Traditional fraisier cake

Shame on me, the strawberry season is long gone, and I still haven’t posted the recipe for this traditional fraisier cake (French strawberry shortcake) even if it is one of my favorite cakes ever. Some call that procrastination… Usually I try to modernize it, be it in a light and easy version ou in a graphic version. So when I needed to find a base for this fraisier recipe, I automatically went to Chloé Délice because I love everything she creates (I was even directly inspired by her design, I loved it so much!). This time it is an official fraisier cake recipe from the pastry chef certificate book. With such a recipe, no risk of failure, it is as traditional as can be, and it’s delicious.

It is not the easiest cake to make but we’ve got you covered, all the details are in video. And I can tell you, when you master the art of the génoise (short cake base) and of the crème mousseline (custard enriched with butter) you can consider yourself a pastry chef ;-) The only thing with a fraisier cake, traditional or not, is that you cannot make it in advance, and not even freeze it. The fault goes to those lovely strawberries who absorb water as soon as they are exposed to cold. It means, this time you can only make it in the morning for the night ;-)

Imprimer

Fraisier cake

Recipe and design inspired by the beautiful recipe of Chloé Délice

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Rest time : # hours minimum

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the génoise (short cake base):

150g eggs
90g caster sugar
75g flour
20g corn starch

For the crème mousseline (crème patissière enriched with butter):

500g milk
1 vanilla pod
60g egg yolks
125g caster sugar
50g corn starch
175g butter, softened
500g fresh strawberries

For the syrup:

50g sugar
5cl water
3 tablespoon of Kirsch

For the decoration of the cake:

500g pink marzipan
a small amount of white fondant
50g white chocolate
1 strawberry
few silver sugar pearls

You will need:

an adjustable circle of at least 7cm height (or 2 circles, on of 18cm diameter and one of 20cm diameter)
A strip of Rhodoid (transparent plastic paper used in baking) of at least 7cm height (optional but highly recommended)

Instructions

Start by taking the butter out of fridge and cut it into small cubes so that it is at room temperature when we want to make the mousseline cream.

Prepare the crème patissière :

Split the vanilla pod in half, get the beans and put them in the milk. Bring the milk to a boil.
In another saucepan, beat egg yolks and sugar until they turn white. Stir in the cornstarch and mix.
Remove the first saucepan from the heat and pour a third of the hot milk over the egg and sugar-cornstarch mixture, whisking gently. Then add the remaining milk and cook over low heat until the cream thickens, stirring constantly. Cover the custard with film, putting the film directly in contact with the custard, and let it cool to about 30°C (the cooling can be accelerated by putting the cream in the fridge for a short while, but don’t forget to take it out, it should not be cold).

Prepare the génoise:

Preheat oven to 180 °.
Place the bowl of a stand mixer over a saucepan filled with boiling water (the bowl should not touch the water) and whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture reaches 50°C. Once this temperature is reached, remove the bowl from the water bath and using your food processor, whisk until the mixture doubles in volume and had cooled down.
Mix aside the flour and cornstarch. Gently stir the sifted powders into the previous egg and sugar mix.
Pour the obtained dough into a 18cm diameter circle placed on a canvas on a silicone baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes at 180 °. Let the cake cool in the circle.

Prepare the syrup:

Heat water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the kirsch off the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Prepare the crème mousseline:

When custard has cooled, cream the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Take your custard (whip it a little) and incorporate it to the softened butter in three times. Whisk until your cream has the texture of a mousse.

Assemble the cake:

Place a rhodoïd strip around the inside of the 20cm diameter circle. Cut the sponge cake in half.
Place a sponge disk centered at the bottom of the circle. With a brush, moisten the sponge cake with the syrup.
Cut a dozen of strawberries* in half and place them all around between the circle and short cake base. Cover with mousseline cream, making sure the cream is spreading well on the sides and between the strawberries. Add the remaining strawberries cut into small pieces. Place the second disc of sponge cake, moist with syrup.
Top with remaining mousseline cream and smooth on the surface. Cool and refrigerate 3 hours minimum to firm.

Decorate the cake:

Once mousseline cream has firmed up, gently remove the circle and the rhodoïd strip. Flatten the pink marzipan with a rolling pin and cut a 20cm diameter circle using the circle you used for the cake. Put it gently on the cake.
Create the decor of your choice with melted white chocolate, strawberry and sugar balls.
Keep cool until ready to serve.

Notes

- *For strawberries of the periphery that are apparent, try to pick strawberries of the same caliber for more regularity. If they do not have the same height, it can be slightly cut the base of the highest ones.
- You can put the mousseline cream in a piping bag, it helps spreading out the cream between the strawberries.
- Strawberries are the most fragile fruits and they are very sensitive to cold, and it's even worse once they are washed and cut. This cake CANNOT be frozen (believe me I've tried and it's not a pretty thing to see). And you must try to eat this fraisier as soon as possible if you do not want to eat translucent and soggy strawberries.