Fraisier Cake (French Strawberry Cake)

Fraisier cake is a classic French cake that can only be described as a celebration of strawberries! Light, summery, and full of fresh strawberries, this dessert will always impress and delight.

Fraisier comes from "Fraise' which is the French word for strawberry, and it's easy to see why this title was given to this gorgeous French dessert. The whole cake really showcases beautiful, fresh strawberries and lets you enjoy a light summery dessert, bursting with strawberry flavor. There's no better way to enjoy the strawberry season than with a Fraisier. But if you are after some more delicious strawberry recipes, check out my Strawberry Custard Tarts or my Fresh Strawberry Pie.

While this Fraisier cake recipe may seem a little daunting, it's actually surprisingly easy to make. There are multiple different components, but each component is very simple and straightforward - if a little time-consuming. But if you have the time to give, then this Fraisier cake is well worth the effort!

Jump to:

• What is Fraisier Cake?
• Ingredients
• How to Prepare the Components
• How to Assemble Fraisier Cake
• Equipment
• Can I Make This Ahead of Time?
• Storage
• More Strawberry Recipes
• Recipe

What is Fraisier Cake?

Fraisier consists of three main components:

Genoise Sponge

Crème Mousseline

Fresh Strawberries

When broken down like this, it's a relatively simple dessert, but it's how Fraisier is assembled that makes it magical and showstopping.

The genoise sponge is the foundation of the cake, making both the top and bottom layers. The sponge is soaked in a strawberry simple syrup to add moisture and an extra punch of sweet strawberry flavor. Genoise is a light and airy Italian sponge cake used in a lot of European desserts and patisserie. Find out more about genoise sponge cake here.

Crème Mousseline is a wonderfully light and creamy filling often used by pastry chefs in various treats and desserts. When prepared as in this recipe, it sets like a mousse. It is made by mixing crème pâtissière (also known as pastry cream or custard) with whipped butter to make a truly smooth and decadent center that just melts on your tongue.

Fresh strawberries are the star of the show. The creme mousseline sets around the strawberries and holds them in place on the outer ring of the cake to show off the beautiful insides of the fruit. That is the signature look of a Fraisier cake. There are also strawberries throughout the center of the cake and as decoration on top.

Fraisier is also often finished off on top with a layer of marzipan or almond paste. We do include this step in this recipe, but if you don't like marzipan or feel like skipping it, this beautiful cake will still be showstopping without it.

Ingredients

• Eggs - This recipe does use a lot of eggs! We use whole eggs in the genoise sponge and egg yolks to make the pastry cream for the filling. Use large eggs and always free-range if you can.

• Sugar - You want white sugar for this recipe, make sure you use superfine sugar (caster sugar in the UK) as we want it to dissolve easily.

• Flour - For the genoise sponge, I find cake flour works best as it produces a beautifully light and airy sponge, which is what we want. However, if you don't have cake flour then all-purpose flour will do the trick.

• Oil - I use vegetable oil, but canola oil or any kind of flavorless oil will do. It is possible to make a genoise sponge with melted butter instead if you want to. Check out my post about genoise sponge to see the differences.

• Milk - You definitely want to use whole milk for this recipe. The milk is used to make the creme mousseline, so we want it to be full fat to carry that flavor and structure.

• Vanilla - The vanilla flavor will really shine through in this recipe, so try to find a high-quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Or you can use a whole vanilla pod if you have one. Vanilla pods or vanilla bean paste will mean you can see those gorgeous vanilla seeds in your vanilla mousseline cream.

• Butter - The butter will be whipped into oblivion to make the creme mousseline. Try to use a high-quality butter as the fat content tends to be higher and will produce a better result. Also, you want to use unsalted butter for this dessert.

• Corn starch - Corn starch (or cornflour in the UK) is a thickening agent we will use in the custard (pastry cream). Do not confuse it with cornmeal.

• Strawberries - Of course, we want some luscious-looking strawberries for Fraisier cake! If you are making your strawberry syrup from scratch, you can use frozen strawberries for this part of the process.
  
  However, the strawberries that will be used inside the fraisier cake should absolutely be fresh strawberries and the best ones you can find. These strawberries will be on display, so you want to make sure you find nice, ripe, juicy ones. If you can't find decent strawberries at your grocery store, try a farmers market that sells fresh fruit. It's worth the extra effort for this strawberry cake!

• Marzipan - This step is optional, but if you want to put the marzipan layer on top of the cake, you'll need a pack of marzipan. I dyed my marzipan red to fit the aesthetic of the dessert, but you can skip the red food coloring if you like and just put it on au naturel.

