I'm as big a fan as anyone of heavy, butter-rich cakes – fat slices of madeira, Victoria sandwiches and doorstop wedges of fondant-covered birthday cake. I've even adopted "more butter is better" as a ...

Most layer cakes are made with either a standard genoise (also known as a sponge cake) or a creamed butter cake. A genoise, which relies on whipped eggs for its volume and is composed of essentially ...