Strawberry Fraisier Recipe
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180 minutes prep time
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60 minutes cook time
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Difficult
A fraisier is classic French cake made of two layers of sponge, strawberries and lashings of pastry cream. It makes for an impressive summer dessert and the ideal accompaniment to a Wimbledon tennis match...
Our twist on the classic fraisier includes a layer of strawberry jelly and a handful of mini meringue drops makes this novel strawberry frasier recipe. The jelly is made from strawberry puree which adds an intense hit of fruit flavour alongside the fresh burst of fresh strawberries. Mini meringues add a vibrant colour contrast against the strawberry jelly and bring texture with their light crispiness.
For the Viennois sponge/biscuit viennois Serves: 4
- 50g ground almonds
- 50g icing sugar
- 25g egg yolks
- 40g egg
- 40g flour
- 90g egg whites
- 30g caster sugar
- 16 strawberries
For the cream
- 1 gelatine sheet
- 180ml whole milk
- 60g caster sugar
- 15g corn flour or custard powder
- 30g egg yolk (1-2 large egg yolks)
- 30g unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
- 150g double cream
For the mini meringues
- 30g egg whites (around 1 large egg white)
- 70g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp corn flour
- A drop of white vinegar
For the strawberry jelly layer
- 150g strawberry puree
- 0.6g agar agar powder
Equipment
- Baking parchment
- Spatula
- Palette knife
- 4 rectangular mousse moulds (80mm x 40mm x 30mm)
- 2 piping bags
- 1 round nozzle (1cm in diameter)
- Blowtorch
- High-accuracy weighing scales (useful for weighing the agar agar powder)
To make the viennois sponge
- Preheat the oven to 210°C fan oven. Line a baking tray with baking parchment, and prepare a second piece of parchment of the same size.
- Mix together the almonds, icing sugar, egg yolk and egg. Fold in the flour.
- Whisk the egg whites in a mixer whilst gradually adding the caster sugar. Whisk until soft peaks form. Fold gently into the almond mixture using a marys spatula.
- Pour the mixture into the centre of a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Using a palette knife, spread outwards to the edges, to form an even layer 2mm thick. Place the second sheet of baking parchment on top of the mixture.
- Bake in the hot oven for 5-7 minutes. The edges will be dark brown, but the centre shouldn't have coloured. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- When the sponge is cool peel back the baking paper and cut into 8 rectangles to fit into the rectangular mousse moulds. Use the moulds themselves as cutters to ensure a perfect fit.
- Place one rectangle at the bottom of the mould.
- Slice the strawberries vertically and arrange tightly around the inside of the mould so that the strawberries sit about 1 cm below the top of the mould.
- Partially quarter 2 strawberries so that they are still intact and place in the middle of the mould.
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To make the cream
- Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water.
- Place the milk and roughly half the sugar in a pan and bring to the boil.
- Meanwhile mix together the remaining sugar with the corn flour or custard powder. Add the egg yolk and mix with a whisk to make a thick paste.
- Pour a small amount of the boiling milk over the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add it to the rest of the milk and return to the hob over a medium heat, whisking constantly.
- When it starts to boil reduce the heat whilst continuing to whisk for a minute in order to pasteurise the cream.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter, drained gelatine and vanilla paste.
- Whisk the cream until soft peaks form.
- Use a marys spatula to gently combine the pastry cream with the whipped cream.
- Fill a piping bag with the cream and fill the each rectangle making sure the cream reaches into all corners. Scrape a spatula over the top of the mould to create a flat surface.
- Place the second rectangle of sponge on top and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Using a blowtorch heat the outside of the mousse mould and gently push the contents out.
© Speciality Cooking Supplies Limited 2024
To make the mini meringues
- Preheat the oven to 130°C, or 110°C for a fan oven, and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff in a stand mixer or using an electric hand whisk.
- Add half of the sugar and continue to whisk.
- Add the remaining sugar little by little and finally whisk in the cornflower and vinegar. The meringue should be firm, glossy and smooth.
- Place the nozzle in the piping bag and fill with the meringue. Pipe small, 1cm drops evenly spaced at least 1cm apart on the baking parchment.
- Bake the meringues for 20 minutes. Then turn the oven off whilst leaving the meringues inside until the oven cools to further dry them out.
© Speciality Cooking Supplies Limited 2024
To make the strawberry jelly layer
- Prepare a flat dish at least 150mm x 100mm. Line with cling film.
- Heat the strawberry puree and agar agar powder in a pan, whisking constantly.
- When the mixture comes to the boil, remove from the heat and pour into the prepared dish so that the liquid has a depth of 2-3mm.
- Refrigerate until set.
- Wash the rectangular mousse moulds and use them as cutters to create 4 rectangular jelly rectangles.
- Use a spatula to carefully place each jelly rectangle on top of the fraisiers.
- Allow the fraisiers to defrost in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.
- Top with the mini meringues and serve immediately.
© Speciality Cooking Supplies Limited 2024
