Category: Cakes

Fraisier cake is one of my favourite French cakes. My version has a syrup soaked genoise sponge base, fresh strawberries and a crème mousseline on top. Crème mousseline is made by adding a lot of butter to crème pâtissière (or pastry cream) and is absolutely delicious. This dessert is basically a fancy way of serving strawberries and cream.

For the Genoise Sponge

• 2 large eggs
• 60g caster sugar
• 60g plain flour
• 15g unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking tray with baking paper and a 16cm diameter ring. The ring needs to be quite deep as the batter will have a lot of volume, the ring I used was 6cm deep.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and leave to cool slightly whilst you prepare the other ingredients. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl over a bain marie and whisk until the mixture is hot to the touch (if you have a thermometer it needs to be about 50°C).

Take the bowl off the heat and continue to whisk until the mixture is lighter in colour, bigger in volume and has cooled down.

Pass the flour through a sieve and then gently fold into the egg and sugar mix. Once the flour is fully incorporated, take a small amount of the batter and pop it in to the saucepan with the melted butter and mix together. Then transfer the butter mix into the larger batter mix and gently fold in. Mixing some batter with the melted butter first makes it easier to incorporate the butter.

Gently transfer the batter into the ring on the baking tray, being careful to not knock any of the air out. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until firm to the touch. Once baked, leave to cool in the ring.

For the Crème Mousseline

• 500ml milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 125g caster sugar
• 50g cornflour
• 2tbsp vanilla extract
• 250g unsalted butter (at room temperature)

First of all make the pastry cream. Start by heating the milk gently in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar, then whisk in the cornflour. Once the milk is simmering, pour a small amount into the egg mixture and whisk together, then pour the entire contents into the saucepan and turn up the heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is thick. Pour into a clean bowl and whisk in the vanilla. Cover with cling film (the film needs to be touching the pastry cream) and chill in the fridge.

Once the cream is cool, pop the butter (at room temperature) in an electric mixer and whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Keep whisking the butter and add the pastry cream a little at a time until fully incorporated. The mixture may look a little curdled but keep whisking and it will become smooth. If the mixture is a little lumpy, it means the butter was perhaps too warm when mixing the two together. This can be rescued by putting the bowl over a bain marie and whisking until smooth.

For the imbibing syrup

• 75g caster sugar
• 75ml water
• 25ml alcohol (e.g. strawberry liqueur, vanilla vodka or champagne)

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in the saucepan. Take off the heat and add the alcohol and mix.

To assemble the cake

For the cake, you will need a punnet of strawberries.

Remove the cake from the ring (run a knife around the ring to release the cake). The cake needs to be about 2cm in height so use a sharp serrated knife to trim off the top of the cake. I use a different sized ring mould to rest the knife on so the cake is cut evenly.

Next take the original ring the cake was baked in and line with acetate and put on a board or cake stand. Place the cake in the bottom of the ring and using a pastry brush, brush the imbibing syrup all over the cake. Use all of the syrup so the cake is really moist.

Next, you’ll need about 7 or 8 strawberries to line the ring with. Try and choose strawberries that are about the same size (the remaining strawberries will be chopped up so it doesn’t matter how they look). Hull the strawberries and chop in half. Place the strawberries inside the ring, cut half facing outwards, and press against the acetate.

Now spoon or pipe some of your crème mousseline over and around the strawberries to fill the gaps between them. Spoon more of the mousseline over the cake. Now roughly chop your remaining strawberries (reserving 3 or 4 for decoration on top) and put them in the middle of the crème.

Finally pour the remaining mouselline on top. Bring it right to the top of the ring and smooth over with a palette knife.

Pop in the fridge and leave to chill for at least 1 hour. Once chilled, remove the metal ring and the acetate. Smooth over any rough edges with a palette knife, then decorate the top with strawberries and fresh mint leaves. Serve immediately and enjoy!

This Eton Mess inspired cake has three layers of vanilla sponge and is filled and topped with chantilly cream, crushed meringues and strawberries.

Vanilla cake

• 300g self raising flour
• 265g margarine
• 265g caster sugar
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Grease 3 sandwich tins (8 inch diameter) using butter and dust all over with flour. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan oven).

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until smooth. Split the batter evenly between the 3 tins and level the tops. Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes until risen and golden (check the cakes are fully cooked by inserting a skewer in to the centre, it should come out clean). Once baked, turn out on to wire racks and leave to cool.

Meringue

• 3 large egg whites
• 150g caster sugar

Once the cakes are done, lower the oven temperature to 100°C and line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper. 

