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Close up shot of fraisier cake on a marble cake plate.

Fraisier Cake (French Strawberry Cake)

Fraisier cake is a French strawberry cake that is made with a genoise sponge, strawberry syrup, filled with diplomat cream, and fresh strawberries.
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
chill time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 10 slices
Calories 347 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Diplomat cream

  • 2 cups Milk
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 5 Egg yolks
  • ½ cup Granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoon Cornstarch
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon Gelatin
  • 3 teaspoon Water
  • 1 cup Heavy cream
  • ¼ cup Powder sugar

Genoise cake

  • 4 Eggs
  • ¾ cup Granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup Flour
  • ⅓ teaspoon Baking powder

Strawberry syrup

  • ⅓ cup Strawberries with their stems off, sliced into small cubes
  • ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup Water

Assembly

  • ½ pound Strawberries with their stems off, sliced into small cubes

Instructions
 

Make the diplomat cream

  • Place a saucepan over high heat and fill it with the milk and vanilla extract. Let it simmer, and remove it from the heat. Scoop ¼ cup of the milk and set aside.
  • In a small mixing bowl, add the sugar and cornflour. Mix with a whisk until combined. Add the egg yolks and mix.
  • Gradually add the ¼ cup of milk and mix constantly with a whisk. This step is used to temper the egg yolks and prevent them from cooking too fast.
  • Move the saucepan with the milk to the stovetop over low heat and add the egg yolk mixture into the milk mixing constantly with a whisk.
  • Mix over medium-low heat and mix constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Don't increase the heat, be patient it will be worth it!
  • Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap tightly. Place the bowl in the fridge. Allow it to set and cool for a few hours.

Make the genoise cake

  • Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prep a parchment paper-lined 8-inch cake pan.
  • Into a large mixing bowl, add the eggs (room temp), granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix with an electric hand mixer or use a stand mixer with the balloon attachment.
  • Mix for about 10-12 minutes on high speed (be patient) until you get a fluffy and light mixture.
  • Into a small mixing bowl, add the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Sift ½ of the dry mixture at a time to whipped mixture and gently fold with a spatula until there are no streaks of flour visible.
  • Pour the cake batter into a parchment paper-lined 8-inch baking pan and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  • If you can, bake the cake in 2 separate 8-inch cake pans for about 18 minutes.
  • Let the cake cool completely. If you made the cake in one pan, cut it with a serrated knife into 2 even layers.

Make the strawberry syrup

  • Into a saucepan, add the chopped strawberries, water, and sugar, and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes until the sugar has melted completely and the strawberries also melted into the syrup.
  • Turn off the heat and strain the mixture into a small bowl or into a mason jar and allow it to cool completely.

Finish the diplomat cream

  • In a small bowl, add the water and the gelatin and allow it to sit for 10 minutes for the gelatin to bloom.
  • Melt the gelatin in the microwave for 5-second pulses until it's fully melted, do not overheat it! Remove the pastry cream from the fridge and give it a mix with a whisk to make it smooth again.
  • Add the melted gelatin to the pastry cream and mix until well combined.
  • Into a separate large bowl, add the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar and whip it to soft peaks. Add the whipped cream mixture into the pastry cream mixture and fold it gently with a rubber spatula until smooth and well combined.

Assembly

  • On a cake plate, place an 8-inch cake ring with acetate, plate the first genoise sponge cake layer into the cake ring.
  • Use a pastry brush to soak up the sponge with the strawberry syrup we made.
  • Slice the strawberries in half (make sure they are about the same side and height), remove the stem, and line the cake with the strawberries facing outwards.
  • Transfer the diplomat cream into a large pastry bag, pipe the cream filling the gaps between each strawberry, and add a generous layer of the cream onto the sponge cake. About ⅔ of the cream. Smooth it out with an offset spatula.
  • Add more sliced strawberries and top the cake with the second cake sponge.
  • Top the cake layer with the remaining diplomat cream and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Transfer the cake carefully into the fridge to allow the gelatin in the diplomat cream to set to get a stable cake.
  • Ultimately refrigerate it overnight or at least for 3-4 hours.
  • Remove the cake from the fridge and gently remove the cake ring and the acetate.
  • Make homemade whipped cream and pipe it on the edges of the cake (optional) with a 1M star tip, and fill the middle of the cake with more sliced strawberries. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • After you folded the flour into the mixture, fold it a couple more times to ensure that there are no streaks of flour in the mixture or at the bottom of the bowl.
  • If you are using an electric hand mixer and not a stand mixer, it will take you 2-4 minutes longer to whip the eggs for the sponge cake.
  • Don't undermix the egg mixture! You will need to be patient and whip the eggs and sugar for at least 10 minutes until the mixture turns into a big cloud.
  • Use ripe, juicy strawberries for the best flavor in your cake. Look for strawberries that are deep red in color and fragrant.
  • When you add the flour, add it in 3 batches and sift the flour to prevent the mixture from deflating.
  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure that you have a homogeneous mixture that has no lumps.

Nutrition

Calories: 347kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 8gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 195mgSodium: 129mgPotassium: 185mgFiber: 1gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 657IUVitamin C: 16mgCalcium: 112mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Fraisier Cake, French Strawberry Cake
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