Fraisier Cake

Fraiser cake — Photo:
Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling

Active Time:

1 hr 30 mins

Chill Time:

5 hrs

Total Time:

7 hrs

Servings:

Yield:

1 cake

When strawberry season hits, it’s the ideal time to make a showstopping Fraisier cake. This classic French cake is typically made of a genoise sponge cake, mousseline cream, strawberries, and a marzipan topping. In our version, we skip the marzipan and let the mousseline cream be the star. With its fluffy and creamy texture and vanilla flavor, the cake is the perfect foil to sun-ripened strawberries. The sponge cake is pillowy on its own, but after brushing it with amaretto and layering it with the strawberries and mousseline cream, it softens into the perfect texture. This cake is worth the effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can you use in place of the amaretto?

Amaretto is a sweetened almond-flavored liqueur that gets its flavor from apricot pits, and/or peach pits, and sometimes steeped almonds, depending on the producer. For a non-alcoholic substitute, use an almond simple syrup.
What is the secret to making a good sponge cake?

A sponge cake uses air trapped within the beaten eggs for lifting up the cake instead of baking soda or baking powder. Therefore, it’s very important that the eggs are at room temperature as room temperature eggs whip up more easily than cold eggs. A gentle hand is also important when folding flour into beaten eggs/sugar, and also patience when folding the flour in — you want to incorporate all of the flour with no pockets or bits of flour remaining.

Note from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

When whipping the eggs and sugar for your sponge cake, if the mixture doesn’t thicken and feels too loose, place the bowl back over the hot water for a brief amount of time while still beating constantly with a hand mixer. This will cause the eggs to warm up and thicken to the texture you need.

Make ahead

The sponge cake can be made up to a day ahead of time and wrapped at room temperature. You can also wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to three weeks. The egg mixture of the mousseline cream can be made up to two days ahead of time and kept covered with plastic wrap (pressed directly on the custard) until you are ready to whip with your room temperature butter.

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Ingredients

Sponge Cake

6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar or caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bleached cake flour (such as Swan’s Down)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Mousseline Cream

2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
4 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup superfine sugar or caster sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed and divided
5 tablespoons amaretto liqueur, divided
1 pound fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and halved lengthwise (about 3 cups)
Sliced fresh strawberries

Directions

Prepare the Sponge Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bottom of a 9-inch springform pan using parchment paper; set aside. Fill a large saucepan one-third of the way with water. Bring to a simmer over medium. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low. Whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla in a large heatproof bowl; place over the large saucepan of water, making sure no water touches the bottom of the bowl. Whisk egg mixture constantly until an instant-read thermometer registers 110°F, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture is at least doubled in volume and pale in color, about 8 minutes.
Working with one-third of the flour at a time, sift flour into egg mixture, and fold gently until fully combined, making sure no flour is visible. After all of flour is sifted and folded in, gently pour butter down 1 side of bowl to ensure weight of butter does not deflate egg mixture. Sprinkle salt over egg mixture, and gently fold until butter is completely incorporated. Pour batter into the ungreased prepared springform pan; bake in preheated oven until golden brown and center of cake bounces back when lightly tapped using your finger, about 25 minutes, loosely covering with aluminum foil after 20 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning, if needed. Remove from oven, and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife or small offset spatula around edge of cake; release clasp to remove outer ring of pan. Let cake cool completely on a wire rack, about 45 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
While Sponge Cake is baking, prepare the Mousseline Cream

Heat milk over medium-low in a large saucepan until just steaming but not simmering, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla bean paste. Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a large heatproof bowl until combined. Ladle about 1/3 cup hot milk mixture into bowl with eggs, whisking constantly. Repeat 1 to 2 more times, whisking constantly, until bottom of bowl is hot to the touch. Pour hot egg mixture into remaining milk mixture in saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook over medium, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened and mixture just reaches a boil, about 8 minutes, being sure to scrape sides of saucepan occasionally to release anything sticking to sides. Once mixture is just to a boil, whisk constantly for 1 minute until mixture is consistency of thick pudding. Remove from heat, and whisk in 3/4 cup of the butter until combined.
Press custard through a fine mesh strainer placed over a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; spread into an even layer. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Cover top of custard, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface of custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
Remove custard from refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Place remaining 3/4 cup butter in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With mixer on medium speed, add spoonfuls of custard to whipped butter, beating until just combined after each addition, 3 to 5 minutes total. Transfer Mousseline Cream to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip.
To assemble cake

Using a large serrated knife or cake leveler, halve Sponge Cake horizontally to create 2 equal, thinner rounds about ¾-inch thick each. Line inside edges of a clean 9-inch springform pan using an acetate sheet or parchment paper, leaving at least a 1 1/2-inch overhang above pan. Place a parchment round in bottom of springform pan. Place 1 cake half, cut side up, in pan. With a pastry brush, brush cut side of cake lightly with 2 1/2 tablespoons of the amaretto liqueur. Place strawberry halves, cut sides facing out and points of strawberries facing up, around perimeter of cake (so cut sides are touching parchment paper). Once perimeter of cake is lined with strawberry halves, roughly chop remaining strawberries, and set aside.
Pipe about 1/2 cup Mousseline Cream between strawberries to fill any gaps. Pipe about 1/2 cup cream to completely cover strawberries. Pipe cream in a thin layer (about 1/2 cup) to cover exposed cake. Top with chopped strawberries in even layer. Pipe a thin layer of cream (about 1 cup) over chopped strawberries in an even layer. Place remaining cake half, cut side up, on top of cream, pressing gently to adhere to cream layer. Brush cake with remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur. Pipe remaining Mousseline Cream (about 2 1/2 cups) over top of cake, and spread into a smooth layer. Cover pan using plastic wrap, placing wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Remove collar of pan, and remove and discard parchment. Garnish with sliced strawberries in a ring around perimeter of cake, overlapping as needed.