Conundrum…

Yesterday I asked for responses as to which kind of génoise recipe I should do his week: a cake layer type or a sheet pan/jelly roll type. The response has been unequivocal: Jelly roll! Jelly roll! Jelly roll!

Only here’s my problem: a classic génoise is leavened with egg foam only, whereas a classic American jelly roll is usually made from a (very similar) type of sheet cake that employs baking powder. The extra leavening usually makes the cake fluffy compared to its European counterpart, the Swiss roll, the batter for which is usually so egg-heavy that the finished cake rolls up like a bath mat (foam-like jelly roll cakes are much more prone to cracking).

So what we have here are two very different animals. What to do…