Strawberry fraisier

My goal for this summer was to try out new recipes that I was afraid of, so I’m not going to lie, this was a challenge for me- especially since I’ve had bad experiences with folding creams and pouring them into cooking rings. If you don’t know by now, this stunning dessert is called Fraisier, a classic French cake that is traditionally composed of a sponge cake cut in half, filled with creme patisserie and topped with almond paste which I swiped for a strawberry gelée. My expectations have been exceeded ever since I took the first bite out of this amazing dessert; I mean, how can something be so fluffy and delicate and still taste like strawberry heaven?!

Start off by making a sponge cake sheet; I didn’t include a photo of that because I think it’s a pretty easy step. Be careful though not to make it any thicker than 1 cm or half of inch because you’ll use two sponges anyway. Cut that cake sheet in twice as much circles as the number of cakes you’ll want cause one of them goes on the bottom, one on top. Make a sugar syrup to moist the sponges and add a little lemon extract in it for a nice twist. After that, cut the strawberries in 4 slices and arrange the bigger ones along the cooking ring. Set the other ones away.

Half of the job is done! You need to prepare the creme patisserie now; don’t rush into it, because if you don’t wait for it to cool down before you add the butter or mix it in with the whipped cream you’ll get NADA. And by nada I mean a soggy heterogeneous combination of ingredients. You don’t want that. So search deep inside of you for some patience, because after all you wanted to bake this French dessert to prove yourself something. (#peptalk)

While the desserts are cooling in the fridge, make a thin layer of strawberry gelee (thinner than mine, if you can) and let it set, then cut it in circles and add it on top. Finish the fraisiers with fresh strawberries and serve it as soon as possible, so you won’t drool all over when you open the fridge occasionally (this is the best tip ever!).

If you love strawberries as much as I do and you are looking for a fancy way to incorporate them into a dessert, I assure you that this is the one and only way to do that. There’s nothing that compares to that feeling of accomplishment when you take off the cooking rings and you see the beauty inside, the almost-perfect arrangement of fresh strawberries contrasting with the whiteness of the cream. I can gush about this a whole week if you let me, but I’ll stop for now; if you want to make this yourself, check the recipe below!

 

Zebra cake

I started out believing that this is a simple recipe that will take no more than half an hour, but boy I was wrong. Somehow I managed to screw up even the easiest thing to bake on my first attempt. But after I was a bit disappointed by the outcome of my Zebra cake, I made the best out of it: I baked another one, prepared some chocolate frosting (I will post my recipe of it here) and voila! c’est un gâteau.

This is pretty easy to bake, if you don’t make the rookie mistakes I did (and I’m ashamed of). Mix the ingredients, then add cocoa in half of the composition. Be sure to blend it really well, otherwise it will remain lumpy after cooking (mistake n°1).

Add one spoon of white batter, then one spoon of black batter, back again with the white batter… until it will look like a zebra in a washing machine. Be sure to place them in the center of the pan or else the last spoon of the mix won’t be right in the middle where you want it to be (mistake n°2).

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT hit the tray on the counter top hoping that the batter will arrange properly (mistake n°3). That is just nuts. Just go on in life with the choices you made (to have a decentered cake). 

After you ignored all my tips and you got a flat Zebra cake, go bake another one the right way. Then make some chocolate frosting and unite everything in a big lovely cake that goes amazing with a cup of coffee!

 

Românã:

Am crezut initial ca aceasta e o reteta simpla ce nu imi va lua mai mult de jumatate de ora, dar uhu! cat am putut sa ma insel. Cumva am reusit sa esuez din prima incercare; probabil eu pot invata doar din greseli. Dar dupa ce am lasat dezamagirea la o parte, am decis sa profit de situatie: am mai pus in cuptor un blat de prajitura zebra, am preparat crema de ciocolata (link aici) si voila! c’est un gâteau.

Tortul este destul de usor de pregatit daca nu faci aceleasi greseli de incepator ca mine (de care sunt destul de rusinata). Combina ingredientele, adauga cacao in jumatate de compozitie; ai grija ca aceasta sa fie amestecata foarte bine, altfel se formeaza cocoloase care raman si dupa coacere (greseala n°1).

Pune in tava o lingura de aluat alb, apoi o lingura de aluat negru, apoi alta de aluat alb… pana va arata ca o zebra in masina de spalat. Asigura-te ca le plasezi fix in centrul tavii, altfel ultima lingura de aluat nu va fi in mijloc unde ar trebui (greseala n°2).

NU bate tava de blat crezand ca lucrurile se vor aranja cum trebuie (greseala n°3). Asta e o nebunie. Continua-ti viata acceptand alegerea pe care ai facut-o (aceea de a avea o prajitura descentrata).

Dupa ce mi-ai ignorat toate sfaturile si ai ramas cu o zebra necrescuta, du-te in bucatarie si mai fa una cum trebuie. Apoi prepara crema de ciocolata si uneste totul intr-un tort mare si adorabil ce merge servit perfect cu o cana de cafea!