{"id":2490,"date":"2015-07-16T14:39:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T13:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecherryplumkitchen.com\/?p=2490"},"modified":"2015-07-16T15:02:51","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T14:02:51","slug":"fraisier-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecherryplumkitchen.com\/?p=2490","title":{"rendered":"Fraisier Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It was Nigel’s birthday earlier this month – and that always involves strawberries. \u00a0Despite the fact we’d been picking them from the garden for most of June, when Nigel was a child his birthday always signalled the first strawberries of the summer and some things should be respected.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Le Fraisier<\/em> is a french strawberry gateaux, fraise<\/em> being the french word for strawberry. \u00a0I don’t think it can be a creation of too much antiquity because strawberries in this plump form, as opposed to the wild variety, are a fairly recent arrival. \u00a0Am\u00e9d\u00e9e-Fran\u00e7ois Fr\u00e9zier (1682-1773) gets the credit for introducing them to Europe, having brought some specimens back from Chile.<\/p>\n

Whoever the culinary genius was who created this celebration of the strawberry I can’t say. \u00a0I do know where I came across it. \u00a0Baking a Frasier Cake was a Mary Berry technical challenge on series 3 of ‘The Great British Bake Off’.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m fairly confident my children, with the exception of Liddy who can be trusted not to tell her brothers, will not be reading this .. so I will make a confession. \u00a0All those technical challenges \u2026 well, they’re a whole lot easier if you are not cooking in a tent, have a complete set of instructions, no interruptions, no tv camera pointed at you watching for mistakes and as much time as you like to cook.<\/p>\n

This is fun to make. \u00a0Okay, so it’s not something I’d whip up on an average week night, but no stage is complicated – and then it’s an assembly job. \u00a0It tastes amazing.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Making a Genoise Sponge is so much easier with a stand mixer. \u00a0If that’s not what you have, you need to do it the classic way which is in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.<\/p>\n

Melt 50g\/1\u00beoz of unsalted butter, and allow it to cool slightly. \u00a0Heat your oven – 180\u00baC\/Gas Mark 4\/350\u00baF. \u00a0Prepare a round 23cm\/9″ cake tin – I melt more butter to grease my tin really thoroughly and line the base with bake o’glide.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, with the four eggs, finely grated zest of two lemons and 125g\/4\u00bdoz caster sugar in the bowl – whisk. \u00a0I use my kitchen aid \u00a0with the \u00a0whisk attachment on maximum.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s done when you can lift the whisk out and draw a figure of eight with the mixture. \u00a0It’ll rest on the surface for a few moments.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’ve been whisking over a bowl of simmering water, now is the time to remove from the heat. \u00a0Whichever method, sift over half the flour.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Gently – fold in. \u00a0The aim is to keep as much air in the mixture as possible. \u00a0Use the edge of the spatula (or metal spoon) and use a cutting motion. \u00a0Once you’ve incorporated the first half, sift over the remaining flour and fold that in as well. \u00a0Then, add the melted butter. \u00a0Gently – fold that in, too.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes. \u00a0In my 4-oven aga, I use the Baking Oven and bake for 20-25 minutes on the rack placed on the floor.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s done when the sides of the cake shrink away from the sides of the tin. \u00a0Leave it to cool for five minutes, then loosen the side clip and transfer the cake to a cooling rack.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Cr\u00e8me p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re is a fancy custard. \u00a0In a clean bowl, whisk together 4 eggs, 2 extra egg yolks, the sugar, cornflour and kirsch.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Cut 150g\/5\u00bdoz butter into cubes.<\/p>\n

\"Vanilla<\/a><\/p>\n

The best vanilla pods are the nice, fat, bendy ones.<\/p>\n

\"Vanilla<\/a><\/p>\n

Scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife.<\/p>\n

\"Vanilla<\/a><\/p>\n

Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla seeds and pod. \u00a0I chopped mine to get maximum flavour into the milk. \u00a0Bring to a boil and take it off the heat.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Place a sieve over the bowl holding the eggs and sugar and pour the hot milk on top. \u00a0Whisk everything together.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Pour the whole lot back into a clean saucepan. \u00a0Over a medium heat, stir until it thickens.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

It happens suddenly. \u00a0It’ll look like it’s got cellulite. \u00a0Whisk out the lumps. \u00a0You’re looking for a thick, smooth custard which will pipe.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s about to get richer. \u00a0You’re allowed to eat this guilt-free because you’ve made it and not bought it.<\/p>\n

Cube by cube, drop in the butter. \u00a0Stir and let the butter melt.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Once all the butter has been incorporated, it needs to cool. \u00a0Pour it into a shallow dish so there’s a big surface area to speed up the time it takes to cool.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Cover with cling wrap to stop a skin forming. \u00a0Put into the fridge. \u00a0It’ll take about an hour.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a lemon sugar syrup. \u00a0A warm lemon yields more juice so I pop mine in the Simmering Oven for a couple of minutes, but even rolling a lemon on the work surface does the trick. \u00a0Place the lemon juice in a saucepan, holding back a dessertspoon’s worth if you are making home-made marzipan.<\/p>\n