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Keep the whisk going and slowly add the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Once all the sugar has been incorporated, whisk on high until the mixture is stiff and glossy. I then filled a piping bag with the mixture and piped out meringue “kisses” on to the baking paper. Most of the meringue is going to be crushed anyway, so if you prefer, just use a spoon to dollop meringue on to the tray.

Bake the meringue in the oven for about an hour. If the meringue pieces come away easily from the paper, they are done. Otherwise, leave in the oven for a little longer.

Chantilly Cream

• 550ml double cream
• 50g icing sugar (sifted)
• 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla powder

Chantilly cream is a mixture of cream, icing sugar and vanilla whipped up until it holds its shape. I use a vanilla powder to flavour, but you can use the seeds from a vanilla pod or a teaspoon of vanilla extract.  Place the cream, icing sugar and the vanilla in a bowl and whisk until the cream reaches soft peaks (be careful not to over whisk as it will become butter).

To assemble the cake, place the first cake on a board or cake stand (hold in place with a small amount of the cream. Take a third of the cream and spread over the top of the cake. Now take the meringues in a bowl and crush them up into irregular pieces (leave a few meringues in one piece to pop on top). Sprinkle a third of the meringue pieces on the cream and top with some chopped up strawberries. Repeat with the next 2 layers and top with the whole meringues and some more strawberries.

The sponge in this cake is flavoured with zest and a little of the juice of blood orange, however it’s the syrup drizzled all over the cake which is really strong in flavour and makes it very moist. The icing dripped on top is made purely of juice from the orange and icing sugar and adds a final burst of flavour to the cake.

Blood Orange Drizzle Cake 

• 150g unsalted butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 165g self raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• zest of 2 blood oranges
• 1 tbsp blood orange juice

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan oven). Grease a 2 lb loaf tin with butter and line the base with baking paper.

Begin by sifting together the flour and the baking powder into a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated (add a spoonful of the flour with each egg to stop the mixture curdling). Then finally fold in the remaining flour, orange zest and juice. Once all the ingredients have been incorporated, pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for approx 30 to 40 minutes (check the cake is cooked all the way through using a skewer).

Orange syrup

• 50g caster sugar
• 75ml of water
• 25ml of orange liqueur
• juice of 1 blood orange

Make the syrup whilst the cake is baking. Weigh out the sugar and the water into a small saucepan. Heat slowly until the sugar is completely dissolved and then bring to the boil. Take off the heat once the syrup reaches a good boil and then add the liqueur and the orange juice. Stir and leave in the saucepan to cool until needed.

When the cake is baked, remove from the tin and place on a wire rack with foil underneath  (to catch any drips from the syrup). Using a skewer, make a few small holes all over the top of the cake to help the syrup through. Use a pastry brush to brush the syrup all over the top of the cake.

Once all the syrup has been brushed on to the cake, leave to cool.

Blood Orange Icing

• 80g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp blood orange juice

Sift the icing sugar in to a bowl, then add the orange juice. Whisk together until smooth. If you want a runnier consistency add a little more orange juice.

Once the cake has cooled, spoon over the icing, allowing it to drip down the sides.

This vanilla cake is filled with a gorgeous strawberry crème pâtissière, covered with a smooth strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream and finally topped with a white chocolate ganache.

Vanilla Sponge

• 300g margarine
• 300g caster sugar
• 300g self raising flour
• 5 whole eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan oven). Grease three sandwich tins (diameter 8 inches) with butter or margarine then dust with flour.

In a separate bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until it forms a smooth batter. Split the batter evenly between the three tins, level the tops with a spatula then place in the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes. The cakes should be risen and golden. Test with a skewer or cocktail stick to confirm the cakes are done. Once done, turn out on to a wire rack to cool.

For the strawberry crème pâtissière you will need…

• 375g strawberries
• 3 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue)
• 75g caster sugar
• 45g cornflour

Hull the strawberries then cut them in half (or quarter them if they are quite big). Heat the strawberries gently in a saucepan with a tablespoon of water until they are soft. Then blitz in a food processor until you have a smooth purée. Pass the purée through a sieve (to remove any large lumps or seeds) and pour back into the saucepan.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour.

Heat the strawberry purée until it starts to steam. Pour a small amount into the egg yolk mixture and whisk together. Then pour the egg yolk mixture in to the saucepan with the rest of the purée and whisk together. Turn the heat up to maximum and whisk constantly. Keep moving the whisk at all times otherwise you risk parts of the mix burning on the bottom of the saucepan. Keep whisking until the mixture starts to become thick, then quickly turn out in to a clean bowl.  Cover with cling film, with the film touching the surface of the crème pâtissière (this stops it forming a skin on top) and leave to cool.

