A lighter version of a Fraisier Cake

Felicity Vincent
Apr 26, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Mar 25

This is my version of a Fraisier Japonais, a lighter but still stunning fraisier cake

This cake looks beautiful but is a lot easier to make than a traditional fraisier. It's made up of 2 genoise cake layers soaked in strawberry syrup and filled with fresh strawberries and a vanilla cream cheese chantilly cream. The most technical part is making the genoise sponge but I've detailed it step by step below.

Ingredients (serves 8):

Genoise Cake:

5 medium eggs (or 4 large)
125g caster sugar
125g plain flour
35g salted butter, melted

Strawberry Syrup:

125g strawberries
2 Tbs caster sugar

Cream Cheese Chantilly:

250g full fat cream cheese
250mL double cream
30g icing sugar (or more to taste)
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch of sea salt
Squeeze of lemon juice

375g strawberries for decoration

Method (see video below):

Start with the genoise:

Preheat the oven at 180° C.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Do them one by one over a small bowl then transfer the whites and yolks to 2 larger mixing bowls. This way, if one of them breaks it doesn't spoil your entire batch.
Add the caster sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until they double in size and whiten in colour.
Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Add a spoonful of egg whites to the yolk/sugar mix and beat together then slowly fold in the rest of the egg whites 1/3 at a time.
Sieve 1/2 the flour over the mix then gently fold it in. Sieve in the other 1/2 of the flour and fold again. To fold, insert the marise spatula into the centre of the bowl and rotate the bowl 45° while lifting the mix up over itself.
Finally pour the melted butter on the side of the mix and gently fold it in.
Line a buttered cake tin with baking parchment, then flip the paper around so it is also buttered (this will ensure the cake has a smooth exterior). Gently fill the cake tin with the batter, smooth the top with a knife and place in the oven straight away.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes on until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Let the cake cool down in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Prepare the strawberry syrup:

Wash the strawberries and remove their tails.
Dice the strawberries and cook them in a pan over medium heat with the sugar for 5 minutes. Add 1 Tbs of water if necessary to stop the strawberries from catching.
Leave the syrup to the side to cool down.

Make the cream cheese chantilly:

Whisk the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
Sieve the icing sugar.
Add the double cream to the mixing bowl and whisk to soft peaks while sprinkling in the icing sugar 1 Tbs at a time.
Fold in the vanilla bean paste, add a small pinch of salt and taste to see if it needs any more sugar or a squeeze of lemon juice.

Assemble the cake:

Wash, tail and half the strawberries.
Line the cake tin with cling film, this will make it 100 times easier to remove from the tin later on. Make sure the piece of film is big enough to cover the top of the cake.
Slice the genoise cake into 2 layers using a bread knife.
Place the bottom cake layer in the tin, then spoon over the strawberry syrup.
Top with about an inch of the chantilly cream, then add the strawberry halves around the edge of the cake inserting the base into the cream slightly and making sure the cut sides face the outside of the cake.
Then pour over the rest of the chantilly cream until it covers the top of the strawberries. If possible, keep back 2 Tbs of chantilly cream to decorate the top of the cake.
Place the second half of genoise on top, tightly cover with the cling film and place in the fridge to rest for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Unwrap the cling film, place a plate on top of the tin and flip it around then remove the tin and the cling film. Use another plate to flip it back so the strawberries are the right way around.
Top with what is left of the cream and strawberry slices then serve up and enjoy.
Bon appétit!

More about this recipe:

I used the gariguette variety while it was in season as it is high in sugar and has a lovely elongated shape, but any strawberry variety will work really well.

You can also make this fraisier cake your own:

replace the strawberries with cherries, raspberries or a berry mix
replace the vanilla for 1 Tbs pistachio paste or 1 tsp orange blossom

Strawberries are a good source of fibre, antioxidants and vitamins such as biotin, folate and C. They make a great food to eat for a moment of calm as they contain:

Folate - not having enough folate increases the chance of feeling depressed.
Vitamin C - involved in converting dopamine to noradrenaline - low amounts of noradrenaline are associated with depression.
Anthocyanin (antioxidant) - supports cognition and focus.
Full of other antioxidants and phenolic compounds - which reduce oxidative stress and support brain health.