For 3 Fraisiers (French strawberry cake), you will need:

• 1 900 g strawberries
• 2 300 g caster sugar
• 3 1 kg 50 g Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)
• 4 450 g butter
• 5 3 Génoise (Genoa sponge)
• 6 1 kg 500 g strawberries
• 7 450 g Marzipan (almond paste)
• 8 90 g apricot glaze (optional)
• Total weight: 6,240 grams

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How long does it take?

Step by step recipe

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Stage 1 - 1 hour

Begin by preparing the strawberry syrup:

Put 900 g strawberries, cut into pieces, in a bowl which can be used in a bain-marie. Add 300 g caster sugar.

Cover with stretch cooking film to seal the container well and place in a bain-marie over very low heat for one hour.

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Stage 2 - 3 min.

At the end of this time, you will have a delicious strawberry syrup. Strain through a sieve.

The pieces of strawberry left will not have much flavour, so you can either eat them or throw them away.

Note: French chefs call this "clarified strawberries", rather than a syrup.

Set aside.

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Stage 3 - 30 min.

Prepare 1 kg 50 g Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream). When it is made and has cooled a little (wait 15 minutes), incorporate 450 g butter very cold and cut into small pieces, beating thoroughly until the butter is well mixed in.

This cream is a "crème mousseline".

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Stage 4 - 5 min.

Prepare 3 Génoise (Genoa sponge). When cooked and cooled, cut this to the shape of your cake, round or square.

You can see that here I have cut it round using a dessert ring. If you do not have one, you can cut round a small plate laid on the sponge.

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Stage 5 - 5 min.

Split the genoa sponge in two through the middle.

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Stage 6 - 2 min.

Place one circle of sponge on the serving plate and place a dessert ring over it.

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Stage 7 - 5 min.

Soak the the top of this sponge circle with half the strawberry syrup.

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Stage 8 - 5 min.

Spread a thin layer of crème mousseline over the sponge.

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Stage 9 - 5 min.

Arrange straberries cut in half around the circle with the cut side towards the outside.

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Stage 10 - 10 min.

Then fill the circle with whole strawberries, placed upright.

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Stage 11 - 5 min.

Spread the remaining crème mousseline over the strawberries; ideally, they should be completely covered.

Tap the plate gently on the worktop to settle the cream.

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Stage 12 - 5 min.

Lay the other circle of genoa sponge on a wire rack and soak with the remaining strawberry syrup, using a brush.

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Stage 13 - 5 min.

Then turn this over onto the dessert inside the ring.

This is a tricky operation, so I advise you to turn it over smartly onto a baking sheet to (along with the rack), then slide it onto the top of the cake.

Press gently on the top to make sure it is flat and even.

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Stage 14 - 10 min.

Roll out 450 g Marzipan (almond paste) thinly (see this page on the subject), then use it to cover the top of the strawberry cake and trim off any excess.

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Stage 15 - 5 min.

Decorate with a half strawberry and brush with an apricot glaze. This is not essential, but adds an attractive finish and prevents the marzipan from drying out.

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Stage 16 - 3 min.

At the last minute, gently remove the cake from the dessert ring. Your "fraisier" is ready to be served and enjoyed.

Remarks

Nutritional information

How much will it cost?

• For 3 Fraisiers (French strawberry cake) : 31.60 €
• Per Fraisier (French strawberry cake) : 10.53 €

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