Recipe: Strawberry Cake / Gâteau aux Fraises
Slice of strawberry cake with homemade vanilla whipped cream.
What is one thing France and Michigan both have in common (besides being cool places to visit)? Native, wild-growing strawberries and amazing cultivated strawberries. This cake is loosely based on France’s classic fraisier. According to TasteAtlas:
The cake consists of layers of genoise sponge, vanilla-flavored créme mousselline, marzipan, and lines of fresh, sliced strawberries. … Fraiser was invented as a tribute to strawberries, since the only available strawberries in France before the 19th century were tiny wild strawberries.
For my recipe, I used my own variation of pound cake, along with farm-fresh strawberries grown locally from Bardenhagen Berries and picked just two days ago. Instead of the fraisier’s method of adding cream between two sponge cake layers, this cake uses sliced strawberries layered between batter. Whipped cream is added as a final topping just before serving. The result: A light yet filling summer treat with a dense, creamy texture resembling strawberry pie in the center, morphing into muffin-like strawberry-infused cake on the other end.
Recipe: Strawberry Cake / Gâteau aux Fraises
Ingredients - Cake:
Strawberries - about 60 of various sizes, or 3 cups, stems and leaves removed, pre-washed, and dried. (used": 57 berries from Bardenhagen Berries Farm, Leelanau, Michigan)
Butter - 1 cup, softened (used: Finlandia unsalted)
Sugar - 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
1 heaping tsp vanilla paste or extract (used: Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste)
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp vegetable oil (used: organic unrefined coconut oil)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
tiny pinch cinnamon
Topping:
Vanilla whipped cream (recipe coming soon!)
whole strawberries, pre-washed and dried
Directions:
Prepare a pie pan (used: glass Pyrex pie pan): Coat the sides generously with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit / 177° Celsius (or slightly more at high altitude).
In a large mixing bowl, using a balloon whisk, mix the butter, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, and vanilla until creamy.
Add buttermilk, eggs, honey, and vegetable oil. Continue mixing until uniformly creamy and fluffy.
Add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk slowly until all the flour is absorbed and batter is smooth.
Prepare the first layer of berries: Slice about 22 berries, generating about 4-5 slices per berry, and line the slices on the bottom of the pie pan so that the bottom is fully covered. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of sugar over the top.
Add about 1/2 the batter to the pie pan. Using a spatula, gently spread the batter flat over the berries, ensuring that the berries stay in place.
Prepare the second layer of berries: Slice about 24 berries and line the slices over the batter in the pie pan so that the batter is nearly fully covered. Gently pat down the berries.
Add the remaining batter over the berries. Using a spatula, gently spread the batter flat over the berries, ensuring that the berries stay in place.
Prepare the top layer of berries: Using as many or as few berries as desired, slice the berries in half lengthwise. Press them gently into the batter, sliced side down.
Bake for 50-75 minutes (I baked for 60 minutes), removing from the oven when top is golden brown, perimeter is beginning to turn umber, and has formed into a solid crust, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top is pressed lightly with one finger, it will give a little as it is still soft underneath, and this is okay.
Cool completely before serving (if you can wait!). Refrigerate in the pie pan (if there is any left!). Slice as-needed, and serve on plates topped with whipped cream and strawberries.
Variations:
This is my first attempt. Almost every time I return to a recipe, I make one or two modifications. Next time, I would try one of the following variations - all theoretical, not yet tested!
To make muffins: Gently stir sliced strawberries into batter. Using a spoon or small ladle, scoop batter into a paper-lined muffin pan. Bake for approximately 25-35 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on top.
To make a drier, fluffier cake: Add a 1/4 tsp baking powder and bake longer using a pie crust shield around the perimeter. Or, add batter to the pan first, before adding strawberries in a thin layer.
To make a tart: Use a larger pan and layer ingredients thinly. If using the same size pan, add only a thin layer of batter to the pan before adding all the strawberries. Experiment with tart fillings - strawberries and sugar, unsliced strawberries set over custard, etc.
To make an apfelkuchen-style cake: Add all the batter to the pan, then layer all the strawberries on top, pressing down into the batter lightly so that the batter around the pan’s perimeter rises just above the top level of berries. Sprinkle sugar (and cinnamon if desired) over the top and add thin slices of butter.
To make the classic fraisier: Divide the batter among two 9-inch cake pans. Bake, then sandwich together with a center of strawberries and cream. For a little something extra, drizzle strawberry coulis over the top!
