Fraisier Cake

Makes 17 cm/7 inch

Ingredients

• For the Almond Genoise

  • 4 large eggs

  • 100 gr sugar

  • 100 gr flour

  • 30 gr almond flour

  • 30 gr unsalted butter, melted

• For Crème Mousseline

  • 250 ml milk

  • 2 large eggs

  • 90 gr sugar

  • 30 gr cornstarch

  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

  • 180 gr unsalted butter, divided

• Kirsch Syrup

  • 50 ml water

  • 50 gr sugar

  • 2 tbsp Kirsch

• For Almond Paste

  • 50 gr almond flour

  • 25 gr powdered sugar

  • 1 tbsp Kirsch

  • Pale pink gel food coloring

• To decorate

  • 350 gr fresh strawberries, more for the top

  • Powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 20 cm/8 inch cake tin. Place a parchment paper at the bottom of the pan.

2. For the Genoise; create a bain-marie by simmering water in a small-sized pan. In a large bowl, add 4 large eggs, and sugar. Place the large bowl on top of the pan. Make sure that the large bowl does not touch the water in the pan. Beat constantly with a hand blender or a whisk, until the mixture reaches 45°C/113°F. Remove the large bowl and continue to whish until the mixture is completely cool, 4-5 minutes. Sift flour, almond flour, and fold with a spatula. Add the melted butter, and fold with the spatula. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the cake from its pan and leave it to cool.

3. For the Crème Mousseline; pour the milk into a medium-sized pan, and let it simmer with medium-low heat. In the meantime, in a large bowl whisk eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. When the milk is simmering, slowly pour it over the egg mixture, and return the mixture to the pan. Continue to cook until the mixture thickens. Add 40 gr of butter, and transfer to a clean large bowl. Cover the cream with cling wrap, making sure that the wrap touches the cream fully. Leave in the fridge to cool.

4. For the syrup, bring sugar and water in a saucepan to boil. Add the kirsch and leave it to cool.

5. To assemble; cut the cake in half. Using a 17 cm/7 inch cake ring, cut the cake to remove edges. Cut the strawberries in half. Place the cake ring on top of your serving plate, cover the sides with an acetate sheet. Place the bottom of the cake in the cake ring. Brush with Kirsch syrup. Place strawberries cut side out by the edges of the cake. Place remaining in the middle. Fill the cake with Crème Mousseline, leave 1 tbsp aside. Top with the last layer of genoise. Brush with syrup, and spread the 1 tbsp Crème Mousseline. Cover the cake with cling wrap, and leave it in the fridge to set, 2 hours.

6. For the Almond Paste, place almond flour, powdered sugar, Kirsch, and food coloring in a food processor and process it until it forms a dough. Place the dough in between 2 parchment papers and roll into .3 cm/0.125 inch.

7. Take the cake out of the fridge. Remove the cake ring and acetate sheet. Using the same cake ring, cut the almond paste, and place it on top of the cake. Decorate with more fresh strawberries and a dusting of powdered sugar. Enjoy!