The different elements of a strawberry plant
A strawberry cake consists of a slice of sponge cake soaked in Brix syrup, onto which we place mousseline cream, pieces of strawberries (lots of them!) and which we "close" with another slice of sponge cake. Garnish with icing or marzipan. For me, the whole point of a strawberry plant is to have a standard size of 4.5 cm. And you'd never know it was so small! It's not always easy to measure out all the ingredients and avoid overflowing, so keep in mind to "aim small"!The sponge cake
For the cookie, you'll find all the tips in my article on sponge cake, or you can download my free ebook "11 CAP techniques to make ALL your pastries a success". All you have to do is beat the whole eggs and sugar in a food processor for about 15 minutes. The mixture will double in volume. Then gently add the flour and mix with a spatula.Crème mousseline
Mousseline is a mixture of crème pâtissière and butter, and I recently described the process in detail in my Paris-Brest recipe. All you have to do is make your own crème pâtissière, leave it to cool and add some butter (the 2 elements must be at roughly the same temperature to prevent the cream from slicing). Then whip at high speed for a good 10 minutes to incorporate the air and swell the cream. And if things don't go as planned (aka it slices), check out my article 7 tips for catching up on (almost) any recipe! [caption id="attachment_5290" align="alignnone" width="683"]
Plain muslin[/caption]
Brix syrup
There's just one thing left to do before we get down to assembly: make the brix syrup. Syrup brix 30 or 60 (pronounced syrup brix 30 degrees or 60 degrees). It's a syrup that can be used for a number of purposes (relaxing fondant, puncturing a cookie, glazing apple turnovers...). Brix degree measures the weight in grams of dry matter contained in 100 g of product. It is measured using a refractometer. The higher the Brix level, the sweeter the syrup. The formerly widely used Baumé degree (B) has been abandoned in favor of the Brix degree (which has no abbreviation). Today, 60° or 30° Brix syrup is widely used.- 60°Brix syrup: 150 g sugar and 115 g water brought to the boil and used at 20°C.
- 30°Brix syrup: 30 g sugar and 70 g water brought to the boil and used at 20°C.
Setting up the strawberry plant
Once you've got everything you need, it's time to assemble the fraisier. First step: place the circle on a golden cardboard base and place the entremet circle on top. Don't forget to put rhodoïd on top to avoid catas when unmolding (and don't forget to buy 4.5 cm high moulds, otherwise it's complicated). We then choose the most beautiful strawberries (and especially the most regular in size) and cut them in half. Make sure you pick your fruit as early as possible, so you don't end up with a pile of fruit that isn't very fresh or regular enough for your strawberry patch. Place the sponge cake circle on top, and arrange the strawberries all around (the inside of the strawberries facing the rhodoïd). Be careful not to squeeze them too tightly, as the pressure may cause them to lift a little on one side. This will look ugly when the circle is removed. Punch the sponge cake with the Brix syrup, and place a light layer of mousseline cream on top. [caption id="attachment_5298" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Strawberry plant assembly[/caption]
Next, place the rest of the strawberries, cut into pieces, and cover again with mousseline. Be sure to leave enough space for another slice of sponge cake!
Before placing the mousseline, make sure you put some cream between each strawberry. It's easy to think that the muslin will settle into place, but in fact it doesn't. It's even better to run a small spatula between each strawberry to ensure that the edges are well covered. It's even better to run a small spatula between each strawberry to make sure the edges are well covered.
Then place the final layer of sponge cake. Punch down and cover with muslin to smooth the top. Tip: if you've used too much muslin, lift the circle a few millimetres to smooth the top. Then place the marzipan or topping on top and decorate in peace! Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours before unmolding.
Strawberry CAP pastry
For a 20 cm circle 4.5 cm high
For the sponge cake :
- 150 g whole eggs
- 90 g sugar
- 90 g flour
For the vanilla mousseline cream :
- 500 g whole milk
- 150 g sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 80 g egg yolks ((about 4 yolks))
- 50 g cream powder (or cornstarch)
- 220 g butter at room temperature
For the syrup :
- 150 g sugar
- 115 g water
- 1 capful alcohol (rum, kirsch, amaretto, optional)
For decoration and assembly :
- 300 g to 400 g strawberries
- 300 g almond paste
Making the sponge cake
In the bowl of a mixer, beat the sugar and eggs at high speed until the mixture triples in volume (about 15 minutes).
Gently fold in the flour and mix gently with a pastry blender. The mixture should not fall.
Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a piping bag and poach on an 18 cm template (on the reverse side of the parchment paper) or in an entremet ring.
Bake for 15-20 min at 180°C. The sponge cake should be lightly browned, a little shrunken and resistant to the touch.
For the vanilla mousseline cream
For the crème pâtissière, bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla, split and scraped.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar and cream powder in the bowl of a food processor, then add the egg yolks.
When the milk boils, strain it through a sieve to remove the vanilla skins and pods. Whisk into the mixture.
Transfer the mixture to the saucepan and return to the heat. When the cream begins to boil, continue cooking for a further 1 min. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Once the crème pâtissière has cooled, place it in the bowl of a food processor and whizz at medium speed. Add the pieces of room-temperature butter one at a time.
When all the butter has been incorporated, continue whisking for 10 minutes at high speed to incorporate the air and swell the mixture.
Brix syrup
Mix the sugar with the water and bring to the boil. Add alcohol and allow to cool.
Assembly
Place the first disk of sponge cake in a 20 cm-diameter circle lined with rhodoid film.
Select the smoothest strawberries and cut into 2. Place them between the circle and the sponge cake (with the inside of the strawberry facing the rhodoid).
Brush the sponge cake with the syrup to make it softer.
Transfer the crème mousseline to a pastry bag. Place a dab of cream between each strawberry slice and cover the sponge cake with a first thin layer of cream.
- Place the remaining strawberries, cut into small pieces, on top of the cream and cover again with a thin layer of cream.
- Place the second sponge cake disk on top, soak it in syrup and cover with the remaining cream. Smooth (you should be almost up to the level of the mould).
For decoration :
- Spread the almond paste very thinly between two sheets of parchment paper and place on top of the strawberries. Using a rolling pin, remove the excess marzipan.
Decorate (here a little chocolate in the cone and a few strawberries)