How to Prepare the Components

To stop this post from being extremely long, I have split each of the components up into their own individual posts to give as much information as possible. All the most important steps and info are on here, but if you'd like to go a little more in-depth, click through to the other posts for more detailed instructions.

You can prepare the genoise sponge, strawberry simple syrup and pastry cream ahead of time. But as soon as you transform the pastry cream into crème mousseline, you need to pour it into the cake ring, or else it will set in your bowl! If you want to make an easier version, try making my Easy Sponge Cake instead of the genoise.

Strawberry Simple Syrup

• Make the Strawberry Simple Syrup ahead of time by combining the sugar, water, and strawberries in a small saucepan and cooking over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves and the mixture turns clear.

• Remove from the heat and strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve to remove the strawberries and any small pieces. Let cool.

Genoise Sponge Cake

• Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and grease an 8-inch cake pan.

• Make the Genoise Sponge Cake by whipping the eggs and sugar together over a bain-marie until the sugar dissolves.

• Transfer the egg mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whip on high for 5 full minutes. It should look very pale and will have doubled in size.

• Turn the mixer on low speed and whip for a further 10 minutes.

• Add the flour to the mixture and gently fold it in.

• Add the milk, oil, and vanilla to a separate bowl, then take a large dollop of batter and mix it into the liquids thoroughly.

• Add the 'sacrificed' batter back into the main batter and fold everything in very gently.

• Keep folding until the batter reaches the ribbon stage, then pour into your prepared cake pan.

• Bake for 35 minutes or until the cake bounces back when you press on it lightly.

• Remove from the oven and turn the cake pan upside down on a wire rack to cool completely. It's best to put down a piece of parchment paper on top of the cooling rack in case the cake comes out of the cake pan.

• Once the cake has cooled, wrap it tightly in cling film and place it in an airtight container until you are ready to use.

• See my Genoise Sponge Cake recipe post for more detailed instructions on these steps.

Créme Mousseline

• Prepare the Creme Mousseline by first making a pastry cream. Combine the egg yolks with the sugar and whisk until pale and thick. Don't throw away the egg whites, you can use them in another recipe, such as my Pumpkin Pavlova.

• Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

• When the milk starts to get warm, pour a little of it into the egg yolk mixture and whisk the eggs and milk together until incorporated.

• Gradually add more and more warm milk, whisking in between until all the milk is incorporated into the egg yolks.

• Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and continue to cook until it starts to thicken.

• You'll know the pastry cream is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, and you can draw a line through it.

• Pass the pastry cream through a sieve to remove any lumps and ensure a smooth, luscious pastry cream. Then cover with plastic wrap (touching the surface of the custard) and let cool completely.

• If you will be making the creme mousseline in the next few hours, do not put the pastry cream in the fridge, just let it sit at room temperature until you are ready. If you are making the pastry cream ahead of time, put it in the fridge until about two hours before you need it, then let it come completely to room temperature before beginning your creme mousseline.

• Once the pastry cream has completely cooled, whip your room temperature butter on high speed until very pale and creamy. - about 3 minutes.

• Slowly add the room temperature pastry cream to the butter, one tablespoon at a time, whipping on medium speed for 20 seconds in between each addition. It is very important that your pastry cream is at room temperature when you add it to the butter, or else the fat and liquid won't combine properly.

• Once everything is incorporated, turn the mixer back on high and whip for another minute.

• The créme mousseline should be thick, glossy and pipable. If it isn't, see my Crème Mousseline recipe post for troubleshooting or just more detailed instructions.

How to Assemble Fraisier Cake

• Once the genoise sponge has completely cooled, cut the very top, browned layer off of the cake and then slice it in half to create two even-sized layers of cake. I like to use a cake leveler to ensure I have perfect layers every time, but you can also use a serrated knife.

• Place one of your genoise cake layers into the base of a pastry ring or loose-bottomed cake pan. Do not grease the cake pan. (If you are not sure what kind of pan to use, see the 'equipment' section below.

• Use a pastry brush to soak the sponge cake layer with strawberry simple syrup. You don't want to drown it and make it soggy, just a nice even layer of syrup across the cake will be great.

• Find the prettiest strawberries in the box and slice them in half. It's best if you can find ones that are all roughly the same size.

• Place the strawberries in a ring around the sides of the tin, with the cut side of the strawberry facing outward towards the cake ring/pan.

• Put crème mousseline into a piping bag and cut a hole in the end - there is no need for a nozzle. Pipe creme mousseline all around the strawberry halves to fill in all the gaps (see pictures below). Once all the gaps are filled in, pipe a thin layer of creme mousseline in the middle of the cake to cover any cake layer you might still be able to see.

