In the Northern hemisphere, it is summer - days filled with warmth and sunshine. Accordingly, for Tuesdays with Dorie this month, two very summery desserts have been chosen as our recipes - Rose Fraisier, and Rice Pudding, Strawberries and Spiced Hibiscus Syrup.
I am aware that in Australia, we are very lucky - our winters are very mild compared with much of the rest of the world. However, that doesn't mean that I enjoy them. Grey, cold and wet days do not for happiness make, and I will impatiently wait for the next 5 months or so to pass (because once it gets cold in Victoria, it stays cold) and for the warmth and sunshine to bless us once again.
In the meantime, I will enjoy the Northern hemisphere summer by proxy through reading everyone's wonderful summery posts, and by creating my own little splash of summer with a summery dessert or two. For my first pick, I went with the Rose Fraisier. I chose this one first because it seemed to have the most steps/be the most time consuming, and I know that later in the month, time will not be my friend. "Fraisier" means "strawberry bush", and refers to the many, many strawberries in this luxurious dessert.
I have made a Fraisier once before, for Daring Bakers way back in 2011. That one was a different beast altogether, made with chiffon cake and filled with pastry cream, and assembled in a spring form pan. Dorie's Fraisier is made with a rose flavoured yoghurt cake base, and filled freeform with a mixture of pastry cream and whipped cream to make it light and fluffy. Dorie herself has tweaked her Fraisier recipe from the traditional Fraisier you will find in France, so I feel OK that I accidentally tweaked Dorie's recipe by putting my strawberries the wrong way around. This was not a deliberate act of rebellion - more an act of inattention, but I still think it looks pretty.
The photo of the Fraisier in the book does not reflect what you will get if you follow the method in the recipe, because (a) the pastry cream is tinted pink - however, there is nothing in the filling recipe that would make it pink; and (b) the straight sides of the Fraisier indicate that it was constructed in a springform pan like the Daring Bakers version, rather than assembled freeform as per the Chez Moi instructions. I mention this so that if you subsequently make this, you are not disheartened because your Fraisier does not turn out just like the photo - rather, it seems that the food stylist here went for the prettiest result.
My Fraisier was never going to look like the photo because I placed the strawberries the wrong way around on the perimeter of the cake, and didn't even realise until it was fully assembled. Also, I couldn't have a forest of strawberries inside my cake because I didn't have enough strawberries - I had more of an ordered garden of strawberries planted carefully in circular beds. (Strawberries were $4.99 a punnet, so I could not justify buying more than 2 punnets.) Nonetheless, I was happy with my Fraisier - I am a huge advocate of putting your own spin on recipes so that they are uniquely yours, and that certainly applies in this case. As a final twist, I glazed my Fraisier with apricot jam - red currant jelly or, for that matter, anything containing red currants, is as rare as hen's teeth in Australia, so the good old baker's fallback of apricot jam worked a treat here.
Here is the rose/lime/ginger flavoured yoghurt cake which forms the foundation for the Fraisier:
And here is a look inside my Fraisier:
And here is my slice:
I can't say that I really noticed the rose flavour in the cake. The creamy filling and the strawberries were the standout impression that I had, but I guess that is as it is meant to be. As Dorie says, "This sweet is all about the berries and cream and the skinny cake is just there to frame them."
I enjoyed this dessert. Although I like pastry cream without the added cream better, I think the whipped cream added a lightness that is well suited to a dessert like this.
To see whether the other Doristas made rice puddings or Fraisiers this week, and what they thought of them, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.
16 comments:
I would not care which way you faced those strawberries, this looks fabulous and delicious...and it is strawberry season here now so I am pulling out the book for this one! Yours is beautiful.
Yay! PUNNETS of strawberries! Noone understands what I am talking about when I say that here!! I agree that the recipe image in the book is deceiving - freeform simply won't look like that! I made minis to make it easier to assemble which worked a treat! Yours looks beautiful! (and hey, local strawbs here are $6 a punnet so.....)
I'm with you Cakelaw. I live here because I can't tolerate the cold and even our winters are cold! I love reading about summer treats because I know that's what we have in store :)
This does look like a time intensive dessert! It is beautiful though and getting hold of any strawberries in winter is impressive.
Good call out on the picture vs the free form. I might use a spring form pan or cake ring when I make mine.
I appreciate all your info as have not made this yet. I have also been unable to find the rose extract or syrup. Do you think I can substitute vanilla?
I find myself agreeing with everything you said about making the cake and how pictures in some books don't truly reflect the reality in the kitchen. We, in and around New York city, have strawberries year round and prices are competitive. (Good and bad. Seasonality of fruit production is gone with globalization.) Continue putting your own spin in your cake. It looks sensational.
Hi Diane, you could absolutely sub in vanilla. I could not really taste the rose and only used the rose syrup because I already had some.
Thanks!
Fabulous job on the cake! Freeform didn't work for me at all when I was trying to put this together.
That cake looks fantastic! I'm going to take note of the changes you made, the apricot glaze sounds good.
I like making these summery desserts however I dread the summer and the heat. I guess Melbourne gets a bit colder in winter though!
We are lucky right now as most of our days are sunny and not too cold really, but after the Winter solstice it will really kick in. What gorgeous flavours and your cake looks scrumptious and I can actually eat all of it!! I often macerate poor strawberries in a little rose water syrup to enhance them. The yoghurt cake sounds yummy.
Perfect while the berries are so yummy and in season! This is one that Bill would love, too!
So pretty! Good to know about the Daring Bakers version vs Dorie's. Now I won't be disappointed when mine doesn't turn out like hers! Yours looks awesome!
Looks great! This one was time-consuming, but it was fun to try something new.
I think your method of placing the strawberries looks just as pretty. Your notes on the appearance are interesting, too. A lot of people seem to have gone for the more formal method of assembling it.
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