I just finished this and thought I’d share a picture of my 1st attempt at the Strawberry Maria. 
I’m just a novice so don’t look too closely. lol

I wished I would have taken a picture of my husband’s face when I presented this to him… priceless.   Thanks Rose!

Bravo - Stunning job!!!  Looks like it jumped right off the pages of TCB.  Were there any bumps along the way that you can share with us?

Yes, it looks fantastic!

Patrincia - 27 March 2008 07:42 AM

Bravo - Stunning job!!!  Looks like it jumped right off the pages of TCB.  Were there any bumps along the way that you can share with us?

Thanks Patrincia. It was fun to make (even with all the bumps I ran into)

After seeing Hector’s Moist Chocolate Genoise, I decided to use that recipe instead of the Genoise au Chocolat. The texture of his just looked so wonderful and fluffy. (mine didn’t turn out like that)

The step I thought would be the hardest (the chocolate band) turned out to be the easiest.  I got a lot of ooohs and aaahs when I walked in the door.

Huge bumps along the way:

1) I had one layer crumble around the edges when I took it out of the pan…  later it broke apart when I put it on the top layer. I spackled the 3 largest pieces back together with a lot of Strawberry Cloud Cream and camouflaged the missing pieces with even more SCC.  (which could explain why I had to make more to finish covering the cake)

2) I had to make more Strawberry Cloud Cream - the color difference was obvious but everyone thought I did that on purpose since just the shells on top were darker

3) I didn’t have the large #6 tip.. so I used the largest one I had (#22)
4) I overwhipped the eggs.  Not sure what that did to the cake…but it didn’t look like Hectors. 

5) The cake was a little wet and soggy tasting.  ...was it the overwhipped eggs or was it because I didn’t use a liqueur?  I used more water to bring it to the right amount of syrup needed instead.  Does the evaporation properties of the liqueur keep it from becoming too wet?

Other than that, it was great.   I can’t wait to do it again.

Matthew - 27 March 2008 09:40 AM

Yes, it looks fantastic!

Thanks Matthew!

Very impressive!

I love the 2-tone effect of the stawberry cloud cream!

Dear tbartley2007, thanks for sharing and good job!  It is the best Maria I’ve seen on this blog to date!  You have been very creative on working around the small challenges you encountered, I do the same, the result of work arounds-is alway a nice creation!

Wow…  people are now following my work!  and I was just going to say that strawberry whipped cream cakes are my familys favorite for generations.

I ALWAYS whip my chocolate genoise until it reaches the volume indicated, often longer time than stated.  Recently I have been using my water bath attachment with very warm water and notice an improvement in volume and times.

I can’t recall for sure, but the picture of my 4 layer may have been made with AP flour.  It could have contributed to the texture difference.  I do use cake flour now, give you a nicer crumb with smaller holes.

Frangelico has half the alcohol amount than most other sweet liquors.  You should really use it, and I have not found any better flavoring for the Moist Chocolate Genoise.  The amount of liquor is so small plus the amount of time the cake sits, will evaporate any taste-able trace of alcohol!  Trust me on this.  Also, you need to know that Frangelico has an incredible amount of sugar; it is near as sweet as syrup, so if you were to omit it, don’t just add water; I would keep the syrup as is (without adding extra water) and make extra syrup to reach the necessary amount to moist the genoise.

Recently, I am testing Biscuit de Savoie, chocolate variation.  I find it “easier” to execute, or perhaps I am just getting King status of Biscuit!  I have changed the name from Biscuit de Savoie (which is in French) to Savoiardi (which is in Italian), because I am tired of people thinking that Biscuit de Savoie was made with Bisquick!

Wow!  Now I have the courage to try making this one—I thought the chocolate band would be darn near impossible to make!  Nice job, fellow newbie!

That looks wonderfull. i noticed the cake last night in The Cake Bible. its gorgeous well done

hectorwong - 27 March 2008 01:24 PM

Wow…  people are now following my work!

Bisquick!  They don’t know the Hector we know!  Hector, King of Savoiardi ... has a nice ring to it.
How can people not follow your work! Oh my goodness!  Just curious… who gets to eat Rose’s World Cake?  I haven’t tried the Biscuit de Savoie yet but it must be good if you made a whole world out of it!

Thanks for the tips on the flour, frangelico, waterbath, and syrup.  I don’t use liqueur because 1) we work with people going to AA, and 2) I take a lot of my cakes to the Salvation Army Corp (church).  I’ll definitely try them when my family is visiting.   I can’t wait to see what it does to the Mousseline BC.

How do you judge the volume of the chocolate genoise?  I try to eyeball it, but I’m not a natural and tend to overdo.  I remember reading that the egg mixture should ribbon when you lift the whisk… mine were pretty stiff… I’ll pay better attention next time and not multitask (my downfall)

Thanks again everyone for all the wonderful compliments.  My heart just swells.

Hi tbarley2007,  I do like my new title Hector King of Savoiardi.  It rings!

The concern of alcohol is very important to me, and I would really like to find out the details.  Can you ask AA if a 9-inch 2 layer cake (about 4 inches tall) that has been moistened with 2 cups of syrup plus 6 tablespoon of 20% or so proof of Frangelico, and sit for half day, is there any trace of alcohol present what so ever?  Be aware that alcohol is used in industry and not needed to be listed as the trace is so small, for example vanilla extract, ice cream, rum cakes, desserts, glaces, etc.  I would be interested to know, or maybe have a police do a breath test on the cake and see what is the reading?

Re volume on chocolate moist genoise, I follow exactly what it says on Cake Bible.  You can tell if you are doing things right when you use the same pan (two 9x2-inch pans) and you get the baked finished height as described on the recipe.

I have a wedding cake to do in September, and you won’t believe (I think you will believe actually.. coming from me!) that this cake will include all my past and present work, including all your wonderful cakes that you all share on this blog!  Maybe a strawberry maria thing?

And that’s my strawberry maria

Hi Lenno - What a lovely, yet playful interpretation.  Very nicely done!!

Welcome to the forum!!

omg, lenno, that is very stylish!  i really like how you evolved the concept of the lattice into daisies which is my favorite flower.

I love your take on the S Maria, so perfect for Spring!