STRAWBERRIES TREE
Robert Saluzzi
Fraisier is a classic and easy French dessert still little known to us, to be enjoyed on summer evenings after a light dinner with friends.
The freshness of the strawberries must be guaranteed, so that all senses are satisfied from the first to the last bite.
The most classic and widespread version includes a shortcrust pastry base, a sponge cake soaked in strawberry syrup, lots of fresh strawberries in plain sight, a vanilla cream and a glaze or marzipan to cover everything.
I wanted to give my own interpretation to this already excellent dessert, inserting an acidulous tone that contrasts very well with the soft and sensual cream ... the strawberries, already a bit acidic of them, appear only on the edge, so the whole interior would have been monotonous with only the cream.
I chose a plum jam, not very sweet and sour, made and given to me by a friend, but you could use any red fruit jam, such as strawberries to "help" the fresh ones on the edges, but also oranges, mandarins or rhubarb ... I think that any jam you find at home is fine, as long as it is not too sweet.
I did not use shortcrust pastry and sponge cake, but a very simple preparation, soft and moist so as not to need soaking, but with chopped pistachios that give the crunchiness.
Only particular attention must be paid to the mousseline (pastry cream with butter cream), not very easy but to use as soon as it is whipped, otherwise it hardens quickly and it will then be difficult to distribute it in the cake.
Time of realization: 3 hours + cream rest
Baking Sheet 30 × 40 cm with baking paper
Die picture 22 × 5 cm
Ingredients:
For the dacquoise:
4 eggs
140 g of almond paste (marzipan)
15 g flour
8 g of potato starch
15 g of cold melted butter
Bronte PDO pistachios in grains
For the custard:
280 g of fresh whole milk
120 g of fresh cream
1 vanilla stick
4 yolks
45 g of granulated sugar
30 g flour
40 g of corn starch
7 g of powdered gelatin
35 g of cold water
For the butter cream:
90 g of butter at room temperature
60 g of sugar
15 g of cold water
30 g of egg white
For the jam:
350 g of sour jam to taste
4 g of jelly
20 g of cold water
Finally:
fresh strawberries to taste and all the same
decoration to taste
Procedure:
For the dacquoise
Melt the almond paste well in the eggs, warm everything up to 40-45 ° C, stirring constantly, then put in the mixer and run very vigorously for 10 minutes.
Mix the flour and the starch together and pour it into the whipped egg, little by little and mixing with delicate movements; take some of this mixture and add it to the melted butter to make it creamy, then add it all to the whipped mixture, mix gently and pour into the pan, distributing well with a spatula.
Sprinkle the chopped pistachios evenly on the surface.
Bake for 12 minutes. Let it cool on a grate. This preparation can also be done the day before, by keeping the dacquoise in the refrigerator.
For the custard
Bring the milk, cream and vanilla divided into 2 to a boil, leave to infuse for 20 minutes, scrape the vanilla seeds, put them in the liquids and remove the sticks, then proceed as a classic cream. Add the water to the gelatin, wait 1-2 minutes and insert it into the freshly made and still hot cream, turn carefully, cover it with cling film and let it cool.
Attention: in this version there is little sugar but a lot of flour and starch, so it will be more compact than a common cream, but with the addition of the butter cream everything will return to normal.
For the jam
Put it in a pan and bring it to a boil; add the water to the jelly, wait 1-2 minutes and add it to the jam, turn well and let it cool.
For the buttercream
Bring the sugar with water to 120 ° C, when it reaches 116 ° C turn the planetary mixer briskly with the egg white to make it whip, when the syrup is at temperature pour it slowly and sideways into the planetary mixer, turning until cool.
Combine this Italian meringue with soft butter and mix gently.
Composition
Pair the dacquoise with the painting, reserve the whole piece for the cover, while compose the base with the leftovers. So put these pieces on a rigid support covered with baking paper, put the picture and on the internal sides place 4 sheets of acetate 5 centimeters high.
Cut the strawberries without stalks in 2 and arrange them on the edge of the picture with the tip up and the cut outwards. Spread the cold jam on the base, distributing well with a tarot. Place in the refrigerator.
With a whisk soften the custard, add a little of the buttercream to make it more uniform and soft, then add the rest gently.
With a sac à poche and a wide cut distribute this mousseline inside the cake; level well with a tarot and place on top of the whole dacquoise kept aside.
Put the cake in the freezer for up to 1 month. To serve, remove the picture, the parchment paper, the acetate and finish it when it is still frozen.
Defrost it in the refrigerator for about 5-6 hours, decorate to taste and serve cold.
