Le Fraisier French-Style Strawberry Shortcake - sugar

Method

• Combine the almond flour and cake flour and sift.
• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Beat the eggs in a double boiler until they have warmed a bit (about 40C) and thickened.
• Once it has thickened, remove from the double boiler.
• Keep beating until it returns to room temperature.
• Don't worry too much about the exact temperature.
• Use the hot water from Step 2 to melt the butter.
• Remove from the water once it melts so that it doesn't get too hot.
• Add all the sifted flour at once to Step 3 and fold with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the bowl.
• When the powder has mostly been combined, it's ready.
• Add the butter from Step 4 and mix until no lumps remain.
• Don't mix too much or you'll remove too much air from the batter.
• Line a cake mold with kitchen parchment paper and pour the batter into it.
• Tap the sides to break up the large air bubbles.
• If you can, use a 20 cm cake mold.
• When you bake it, it will shrink a bit, so if you start with an 18 cm mold, it will be too small..
• Bake at 170C for 30 minutes.
• If you bake it in an 18 cm cake mold, bake for 5 additional minutes.
• Remove from the cake mold, wrap with plastic wrap, and let cool.
• Depending on how much it expands, it should be good for about 3 slices.
• Combine the water and granulated sugar in a pot and turn on the heat.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, add the Kirsch and let cool.
• First, make the custard.
• Combine the egg yolks, granulated sugar, cake flour, and milk (about 2 tablespoons) in a bowl.
• Warm the remaining milk in a pot , then add to Step 13.
• If using vanilla beans, remove from the pods and warm together with the milk.
• If you can, strain the milk back into the pot, then heat over medium while continuously stirring.
• Adjust the heat to keep it from burning!
• It's ready when it has all thickened.
• You now have stiff custard.
• Add some vanilla oil and Kirsch if you like and let cool.
• If you can, strain to make it smoother.
• It's not necessary to chill the custard in the refrigerator.
• You'll be mixing it together with the buttercream later, so it's best to leave it at room temperature.
• Next, make the buttercream.
• Bring the butter to room temperature and knead until creamy.
• Beat the egg whites in a bowl.
• Heat the mizuame in the microwave until it begins to bubble, then add it to the egg whites.
• Keep beating as you add it!
• Keep beating until you make a sturdy Italian meringue.
• Add Step 20 to Step 18 a little at a time, mixing in each addition with an electric mixer.
• It might seem like it will separate along the way, but keep beating until it's smooth.
• Stir the cooled custard until smooth, then mix into Step 22.
• Transfer to a pastry bag.
• Place 2 slices (or 1) of the sponge cake into an 18 cm circular cake mold.
• Brush the sponge cake with the syrup.
• Top with a thin layer of Step 23's cream.
• Cut some strawberries in half vertically and arrange around the outside of the cake.
• Fill in the center with whole strawberries.
• If you leave the very center open, it will be easier to cut.
• Use the remaining cream to fill in the gaps between the strawberries.
• It's easy to leave gaps, so be careful!
• You can also probably fill the cake halfway up with the cream before arranging the whole strawberries in Step 25.
• Add more cream to cover the strawberries, then smooth the surface.
• This time, I had a shorter cake mold, so the tips kind of poked through.
• If layering another layer of sponge cake on top, reserve a little bit of the cream to use on top of the final layer.
• This time, I used a shortcake mold, so I only used one layer.
• If you layer another layer as stated in Step 30, then spread the syrup on top of the spongecake, then spread cream on top.
• Chill well in the refrigerator, then remove from the cake mold.
• You can warm the sides of the cake mold with a warmed wrung-out towel to make it easier to take out.
• Use a palette knife to lightly smooth the sides if needed.
• This time, I mixed together strained strawberry jam and nappage.
• You can also simply use strained jam if you like
• If the color is too faint, you can add some food coloring dissolved in water.
• If you're worried about it staying on the cake, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap before chilling.
• Chill it well, then garnish as you like to finish!
• You can decorate it like this after cutting if you like
• When cutting, warm the knife a bit to get a clean cut.
• By warming the knife with hot water between each cut, you'll also get rid of any bits of cream or strawberry that cling to the knife.
• No matter how you cut it, it is full of strawberries.
• If you have some leftover cream, try spreading it on the unused sponge cake.
• It's really yummy.
• To use up leftover sponge cake and egg whites, try my snowy white cheese cake at: https://cookpad.com/en/recipes/172222-snowy-white-cheesecake-made-with-yogurt .
• You can also use any leftover strawberries and jam in this, so there's no waste!
• Here's a roll cake version!
• If you don't want leftover sponge cake, give this roll cake a try!
• Roll up the strawberries and cream in your favorite roll cake, spread more cream on top, and chill.
• Once chilled well, spread nappage or jam on top and it's ready.
• Using a 30 x 30 cm roll cake, you won't have any leftover cream, either.
• If you don't eat it all the same day and store it in the refrigerator, it will become dry and crumbly.
• This would cause the meringue to become watery, but if you don't feel like you can eat all of it the same day, mix the butter with the custard as-is right after kneading it.
• You can skip Steps 20~22 if you like.
• In that case, adjust the sugar in the custard to 100 g.
• Also, if you bring it to room temperature just before eating, the butter in the cream will become soft and delicious to eat.