a later batch, and it was better.  But still the blandness...

The dinner I paired it with was not good.  More than anything about the recipe or my execution, I think this is the source of its ho-humness.  

Ready to bake.

Case in point: I saved some of the risen dough in the fridge for the next morning (as there was no way we could have or should have eaten all eight in one night).  In the morning I prepared them the same but in place of onions and cumin I used cinnamon and sugar.  Paired with coffee, they were better than average.  And the salt in the dough nicely balanced out the sugar on top.  

Maybe I just need to make these again and see if the same things happen.  And make them with a stellar dinner (maybe one picked up from my friend's newly opened fabulous Indian street food restaurant- Bollywood Theater).  They were simple and easy and when it comes down to it, there is not much to dislike about freshly made dough poufs.  

For the recipe, check out our Baking with Julia/ Tuesdays with Dorie hosts:

Always Add More Butter  

Of Cabbages & King Cakes