Add the caster sugar and a splash of water. \u00a0Stir over a low to medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. \u00a0Then bring to the boil and let it boil for 2 minutes. \u00a0Pour it into a heatproof jug or jar and leave to cool.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

The marzipan. \u00a0There is no such thing as bad marzipan and you can, of course, buy it. \u00a0Home-made is a different texture than the standard commercial product because I don’t have big rollers to pass everything through. \u00a0I make it when the marzipan is a ‘feature’. \u00a0So, not when I’m covering a cake before I ice it but .. yes, when I’m making Simnel Cake at Easter, or covering marzipan balls in chocolate.<\/p>\n

And, this.<\/p>\n

So, so easy. \u00a0It’s ground almonds. \u00a0If you’re really in the zone you can grind your own. \u00a0I wasn’t. \u00a0I didn’t. \u00a0Icing sugar. \u00a0Caster sugar.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

A dash of vanilla extract. \u00a0Another of orange flower water. \u00a0Another of sherry or rum. \u00a0A splash of lemon juice.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Lightly beat one egg. \u00a0You may not need all of it. \u00a0You want to end up with a stiff paste. \u00a0Lightly dust your work surface with icing sugar, rather than flour (!).<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

And, knead until it’s all smooth. \u00a0This is more than you’ll need but it’ll keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. \u00a0Wrap in cling wrap and then foil.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Roll out 200g\/7oz of marzipan. \u00a0It needs to fit the baking tin – I cut around the bake o’glide I use to line it with.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Slide it on to the base of a big quiche tin and put in the fridge to chill.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to the baking tin. \u00a0You’re on the final stretch. \u00a0Stay with me. \u00a0I bought a roll of acetate plastic in John Lewis in the wrapping paper\/birthday card department. \u00a0It’s great for wrapping plants and bottles of wine (when combined with tissue paper) .. and this.<\/p>\n

Cut a strip which is the height of your tin and a bit more.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

A clean tin! \u00a0Line the sides with the acetate.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

The Genoise sponge should now be cold. \u00a0You could even bake this the day before, if you’re really organised, and it will slice more easily.<\/p>\n

If you slice the cake unevenly it will show so this is my preferred method for getting it even. \u00a0My cake measured 5cm\/2″- ish. \u00a0Four cocktail sticks mark the half way point and I use them as a guide, slicing with a bread knife.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Place one half in the bottom of the cake tin, top side bottomwards.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Now for the lemon sugar syrup. \u00a0Brush on half the syrup.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

With the back of a spoon press the edges down really firmly. \u00a0Coax the sponge up tight to acetate. \u00a0It gives a much sharper finish.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

The strawberries. \u00a0For a ‘wow’ finish you need to have strawberries with a similar height. \u00a0How many .. will depend on their overall size.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Hull and slice in half.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

The cut side needs to face the acetate. \u00a0Push them in really snuggly. \u00a0It would be a tight fit.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

I use an easy-grip piping bag from Lakeland and a 1cm\/\u00bd” nozzle. \u00a0Fill the bag with two thirds of the cold cr\u00e8me p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re into the bag.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Pipe over the base and up between the gaps between the strawberries. \u00a0Make sure the\u00a0cr\u00e8me p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re reaches the top of the strawberries.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Aesthetically, I think this would probably look better if you filled the centre with whole strawberries but in the real world of a home kitchen that would be very wasteful. \u00a0Save 3 strawberries for decoration and cut the rest into pieces. \u00a0Pile them in the centre.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Pop the final third of the\u00a0cr\u00e8me p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re into the piping bag and pipe over the top of the strawberries.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Smooth out the\u00a0cr\u00e8me p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re with an offset spatula.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Top with the second half of sponge. \u00a0Cut side uppermost.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Brush over the rest of the lemon sugar syrup.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Push down. \u00a0Get the edge of the sponge pushed up snuggly against the acetate.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Slide the chilled marzipan disc on the top and put the cake into the fridge to chill.<\/p>\n

Now’s the time to make any chocolate decorations \u2026 \u00a0but a dusting of icing sugar and the reserved strawberries would be pretty, too.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

When you’re ready to serve. \u00a0Unclip the baking tin.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Peel away the acetate.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Transfer to a serving plate – the quiche tin base I used to chill the marzipan disc makes it easier than you would think.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Decorate. \u00a0Don’t place any cut strawberries on the marzipan too far ahead as they will eventually bleed.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a><\/p>\n

Eat.<\/p>\n

\"Fraisier<\/a>Fraisier Cake<\/strong><\/p>\n

Makes one 23cm\/9″ cake.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the cake:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n