• Fill the center of the cake with strawberries, with the tops cut off, standing upright (see pictures), until the whole cake is covered in a bed of fresh strawberries.

• Pipe more creme mousseline on top of the strawberries to form a thick layer - it should cover the top of the strawberries so they can't be seen anymore. Use a palette knife to smooth it out nice and flat.

• Put the second sponge layer on top of the creme mousseline layer and press it down gently. Brush with another layer of simple syrup.

• Put the remainder of the creme mousseline on top of the genoise cake and smooth it out flat. Place the Fraisier cake in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours - or even overnight.

• Once the fraisier cake has set, remove it from the fridge and let it sit for 5 minutes.

• Try to remove the cake from the cake ring/pan very gently. It should slide easily, but if there is any resistance, you can use a hair dryer or blow torch to gently heat the outside of the ring very slightly, then try again. This will very slightly melt the side of the cake and it will expand the metal of the pan for easier release.

• Once the cake is removed from the cake pan, you should have a stunning display of sponge cake housing a gorgeous layer of creme mousseline hugging the cut strawberries. When you slice it later, you will see the whole strawberries in each slice of fraisier cake.

• Put it back in the fridge while you prepare the marzipan. A classic fraisier cake has this marzipan layer on top, but it's totally optional if you want to skip it.

• Take a small amount of red food coloring and knead it into the marzipan with your hands (you may want to wear gloves) until the color is incorporated evenly. Roll the marzipan out thinly on your worktop, using a little icing sugar underneath so it doesn't stick.

• Use the cake ring or pan that you used for the cake to trace and cut a circle of marzipan the same size as your cake. Then lift it from the worktop and place it gently on top of your fraisier cake.

• Decorate with fresh strawberries. Voila!

Note: If you are using an open-bottomed pan like a pastry ring, you want to build your fraisier cake directly on a cake board or whatever plate you will be serving on. If you are using a spring form pan or loose-bottomed cake pan, you can transfer it to the board or plate immediately after removing it from the pan.

Equipment

Cake pan or ring - you have a few options for what kind of round pans you can use to build the Fraisier cake - you can use a loose-bottomed cake pan, a springform pan or a tart ring (the ones with no bottom). As long as it will support the sides of the cake while they set and you can remove the sides easily - it will work. The important thing is that whatever you build the fraisier cake in is the same size or smaller than the cake pan you use to bake the genoise sponge in (or the same one). If your genoise sponge is bigger than what you use to build the fraisier cake, you can just trim it down to size. But if it is too small, then your mousseline will leak onto the bottom and cover the sides of the sponge cake.

Also, pay attention to the height of your pan - it needs to be tall enough to house all the layers comfortably. If it isn't, you can make a cake collar using an acetate strip around the inside of the pan to make it taller.

I used this adjustable pastry ring and set it to the exact same size as my genoise sponge cake pan (8 inches).

Pastry Brush - for brushing the simple syrup onto the sponge disc layers - you want to make sure to use a food-grade pastry brush or a silicone pastry brush. If you use a paintbrush or craft brush, you may end up with some bristles in your cake.

Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment - You could make this by hand or with an electric hand whisk, but both the genoise sponge batter and the crème mousseline need to be whipped for a very long time and I don't want to be responsible for your arms falling off!

Saucepan - You'll need a saucepan for every component - to make a bain-marie for the genoise, to make the strawberry syrup, and to make the pastry cream for the mousseline.

Can I Make This Ahead of Time?

You can certainly make this Fraisier cake a day or two before serving, but I wouldn't go much longer than that as the fresh strawberries might start to get a little soft. What you can do, however, is prepare almost all the components ahead of time to make assembly much easier.

The strawberry simple syrup can be made up to two weeks in advance and stored in a jar or bottle in the fridge.

The genoise sponge cake can be made 3-5 days in advance - provided it is properly stored in plastic wrap and an airtight container at room temperature to keep it moist.

The pastry cream for the creme mousseline can be prepared up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge. However, once it is added to the whipped butter to make the crème mousseline, I recommend pouring it into your cake ring right away.

I also recommend getting your strawberries fresh on the day you plan to assemble the cake - this allows for maximum longevity of the Fraisier cake once it has been constructed.

Storage

Just like my Berry Chantilly Cake, once it has been assembled, the Fraisier cake should be stored in the fridge and is best eaten within 3 days. The longevity really depends on the freshness of the strawberries that were used inside it. You should be able to get a good indicator by looking at the strawberries on the outside of the cake.

If you are preparing the individual components ahead of time, see the section above (Can I Make This Ahead of Time?) or how to store each of them.

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