Ingredients

1 recipe baked and cooled - 8 inch easy genoise batter, cut horizontally into two layers

4 tablespoons dark rum

1 recipe Strawberry Sauce

1/2 recipe Vanilla Pastry Cream

1 recipe Chocolate and Espresso Frosting

Il dolce della Mamma

Serves 6-8

Brush one side of each genoise layer with about 4 tablespoons dark rum.

Brush a layer of strawberry sauce over the dark rum on one layer of genoise. This will become the bottom layer of your cake. Let strawberry sauce soak in for 10 minutes and then brush on another layer.

On that same layer, spread a layer of vanilla pastry cream. Place in refrigerator and let chill for

20 minutes. Place the second layer of genoise over the pastry cream. Transfer the cake to a cake plate.

Pour Chocolate and Espresso Frosting over entire cake and spread. If the frosting has gotten too thick to spread, place it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes until it becomes pourable again.

Chill cake for at least an hour before serving.

To serve, ladle a pool of strawberry sauce on your dessert plate, and top with a slice of cake

Chef's Tip:

Like any good genoise, the flavor is even better the second day. The cake "marinates", giving it a chance to absorb the sweet liqueurs.