It’s hard to say, Vanessa. My best guess would be something slightly off in the proprtion change to a 23cm pan, which likely meant it was too flat and overbaked? Tale as old as time when using different sized pans, I know I’ve had this issue myself many times.

May I ask, are you weighing the ingredients, or using volume measurements?

This recipe defintiely has a tendancy to rise like crazy and make you wonder, doens’t it? But it always settles and becomes what it is meant to be 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it!

As for the 2hr rest, there is a reason! The resting period allows the air bubbles in the batter to gravitate to the top, which creates that thin meringue crust at the top of the cake. I feel like knocking the pan would likely destory those bubbles, or make them “exit” the cake completely. But you could absolutely try some light tapping and a shorter rest period and see if that works for you.

First off – thanks for still replying to a 7 year old recipe!

I got around to trying it yesterday. It rose way more than expected. Maybe I whisked the egg and sugar mix too hard and had incorporated too much air (that’s something you hear rarely in baking…). Then it got quite crunchy on top and I was afraid it would be too dry after almost an hour in the oven. But after a night in the fridge it turned out to be great. Thank you for posting the recipe, I very much appreciate your website!

I was wondering: What is the point of letting it rest for 2 hours before baking? It’s not supposed to ferment like a sourdough or yeast dough. Is it just to get rid of large air bubbles? If yes, could that be sped up by knocking the pan against the counter?

Hello! Large eggs a touch smaller here in France I’ve found than they are in North America. If your 3 eggs weigh around 219 grams and you’re just removing the shells, you’ll be absolutely fine, a few grams won’t alter the cake. Hope you’ll enjoy it!

As a note, I often just mix the eggs and then measure out the amount I need, if the amount is somewhere inbetween the weight of two eggs. This way it’s not just white or yolk you’re removing, it’s a blend.

I’ll just take 3 eggs, weigh that, and scale the rest of the ingredients. Do you see any downside, other than having to do 4 multiplications?

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the experience of doubling this cake, but if I can give some personal advice (and doesn’t mean it’s correct, but just my opinion) – I worry about the texture in the middle if the cake is doubled. I have no idea what the cooking time would change to, or if a temperature adjustment would be required. A cake double the size would be absolutely decadent, but I think some trial and error would be involved in getting that right. Sorry!

I always find it marked in bags called “sucre de canne”, I hope this helps!