Fraisier (French strawberry cake)
This classic French patisserie is a delicious assembly of 2 layers of genoa sponge filled with strawberries and crème mousseline (confectioner's custard with butter). The sponge is soaked in strawberry syrup and the cake is topped with a thin layer of marzipan.
137,3524.3/5 for 21 ratings
Grade this recipe: Last modified on: September 18th 2011
For 1 Fraisier (French strawberry cake), you will need:
- 1
15.5 oz strawberries - 2
3.5 oz caster sugar - 3
12.3 oz Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream) - 4
5.5 oz butter - 5
1 Génoise (Genoa sponge) - 6 1 lb + 9.9 oz strawberries
- 7
5.3 oz Marzipan (almond paste) - 8
1.1 oz apricot glaze (optional)
Change those ingredients for: 1 Fraisier (French strawberry cake) 2 Fraisiers (French strawberry cake) 3 Fraisiers (French strawberry cake)
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
Keeping: A day or two in the fridge.
| Preparation | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour 43 min. | 1 hour | 2 hours 43 min. |
At what time?
- When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 1 hour
Begin by preparing the strawberry syrup:
Put 15.5 oz strawberries, cut into pieces, in a bowl which can be used in a bain-marie. Add 3.5 oz 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.
Put 15.5 oz strawberries, cut into pieces, in a bowl which can be used in a bain-marie. Add 3.5 oz 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.
Stage 2 - 3 min.
Stage 3 - 30 min.
Prepare 12.3 oz Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream). When it is made and has cooled a little (wait 15 minutes), incorporate 5.5 oz butter very cold and cut into small pieces, beating thoroughly until the butter is well mixed in.
This cream is a "crème mousseline".
This cream is a "crème mousseline".
Stage 4 - 5 min.
Prepare 1 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.
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.
Stage 5 - 5 min.
Split the genoa sponge in two through the middle.
Stage 6 - 2 min.
Place one circle of sponge on the serving plate and place a dessert ring over it.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
Soak the the top of this sponge circle with half the strawberry syrup.
Stage 8 - 5 min.
Spread a thin layer of crème mousseline over the sponge.
Stage 9 - 5 min.
Arrange straberries cut in half around the circle with the cut side towards the outside.
Stage 10 - 10 min.
Then fill the circle with whole strawberries, placed upright.
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.
Tap the plate gently on the worktop to settle the cream.
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.
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.
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.
Stage 14 - 10 min.
Roll out 5.3 oz 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.
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.
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
If you do not have a dessert ring, use a circle of strong card, lined with a piece of stretch plastic film, held in place with a paper clip.
For a quicker finish, you can simply sprinkle the top of the cake with icing sugar in place of the marzipan.
For Gaston Lenôtre, a strawberry cake should be made with butter cream rather than mousseline, and he called it a "Bagatelle".
For a quicker finish, you can simply sprinkle the top of the cake with icing sugar in place of the marzipan.
For Gaston Lenôtre, a strawberry cake should be made with butter cream rather than mousseline, and he called it a "Bagatelle".
Nutritional information
| Whole recipe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 4,844 Kcal or 20,281 Kj | 80 gr | 542 gr | 261 gr |
| 242 % | 31 % | 51 % | 40 % |
| Per 100 g | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 233 Kcal or 976 Kj | 4 gr | 26 gr | 13 gr |
| 12 % | 1 % | 2 % | 2 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 1 Fraisier (French strawberry cake) : 10.53 €
Source
Home made, with Catherine as tester. Her portion is shown in the photo.More recipes?
This recipe uses (among others) | Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Strawberry Verveine Tart , Chinois, Pains briochés aux raisins, Pistachio cream, Strawberry tart, ... All |
| Strawberries: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: You should not soak strawberries in water, Strawberry tart, Strawberry-mint sorbet, Strawberry and rhubarb crumble, Eton mess, ... All |
 | Marzipan (almond paste): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Provençal colombier for Pentecost, How to make marzipan decorations, Agen prune cake, Piped petits-fours, Arizona cupcakes, ... All |
| Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Salmon rillettes, Baked Mont d'Or with diced mixed vegetables, Plain cake, Jam doughnuts, Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée), ... All |
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