Strawberry Season Done Right With Le Fraisier! (Egg-free)

Well the title could be slightly misleading, as I did not bake much using these precious plump berries up until the start of February, which is like already the end of strawberry season here in Bombay! However, I'm glad I compensated all the baking I missed with an EPIC dessert - Le Fraisier!

Fresh little strawberry still on vine! #littlejoys

Pronounced as (FRAY-ZEE-AYE) in French, more often than not non Francophones usually pronounce the 'r' in the end as well, and since you know better now, please don't?! Hehe

The name Fraisier comes from the French word fraise which means strawberries. It is said that originally this cake was made as a tribute to strawberries, which grew widely in France. The shape of the uniform berries was widely suited for this type of decor and the final appearance much loved by all. Now whether this story is true or not, I'm glad someone created this difficult looking but really easy to make masterpiece for all to share!

If you haven't heard of this deliciousness before, let me break it down for you.

Imagine a pretty looking pastry sitting in front of you - it has a base of genoise sponge infused with some alcohol, encased in a border of juicy fresh berries holding a light and fluffy vanilla bean speckled crème mousseline along with loads of fresh chopped strawberries and often topped with a thin layer of marzipan (I usually skip this and add pistachio powder instead) What's not to love?

I'd first seen this beauty at Cafe Pouchkine in Paris, an impeccably layered gâteau encased in an ornately decorated delicate white chocolate cage, almost too beautiful to eat! We'd also made some Fraisier variations in pastry school, but my 'aha moment' was when I had a bite of the supremely light and fluffy fraisier pastry with juicy strawberries at SAPA Bakery, Mysore, while on a road trip this Jan. I couldn't stop at one bite and literally kept stuffing my face even when my tummy yelled not to!

Fraisier from Sapa Bakery, Mysore

Once back home, I decided it was time for me to pick pace in my kitchen and create this cake I'd so long given up on (partly because I was still under the spell of Café Pouchkine)

After a couple of trials for making all these elements egg-free, I'd perfected the balance I wanted to achieve and was quite happy. I wanted to share this with anyone and everyone who wished to learn and decided to host an online workshop. The timing couldn't have been better as it was scheduled on Valentine's Day and the workshop was very well received (Thank you if you were a part of it! :))

Valentine's special workshop!

Now if you're wondering whether this style can be adopted for other flavours, well there's good news. You could use the same technique for assembly with any other firm fruit (preferably fruits like mango, kiwi, fresh raspberries, blueberries, etc) but then just don't call it fraisier! You know too much French to know why ;)

#thatsthestory