Here it is, my little challenge: my first fraisier of the season (yes, I say “first” because others will surely follow! ^^). I made it last week for my colleagues (one of them is moving to another school *sniff*, so we had a little lunch all together and I wanted to add my pinch of salt pinch of sugar 😛 I made it with a vanilla mousseline cream and some delicious “Ciflorette” strawberries.
Of course, as it was a first, I wasn’t sure about the proportions for the mousseline cream, nor how to incorporate the butter. One thing is certain: the amount of butter needed is half the weight of the milk… 500 g of milk, so 250 g of butter, easy-peasy! And I followed Mercotte’s advice for incorporating the butter, so I did it in 2 stages: half mixed into the hot pastry cream, then the other half afterwards (when the pastry cream and the butter are at roughly the same temperature).
Verdict: it was really very good! The cream wasn’t too greasy on the palate, you could really taste the vanilla and the strawberries were full of flavour! It was the first fraisier I’d ever made, but it was also the first fraisier I’d ever eaten… so yes, hard to compare. In any case, my colleagues loved it, and so did I! 🙂
Edit of 19/05: 5 years have gone by since my last fraisier. I can hardly believe it, actually. I made this dessert again last week, so it was a chance for me to try a slightly nicer decoration (a change from marzipan) and to take new photos for the blog!
Tips & Tricks
If, like me, you are preparing your fraisier the day before, do not cut the strawberries for the filling into pieces — they may release water overnight. That’s why I kept the strawberries whole. If you’re making the fraisier on the same day, there’s nothing to worry about!
For more tips and advice, I recommend visiting Mercotte’s website. 🙂 You can even find the recipe in video form (from the French TV show Le Meilleur Pâtissier on M6).
Ingredients & preparation
4 components · Full recipe
2 Sponge Discs
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 120 g (4.2 oz) sugar
- 120 g (4.2 oz) plain flour
Preparation
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
2
Mix the eggs with the sugar and heat over a bain-marie, whisking continuously. Bring to 50–55°C / 131°F.
3
Remove from the heat and continue whisking with a stand mixer until the mixture has cooled completely.
4
Gently fold in the sifted flour in 2 or 3 additions using a spatula, being careful not to deflate the mixture.
5
Transfer the sponge batter to a piping bag (no nozzle) and pipe two circles of 22 cm (8.7 in) in diameter onto two baking sheets lined with baking paper.
6
I pipe 2 discs the same size as the ring, then trim them down to approximately 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter afterwards. This allows me to remove the slightly firmer edges.
7
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (until lightly golden). The sponge should be a pale golden colour.
8
Leave to cool on a wire rack (take care to peel off the baking paper gently).
Vanilla Mousseline Cream
Ingredients
- 500 g (17.6 oz) milk
- 80 g (2.8 oz) egg yolks (4 to 5 eggs depending on size)
- 125 g (4.4 oz) sugar
- 50 g (1.8 oz) cornflour
- 250 g (8.8 oz) butter
- 1 vanilla pod (or 2 if you prefer)
Preparation
1
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.
2
Add the cornflour and mix.
3
Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways. Separate the two halves and scrape out the seeds using the blade of a knife.
4
Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan and add the vanilla seeds and pods. Pour a little of the hot milk in a thin stream into the bowl, whisking constantly to loosen the mixture, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
5
Whisk over a medium heat until the cream thickens.
6
Transfer to a bowl and add half the butter, emulsifying as you go. Pour the mixture into a flat dish to speed up cooling and cover with cling film directly on the surface. Leave to cool in the fridge — note that the cream should cool but remain at room temperature; it should not be completely cold.
7
Beat the remaining butter until soft and creamy, then gradually incorporate the pastry cream a little at a time, whisking continuously. The key is to have the butter and pastry cream at the same temperature — this prevents the cream from splitting (forming lumps). If it does split, keep whisking to warm the mixture slightly and the lumps will smooth out.
Sugar Syrup
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) water
- 50 g (1.8 oz) sugar
- 8 g (0.3 oz) kirsch
Preparation
1
In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water to the boil.
2
Leave to cool, then add the kirsch.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 750 g (26.5 oz) strawberries
- a few red berries (raspberries, blueberries if desired)
- homemade vanilla whipped cream
- the mousseline cream ring
Preparation
1
Wash and hull the strawberries.
2
Line a 22 cm (8.7 in) diameter pastry ring with acetate strip and place on the serving plate.
3
Trim the 2 sponge discs so they are slightly smaller than the ring. This way, the sponge won’t be visible from the outside.
4
Place the first sponge disc at the bottom of the ring and brush the inner side generously with syrup.
5
Select strawberries that are uniform in size (or trim them to match). Cut some of the strawberries in half — these will line the outer edge of the fraisier.
6
Arrange the halved strawberries along the pastry ring, cut side facing outward against the ring. Press them together firmly.
7
Transfer the vanilla mousseline cream to a piping bag. Begin by piping cream between each halved strawberry, then cover the first sponge disc with a layer of mousseline cream.
8
Arrange the whole (or quartered) strawberries in the centre of the ring.
9
Cover with mousseline cream and smooth the surface with a palette knife.
10
Add the second sponge disc, soaked on both sides (note: this is an old photo — the top disc has not been trimmed here), and press down gently to distribute the cream evenly. Refrigerate for a few hours.
11
For the decoration, I placed a mousseline cream ring that I had previously frozen in a silicone mould, then flocked with velvet spray (white first, then a little red).
12
I piped generous balls of homemade vanilla whipped cream all around the edge of the fraisier, then filled the cream ring with strawberries and other red berries.
13
Don’t forget to take the fraisier out of the fridge half an hour before serving!
Gallery
