Fraisier
Ingredients
- 15 g unsalted butter, 30 g vegetable oil, 40 g milk and 30 g sugar, for the sponge base
- 70 g plain flour
- 3 eggs, separated
- 60 g sugar, for the meringue
- 200 g milk, for the pastry cream
- 100 g sugar, 16 g cornstarch, 1 egg yolk and ½ tsp vanilla paste
- 20 g unsalted butter, for the pastry cream
- 450 g heavy cream
- ¼ tsp gelatine bloomed in 1 tbsp cold water
- 50 g sugar, for the whipped cream
- 500 g fresh strawberries, evenly sized
A fraisier is built inside a ring so that the cut faces of halved strawberries line the outside wall, which is why every slice shows the fruit twice — once around the edge and once through the middle. The sponge here is baked in a water bath so it stays damp and fine-grained, then split, trimmed and stacked with vanilla pastry cream and a lightly gelatined whipped cream that holds the shape without turning stodgy. It has to be assembled the day before: several hours in the fridge is what lets the cream set enough for the ring to come away cleanly.
Method
Heat the oven to 160°C (320°F) fan and line a 20 cm pan. Warm the butter, oil, milk and 30 g sugar, whisk the mixture into the egg yolks, then fold in the flour.
Whip the egg whites with the 60 g sugar to stiff peaks and fold the meringue into the yolk batter in three additions. Bake in a water bath for about 60 minutes, rest 15 minutes, then cool and refrigerate.
For the pastry cream, heat the milk, whisk the yolk with sugar, cornstarch and vanilla, combine the two and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Beat in the butter, cover and chill, then whisk smooth before use.
Whip the cream with the sugar to soft peaks, melt the bloomed gelatine for 20 seconds and fold it through to medium-stiff peaks.
Trim the caramelised top off the sponge, split it into two thin layers and cut both to 18 cm rounds. Line an 18 cm ring with acetate.
Set the first sponge in the ring, press halved strawberries cut-side out all around the wall, and fill the gaps with whipped cream. Add whole strawberries, then the pastry cream, and close with the second sponge.
Finish with whipped cream and strawberries on top and refrigerate 3-4 hours, or overnight, before lifting off the ring.
