Cake
Description
The pastry is simple and quick to prepare. You can try the "Fraisier" cake in virtually every French patisserie. It's like a calling card of French cuisine, and of course, during strawberry season, many bakeries prepare this dessert and serve it to their guests. There's no need to travel to France if you know how.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Take milk, butter, flour, vanilla sugar, granulated sugar, gelatin, large strawberries, gelatin, eggs, potato or corn starch. For decorating the cake, use chocolate shavings, chocolate glaze, or simply cocoa powder.
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Step 2
First, prepare the cake layers. Separate the egg whites from the yolks carefully, ensuring no yolk gets into the whites; otherwise, the whites won't whip properly. Separate the whites from three eggs. Place the yolks in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar (without the heap) and beat. Then add vanilla sugar and beat again.
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Step 3
To the resulting mixture, add 0.5 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of corn or potato starch (it doesn't matter much which starch you choose), and 2.5 tablespoons of wheat flour. Knead the dough.
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Step 4
Separately beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. If you turn the bowl upside down, the whites should not fall out. They should not move at all. This means you've beaten the whites well.
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Step 5
Add the egg whites to the batter one tablespoon at a time. Stir in one direction without a mixer. If you stir the batter in different directions, the egg whites will settle.
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Step 6
We'll get a biscuit dough like this. This dough differs from the classic biscuit dough in that it contains starch and baking powder.
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Step 7
On two sheets of parchment paper, trace a circle with a pencil to match the size of your springform pan. Flip the parchment over so the pencil mark doesn't transfer onto the finished cake layer. Place a portion of dough for one layer within the circle. Spread the dough evenly over the circle. You should end up with 2 layers in total.
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Step 8
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake the cake layers one at a time (12–15 minutes). In a separate bowl, beat 4 eggs with 4–5 tablespoons of sugar. Add 200 ml of milk. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of wheat flour (levelled). Mix well.
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Step 9
In a separate saucepan, bring 200 ml of milk to a boil. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the milk in a thin stream, constantly stirring. The egg mixture will thicken, resulting in a smooth, thick custard. You can add vanilla to the custard.
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Step 10
Remove the cream from the heat. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool. Cover the cooling cream with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. The plastic wrap should touch the surface of the cream to prevent a tough crust from forming on top.
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Step 11
Line the baking pan with plastic wrap. Make sure to cover both the bottom and the sides. The pan should be a springform. Place the first cake layer on the bottom of the pan. You can trim its edges if it turned out slightly larger than the pan after baking.
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Step 12
According to the recipe, the cake layer should be soaked with strawberry syrup made from strawberry liqueur and water. But I'll tell you this: it's actually not necessary. The cream will be sufficient, and the cake layers will be moist on their own. If you decide to follow the recipe, mix 2–3 tablespoons of strawberry liqueur with 2–3 tablespoons of boiled water. Use this syrup to soak the first cake layer. Wash fresh strawberries, remove the stems, and cut them in half. Place the strawberry halves around the edge of the pan, cut side facing the pan.
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Step 13
Dissolve the gelatin in 4-5 tablespoons of water. Place the bowl with the swollen gelatin in the microwave and heat at full power for 20 seconds. The gelatin will become liquid. Let the gelatin mixture cool slightly, then add it to the cream. Beat the room-temperature butter and gradually add the cream in batches. Beat until smooth. Our cream is ready.
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Step 14
Place the batch of cream onto the cake layer so that the strawberries don't move. Arrange the remaining strawberries (I left them whole) randomly in the center of the cream. The more strawberries, the tastier it will be.
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Step 15
On top, place 3-4 tablespoons of cream. Spread evenly. Place the second cake layer on top, trimming the edges to fit the shape.
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Step 16
Spread the remaining cream on top and smooth it out. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 8 hours. You might think the cake has set faster, but actually it hasn't. There is a lot of cream inside, so you need to be patient and wait for it to cool down and set completely. Before serving, remove the cake from the mold. Dust it with cocoa powder, chocolate shavings, or cover with icing. Decorate the cake with strawberries.
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Step 17
Cut the chilled cake and serve. Store this cake in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days. Fresh fruits require temperature control. The cake can only be stored in the refrigerator.