Fraisier
A French pâtisserie classic whose entire effect rests on one thing: halved strawberries stood cut side out, forming a pattern visible through the sides of the cake. For that to work you need a cream that holds them upright — hence mousseline, pastry cream beaten with butter. Ordinary pastry cream would slump within an hour, and whipped cream could not carry the weight of the fruit.
Your own work in that: 40 min.
- Sponge 40 min
- Pastry cream 20 min
- Cooling the cream 60 min
- Assembly 40 min
- Chilling 180 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBake the sponge and split it
Heat the oven to 175°C and line the base of a 22 cm tin with paper. Whisk the eggs with the sugar and salt for 8 minutes to a tripled foam, gently fold in the sifted flour and finally the melted, cooled butter. Bake 25 minutes at 175°C. Cool and split into two thin layers.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 120 g plain flour · 30 g butter · 1 pinch salt
Cook a very thick pastry cream
Bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla (seeds and pod), temper the yolks beaten with the sugar and cornflour, return to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens, then 3 minutes more. Remove the pod. It should be thicker than usual — 250 g of butter will soften it anyway, and a thin one will not hold the strawberries.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 5 pcs egg yolks · 120 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla · 250 g butter
Cool the cream to butter temperature
Spread the cream in a shallow dish, cover with film touching the surface and cool to room temperature, about an hour. Cream and butter must be at a similar temperature — cold cream with soft butter splits. If it does, gently warm the sides of the bowl (over steam or with a hairdryer) and keep beating until it comes together.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 5 pcs egg yolks · 120 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla · 250 g butter
Beat the cream with butter into mousseline
Beat the soft butter for 5 minutes until fluffy, then add the pastry cream a spoonful at a time, beating throughout. Finished mousseline is smooth, glossy and holds its shape on a spoon.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 5 pcs egg yolks · 120 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla · 250 g butter
Smooth and glossy — it holds its shape on a spoon.Line a ring and stand the strawberries
Boil the sugar with the water, cool and add the kirsch. Set a 22 cm cake ring on a stand, line it with acetate and lay in the first sponge, brushed with the syrup. Halve the best strawberries and stand them cut side against the acetate, tightly side by side.
Ingredients: 800 g strawberries · 60 g sugar · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp kirsch · 200 g marzipan · 2 pcs green food colouring
Cut side out, tightly packed — this is the side pattern.Pipe cream into every gap
Pipe the cream from a bag between the strawberries, filling every gap, and spread a thin layer over the sponge. A bag, not a spoon: a missed gap shows as a white hole in the pattern once the ring comes off.
Ingredients: 800 g strawberries · 60 g sugar · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp kirsch · 200 g marzipan · 2 pcs green food colouring
A bag into every gap — a missed one becomes a hole.Fill with the rest and close with sponge
Fill the centre with sliced strawberries, cover with cream, level it and lay on the second sponge brushed with syrup, pressing down. Leave 3 mm below the rim of the ring for the marzipan.
Ingredients: 800 g strawberries · 60 g sugar · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp kirsch · 200 g marzipan · 2 pcs green food colouring
Add marzipan and chill three hours
Knead the marzipan with a few drops of colouring to a pale green, roll it 3 mm thick and cut a disc. Lay it on top and chill 3 hours. Remove the ring and acetate only once chilled — an unchilled cake slumps without support.
Ingredients: 800 g strawberries · 60 g sugar · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp kirsch · 200 g marzipan · 2 pcs green food colouring
Before you start
Evenly sized strawberries
Choose fruit of the same height for the ring — uneven ones give a ragged top line to the pattern. Save the largest for the centre, where they are not seen. The strawberries must be dry: wet ones weep and soften the cream.
A ring and acetate
A cake ring and a strip of acetate are the surest route to upright strawberries and a smooth side. Substitute: the ring of a springform tin lined with a strip of baking paper — close, though the side is less smooth.
Two days in the fridge
A fraisier keeps two days, though the strawberries against the acetate lose colour over time. The mousseline can be made a day ahead and refrigerated — bring it back to room temperature and rewhip before use.