For the strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream, you will need…

• 4 egg whites
• 200g caster sugar
• 200g unsalted butter (at room temperature and cubed)
• 4 tbsp strawberry jam

Pour the egg whites and the sugar in to a heat proof bowl, then place on top of a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the saucepan). Whisk the egg whites and sugar together over the water. It will start to become thicker and more meringue like. Using a sugar thermometer, check the temperature of the mixture. Keep whisking until the meringue reaches 70℃.

Pour the meringue into a stand mixture and whisk on high until the meringue has cooled down and reached stiff peak stage (can take 5-10 minutes). At this stage, put the mixer on a slow speed and add the butter, one cube at a time. After adding all the butter the mixture may look curdled but keep whisking slowly and it will come back together. Once it has turned in to a light buttercream, add the strawberry jam and fold in.

To construct the cake, I used 2 large piping bags with round nozzles and filled one with the buttercream and one with the crème patissiere. 

Place the first cake on a cake board or a cake stand (secure in place with a dollop of the buttercream). Then pipe a ring of the buttercream around the outer edge of the cake. Then starting from the centre of the cake, pipe the crème pâtissière in an even spiral until you reach the buttercream. This outer ring of buttercream will secure the crème pâtissière inside the cake and stop it from leaking out. Place the next cake on top and repeat the process. Then place the final cake on top and spread the remaining buttercream on the top and around the cake.

Using a spatula or scraper, smooth the top and the sides of the cake. Then pop in the fridge to allow the buttercream to firm up.

White Chocolate Ganache

• 200g white chocolate
• 150ml of double cream

Chop up the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until it’s steaming, then pour over the chocolate. Leave for a couple of minutes and then gently whisk the two together.

Leave to cool for a few minutes. As it cools, it will thicken, making it easier to drizzle on to the cake. You can check when it is ready to drizzle by taking a small amount of the ganache and slowly pouring it over the back of the cake. If it runs down the side too quickly, leave it a little longer. The ganache is ready when it slowly drips down the side and stops about mid way down the cake.

I use a teaspoon to gently drizzle the ganache over the sides of the cake, then pour the remainder on top and use a spatula to smooth over. Then I decorated with white chocolate studded with raspberry pieces and strawberries.

The original pound cakes were so called because they contained a pound each of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. It was made popular in the 18th century, as it was an easy recipe to remember (especially useful for poorer people who were unable to read). Nowadays the pound cake has evolved slightly, but providing you use equal amounts of the main ingredients, it can still be called a pound cake.

This cake has a warming ginger flavour but I’ve added lime zest and a lime icing to lift it away from the classic Christmas ginger flavour which we have all had so much of in the last few weeks.  I’ve also given it a good soak in a ginger flavoured rum we have at home to make it extra moist and tasty. I’m aware ginger flavoured rum isn’t something that is in everyone’s cupboard so a standard rum will also do the trick or just add more of the syrup from the stem ginger jar.

Ginger and Lime pound cake

• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 150g soft dark brown sugar
• 150g self raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking powder
• the zest of 2 limes

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan oven). Grease a 2 lb loaf tin with butter and line the base with baking paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder and ground ginger in to a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated (add a spoonful of the flour mixture with each egg to stop the mixture curdling). Then finally fold in the flour mix and the lime zest until the mixture is smooth. Pour the batter in to the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for approx 40 minutes.

Rum syrup

• 50g caster sugar
• 75ml of water
• 1 bulb of stem ginger
• 1 tsp of syrup from the stem ginger jar
• 25ml of rum

Make the syrup whilst the cake is baking. Dice the stem ginger in to small pieces. Pop in a saucepan with the syrup from the jar and the sugar and the water. Heat slowly until the sugar is all dissolved and then bring to the boil. Take off the heat once the syrup is boiling and then add the rum. Leave in the saucepan to cool until needed.

Remove the cake from the oven when it is risen and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the tin and place on a wire rack (it’s handy to have some foil underneath the rack to catch any drips from the syrup). Using a skewer or a cake tester, make a few small holes all over the top of the cake to help the syrup through. Take a pastry brush and brush the syrup all over the top of the cake. Leave the pieces of stem ginger in the saucepan for now (for decoration). Use all of the syrup – it can take a while but will be worth it in the end!

Once all the syrup has been brushed on to the cake, leave to cool.

Lime Icing

• 75g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1-2 tsp of water
• zest of 1 lime

Sift the icing sugar in to a bowl. Add the lime juice and half of the zest and whisk together. At this point, add a teaspoon of water and whisk. You can add more water if you want a runnier consistency, but I found this runny enough.

If the cake is cool, leave over the wire rack and spoon over the icing, allowing it to drip down the sides. Finish by sprinkling the remaining lime zest and the ginger stem (from the syrup) over the top. Transfer to a serving plate.