Mini Fraisiers

I finally got my hands on some mini strawberries (which were surprisingly difficult to find) to make mini fraisiers. What I like most about mini strawberries is you can often find organic (aka wonky and weird) shaped strawberries that I think make cute decoration for the mini fraisiers.

Fraisier is a French style strawberry layer cake which typically comprises of four main components- biscuit sponge, simple syrup, crème mousseline and glaze. It’s a little fussy to make, but not overly difficult, and the result is stunning. In fact, you will probably receive a standing ovation for these babies at any dinner party.





Mini Fraisiers
(Adapted from Okashi)

Makes 4 numbers of 7.5cm diameter cakes

Simple Syrup
100 grams caster sugar
100 grams water
2 tablespoons cherry liqueur (or kirsch)

To make simple syrup:
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Allow to boil for 5 seconds. Remove from the heat, let cool, and stir in kirsch.

Biscuit Sponge
90 grams egg whites
80 grams caster sugar
80 grams egg yolks
40 grams cake flour
20 grams corn flour
35 grams unsalted butter, melted

To make biscuit sponge:
Preheat the oven to 200 degree celcius (or 180 degree celcius fan-forced). Line 30x20cm cake pan with baking paper.

Whisk egg white until foamy. Add one quarter of the sugar and whisk for a while. Then add remaining sugar and beat until stiff peaks form and egg whites are glossy. Add egg yolks and mix well.

Shift both flours into the bowl and fold using a spatula. Pour melted butter into the batter and fold well.

Pour batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly with a scraper and bake for 15 minutes or until when a toothpick is inserted in the center comes out clean.

When sponge is done and cooled, peel away (by gently rubbing) the layer of brown skin on the top.

Crème Mousseline
350 grams whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped for seeds
4 egg yolks
100 grams caster sugar
35 grams plain flour
200 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon cherry liqueur (kirsch)

To make crème mousseline:
Place milk, vanilla bean and seeds in a saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a seperate bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture is pale yellow in colour. Whisk in flour until well combined. Remove vanilla bean from milk, gradually pour hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, constantly whisking to combine.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Place over high heat, whisking constantly with a hand whisk until it thickens and becomes smooth and glossy. Remove from heat, transfer pastry cream to a plate, cover with cling film, and place in the freezer to cool for 10 minutes but do not freeze.

Meanwhile, beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. When the pastry cream is about the same temperature as the butter, add the pastry cream to the butter and beat until combined. Add cherry liqueur and mix well. Spoon creme mousseline into a piping bag fitted with a 1-cm round piping tip.

Raspberry Jelly
5 grams gelatin sheets
200 grams thawed frozen or fresh raspberries
30 grams caster sugar

To make raspberry jelly:
Soak gelatine sheets in a bowl of iced water to soften them.

Meanwhile, puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor. Strain the raspberry through a sieve into a bowl, pressing down with the back of a spoon and discarding the solids. Weigh out 100 grams of strained raspberry puree. Place raspberry puree and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Squeeze out excess water from gelatine sheets, add gelatin sheets to the raspberry mixture and mix well.

Note: raspberry jelly needs to be use immediately. Make this after you have assemble the cake.

To assemble:
In addition to the components above, you will also need about 250 grams of small strawberries. Reserve 4 cutest and pretties strawberries for decoration. Hull and half the remaining strawberries lengthwise.

Cut out 7.5cm diameter round sponge with cake ring. Cut out a second slightly smaller 6cm diameter round with a cookie cutter. Place cake ring on baking paper. Place larger sponge in cake ring and brush generously with syrup. Arrange strawberries around edge of cake ring with the flat surface against cake ring. Pipe creme mousseline over strawberries. Place smaller sponge on the mousseline cream, press down lightly and brush generously with syrup. Spread a layer of creme mousseline on sponge and level with a spatula. Pour raspberry jelly over the creme mousseline. Refrigerate overnight to set. Decorate with a strawberry on top before serving.