Fraisier Cake
Fresh strawberries, creamy vanilla pastry cream and light whipped cream sandwiched between fluffy sponge cake layers. This take on the classic fraisier cake is creamy and refreshing!
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 1 hr 15 min
- Yield
- 7 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 15 g Unsalted butter (1 tbsp)
- 30 g Vegetable oil (2 tbsp 1 tsp)
- 40 g Milk (2 tbsp 2 tsp)
- 30 g White sugar (I) (2 tbsp 1 tsp)
- 70 g Plain flour (1/2 cup 2 tsp)
- 3 Eggs
- 60 g White sugar (II) (1/2 cup 1 tsp)
- 200 g Milk (3/4 cup 4 tsp)
- 100 g White sugar (1/2 cup)
- 16 g Cornstarch or cornflour ( 2 tbsp)
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla paste
- 20 g Unsalted butter (1 1/2 tbsp)
- 450 g Thickened/Heavy cream (2 cups)
- 1/4 tsp Gelatine
- 1 tbs Cold water
- 50 g White sugar (1/4 cup)
- 500 g Fresh strawberries, evenly sized (17 oz)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan forced
- 2
Line the bottom of a 8-inch cake tin
- 3
In a medium sized bowl whisk the egg yolks
- 4
In a small saucepan heat the milk, oil, butter and sugar (I) over low heat until melted
- 5
While whisking pour the milk mixture into the egg yolks and whisk until smooth
- 6
Sift the flour into the egg yolk mixture and mix until combined
- 7
In another bowl whip the egg whites with sugar (II) until stiff peaks
- 8
In three additions fold the meringue into the egg yolk mixture, being careful not to deflate the bubbles
- 9
Transfer the batter to the cake tin
- 10
Place the cake tin in a water bath (a tray/tin of boiling water) and bake for 60 minutes
- 11
Turn the oven off and leave in the oven for 15 minutes
- 12
Once cooled run a knife around the edge of the cake tin and invert the pan
- 13
Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge until assembly
- 14
Heat milk in a small saucepan over low heat until steaming
- 15
Combine egg yolk, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla in a medium sized bowl and whisk
- 16
Add the heated milk to the egg mixture and whisk
- 17
Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and heat on low heat while stirring constantly
- 18
Continue to stir until thickened
- 19
Remove from heat and stir in butter
- 20
Transfer to a small bowl and cover with cling wrap, pressing the cling wrap to the surface of the pastry cream
- 21
Chill
- 22
Once chilled, whisk to smoothen it out and transfer to a piping bag
- 23
Combine gelatine and water in a small bowl and set aside to bloom for 5 minutes
- 24
Combine the cream and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until soft peaks
- 25
Heat the gelatine mix in the microwave for 20 seconds, or until just melted
- 26
Add a spoonful of cream to the melted gelatine and mix until smooth and well combined
- 27
With the stand mixer on medium speed add the gelatine-cream mix and whisk until medium-stiff peaks are reached
- 28
Fill a piping bag and set side until it’s ready to be used
- 29
Remove the top caramelised layer of the sponge cake, then slice the cake into two thin layers
- 30
Trim the cake layers into 7-inch circles with the help of the cake ring
- 31
Line the cake ring with a strip of acetate (or baking paper if you don’t have any)
- 32
Place a sheet of cake at the bottom of the ring and line the sides with halved strawberries, cut side facing the wall of the cake ring
- 33
Fill the gaps between the strawberries with whipped cream
- 34
Pipe the pastry cream in the centre
- 35
Arrange whole strawberries flat bottom down on top of the pastry cream until the base of the cake is covered
- 36
Fill in the remaining gaps with whipped cream (make sure to leave some cream for the top of the cake) then top with the remaining cake layer
- 37
Pipe on the remaining whipped cream and smooth it off with a spatula
- 38
Decorate with remaining strawberries
- 39
Place in the fridge to set for 3-4 hours, or overnight
- 40
Once set remove from the cake ring and carefully remove the acetate strip (or baking paper) before serving