Fraisier cake (French strawberry cake)
Fraisier cake, the French strawberry cake, consists of buttery sponge layers filled with incredibly delicious and silky Crème mousseline (pastry cream enriched with butter), a layer of refreshing strawberry compote, and the signature strawberry decoration around the cake.
Prep Time1 hour hr
Cook Time10 minutes mins
Waiting Time6 hours hrs
Total Time7 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Servings: 8
Calories: 483kcal
Strawberry compote insert
- 200 g Strawberry use fresh or frozen strawberry
- 30 g Granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice
- 2 Gelatin sheet 1.7g gelatin / sheet
Strawberry jelly
- 150 g Strawberry pure use fresh or frozen strawberry
- 20 g Granulated sugar
- 2 Gelatin sheets 1.7g gelatin / sheet
Decoration on the side and top
- 7-8 fresh strawberries cut into halves side
- 2-3 fresh strawberries top
- edible flower top
Start with the pastry cream
In a large enough bowl with the help of a Hand whisk, mix together sugar and egg yolk until slightly fluffy for about 1-2 minutes Then, mix corn starch, flour, and vanilla into the egg yolk until throughly incorporated and have a smooth paste
Bring milk to boil in a saucepan on medium heat then remove it as soon as it starts simmering. Make sure it is simmering but not crazy boiling, see my tips above
Pour the warm milk over the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking vigorously with a Hand whisk. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat for a few minutes until it thickens. Concretely it is approximately 1 min after the first boil. It might get lumpy first, don't worry just keep whisking and the cream will get smooth and glossy
If in doubt, strain the pastry cream for a lump free, creamy end result.
Add in room temperature soft butter and mix with a Rubber spatula until completely incorporated. It is worth to add the butter in 3 stages and mix well after each addition. Place the cream into a shallow bowl and cover the entire surface with plastic wrap to avoid skin forming on top. Let it cool
Strawberry compote
Continue with the strawberry compote insert by making strawberry puree, it is fine to leave in some strawberry pieces
Soak gelatin sheets into cold water
In a saucepan bring strawberry puree, sugar and lemon juice into boil, cook for a minute or two stirring constantly
Squeeze excess water from gelatin and stir into the strawberry mixture
Pour the strawberry compote into a 16 cm / 6 inch silicone round cake pan and place it into the freezer
Once the strawberry insert almost fully set place the 16 cm / 6 inch sponge on top and freeze them together. When assembling the cake it is much easier to work with a frozen insert so make sure you don´t skip this step
Make the mousseline cream
Crème mousseline can be made with room temp pastry cream and room temp butter. Make sure everything is at room temp otherwise the mixture might curdle
Once pastry cream cooled to room temp, prepare the mousseline cream by whipping room temp butter first for 1-2 minutes. Start adding in the room temp pastry cream in 4 stages until cream reaches a stable yet fluffy texture
Do not over whip the mixture as it can become runny
Assembling the cake
Assemble the Mousse cake ring (adjustable in size) and set it to 18cm / 7 inch For a neat looking, smooth side surface use Acetate cake collar Start to build up the cake from bottom to top. Place the larger sponge into the mousse ring then arrange the strawberry halves on top of the sponge tightly
Fill a Piping bag with the mousseline cream and pipe cream on top of the sponge carefully and neatly filling the gaps in between the strawberry halves. Place the frozen strawberry insert on top (strawberry side down, sponge side up)
Pipe the rest of the cream around and on top of insert. Smooth the top with an Offset spatula Chill the cake in the fridge for 2 hours for the mousseline cream to set
Once cake set, make the strawberry jelly topping
Soak gelatin sheets into cold water. In a saucepan bring strawberry pure and sugar into boil. Squeeze excess water from gelatin and stir into the strawberry puree
Wait until the puree slightly cool, then pour it over the chilled cake
Pop cake back to the fridge for 4 hours the jelly and entire cake to set
Once cake fully sets carefully remove cake ring and acetate
Decorate with fresh strawberries and edible flowers
Store in fridge
INGREDIENT NOTES:
- Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy
- Good quality butter and pure vanilla are the heart of making the cream. Use high-quality 82% fat content European butter and the best quality vanilla you can access
TECHNIQUE NOTES:
- Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details, and science behind baking.
- While baking the sponge layer, remember not to overbake it. Over baked sponge cake can become too dry
- While making Creme mousseline, it is crucial that both the pastry cream as well as the butter is at room temperature
- Make sure you do not open the cake tin before the cake actually sets
Calories: 483kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 230mg | Sodium: 76mg | Potassium: 201mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 1169IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 1mg