Moist Sponge Cake with Chocolate Ganache

So I started with the traditional French sponge cake, which I learned has a dry texture. The next recipe in the baking book was for a moist sponge cake which was MUCH better and so delicious! Rather than making a round cake, I decided to make a sheet cake and turn it into a roll-cake. I didn't have the right size pan, but tried it anyway and for the most part it worked! If I would have had an 11X17 pan, the cake would have been thinner and would have been easier to roll.  You can really make any kind of frosting for this type of cake, but I went with a bittersweet chocolate ganache. It was really yummy and paired perfectly with vanilla ice cream. I like the "roll" because you get a little frosting in every bite, but if I make the roll style again, I need to make it look prettier! Also,  if I were to make this again, I would make the ganache with semi-sweet chocolate. 

French Sponge Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

For this project, I decided to work from two cook books; Le Courdon Bleu Dessert Techniques and Baking, by James Peterson.  LCB is more gourmet and has recipes and techniques for everything from sugaring fruit to making Christmas fruit pudding (takes 6 hours) to making those pretty chocolate decorations such as swans or butterflies.  While I find learning those techniques important, I also want to make things that people want to eat! The Baking book is filled with techniques, but has an assortment of recipes that look so good. I have been using both books together and have had a great first week!

I started with the French Sponge Cake (easy to make- only 4 ingredients) and topped it with a strawberry buttercream. Using real strawberries is the key to a delicious strawberry frosting.
Over all it was good, but I learned that the "traditional" sponge cake is dry.  Why anyone would want a dry cake is unknown to me, so I probably won't be making this one again.