Fraisier Torte

A mild, fluffy sponge cake filled with rich pastry cream and clean strawberries.

Ingredients

For the genoise sponge cake

1. ⅔ cups all-reason flour
2. ¼ teaspoons salt
3. 1 tablespoon butter, melted
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 1 teaspoon lemon juice
6. ½ teaspoons lemon zest

Four entire eggs

1. ½ cups granulated sugar
2. For the pastry cream:
3. 1 cup complete milk
4. Three entire egg yolks
5. ⅓ cups sugar
6. 1 tablespoon cornstarch
7. 1 tablespoon butter
8. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the swiss meringue buttercream:

1. 2 entire egg whites
2. ½ cups granulated sugar
3. ¼ teaspoons salt
4. ½ cups butter, cubed, softened
5. ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For meeting:

1. 2 tablespoons kirsch (elective, rum may be substituted)
2. 1 pound clean strawberries
3. 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for dusting

Manual

For the sponge cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 f. Line the bottom of a 9-inch spring shape cake pan with a circle of parchment paper. Do not grease the pan; you want the cake to dangle to the sides to allow for higher rising.

Sift together the flour and salt over a piece of wax paper. Do now not bypass the sifting—it’s critical to ensure your cake does no longer have any lumps.

In a medium blending bowl, blend together the melted butter and vanilla extract. Allow the butter cool to room temperature. In a small bowl, integrate the lemon juice and zest.

Combine the eggs and sugar in a big heatproof blending bowl. Vicinity the bowl over a pot of simmering water (ensure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Gently warmth the eggs and sugar, stirring continuously, till the combination becomes foamy and could be very heat, barely above body temperature. Take away from heat.

Whisk the eggs with a hand mixer or stand mixer on high velocity for approximately 10 mins, or until the mixture has tripled in quantity and may be very light. (if you’re the usage of a stand mixer, it can take barely less time). When you elevate up the whisk, you need to be capable of draw a clean figure eight with the mixture.

Do away with approximately ½ cup of the egg aggregate and fold it into the butter mixture. With the mixer on medium pace, whisk the lemon juice and zest into the closing egg mixture. Then step by step whisk in the flour, accompanied by way of the egg/butter mixture. Paintings speedy right here, earlier than the eggs deflate too much.

Pour the cake batter into the cake pan and bake for forty to forty five mins, or till the center of the cake springs again while touched. Cast off from oven. Cool the cake the other way up on a cooling rack for numerous hours.

For the mousseline cream filling:

First, make the pastry cream. Pour the milk in a saucepan and heat till it starts offevolved to simmer. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a heatproof blending bowl.

Temper the eggs: progressively pour the new milk into the egg yolk mixture whilst whisking the eggs continuously. Pour the aggregate again into the saucepan, and cook till it begins to boil. Take off the range and stir within the butter, followed via the vanilla extract. Pour into a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap, pressed directly onto the floor of the pastry cream. Refrigerate for at the least 3 to four hours.

About half-hour before making the swiss meringue buttercream, take the pastry cream out of the refrigerator and permit it take a seat at room temperature.

For the swiss meringue buttercream:

Blend together the egg whites, sugar, and salt in a clean, heatproof blending bowl. Region the bowl over a pot of simmering water (again, don’t allow the bottom of the bowl contact the water) and lightly warmness the egg aggregate, whisking constantly, till it reaches a hundred and sixty f.

Take the bowl off the heat, and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium pace for two minutes, then on medium-excessive for 2 mins, after which on excessive for five-7 mins, till the eggs form a stiff, smooth meringue. Turn the mixer to medium pace, and gradually upload in the butter a few cubes at a time. Beat the frosting at excessive velocity for some other 2 -3 mins. The aggregate can also appearance curdled at the beginning after you upload the butter, but it's going to clean out.

Make the mousseline cream: with the mixer on medium pace, steadily upload the pastry cream you made in advance to the swiss meringue buttercream. Blend till combined.

For the assembly:

Reduce the sponge cake in half of horizontally, into  even layers. Peel off the parchment paper circle. Brush the tops of each layers with the kirsch. (in case you do not drink, you could pass over the kirsch.)

Set apart about 10 small strawberries (approximately 1 inch in period) for the edges of the cake. Reduce these strawberries in 1/2. More or less dice the final strawberries.

Region one of the sponge cake layers in the bottom of the springform pan. Line the strawberry halves alongside the side of the pan, cut side facing outward. Spread about half of the mousseline cream over the cake, being careful not to dislodge the strawberries. Scatter the diced strawberries over the cream, and spread the ultimate cream over them. Top with the opposite cake layer.

Refrigerate the cake in a single day. Take away the cake from the springform pan, and dust with powdered sugar.

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