Fraisiers - or Fancy Cream Cake with Strawberries

The Daring Bakers July 2011 Challenge: FRESH FRAISIERS!

This is another Daring Baker challenge. I have been looking forward to getting this done, but sadly am doing it just before the deadline because it's been too freaking hot to bake! When temperatures hit 40 Celsius with a humidex of 52, there's no way I am turning the oven on. Salads and ice cream are just fine for meals thank you.

Here are the blog checking lines: Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

A Fraisier is a French fancy layered cream cake with strawberries embedded in the cream on the outside of the middle layer and also hidden in the middle. I chose to add some raspberries as well, purely for the fact that I love raspberries. 

The cake part is a chiffon cake, while not difficult to make, it is a bit fiddly. After it is baked and cooled, it is moistened with simple syrup. You can flavour the simple syrup but I chose to go with plain stuff.. .there very same stuff I make for Mojitos and other spiffy cocktails. (Also same stuff goes in the hummingbird feeders.) The cake bottom goes back into the ring of the springform pan, (which you have lined with plastic wrap) syrup applied then the strawbs are positioned around the outside, cut edge facing out. Here you can get creative with other decorative fruit bits. The cream (I will elaborate on that in a bit) is piped around the berries and in the centre where you then add more chopped fruit. The second layer of cake is added on top with an application of simple syrup is added. It's customary to add a round of almond paste here, then more cream.

The cream is pastry cream lightened with whipped cream and stabilized with gelatine.  This is called either a creme chibouste or Bavarian cream. 

This needs to chill in the fridge for a minimum of fours hours and is good for at least three days. The cream filling will firm up more the longer you leave it.

This looked really awesome and tasted pretty good. Even the child who does not like creamy desserts had two pieces. Sometimes he has one and does not finish (thinks he has to otherwise he is hurting Mum's feelings), but he actually scarfed back two slices.

It's a bit of work to do this cake, but I'm very pleased I made it. The challenge included making the chiffon cake, the simple syrup (I make this all the time), the pastry cream filling and assembling it all together. The original recipe also called for a layer of almond paste but I decided to leave that out as I didn't feel it suited.
 
Post cake consumption update:  This cake actually tasted better the next day, not really sure why... but it did.