Fraisier Ooo lala

On this journey of discovery I have been racking my brain on the combinations to put together for a wedding cake that I have to do for my brother in law's wedding. "I love strawberry shortcake," he says. Well gosh, there are a ton of combinations to strawberry shortcake. The considerations to make though are crucial. They are getting married in San Diego (HOT) and its on the beach (SAND) and they arent sure if its inside or outside yet (?) of course strawberries dont last that long in a cake (SPOILAGE) and...not to mention, this is...alot of pressure. Not only will the whole family be judging this, it has to taste good and look good and stand up to all these elements that are against me. However, I am confident in what I can do, but when I break it down like that it is totally intimidating...
This week in European cakes we made what is called in French "Fraisier" aka strawberry shortcake. Making this dessert I think I have found my combo for the middle of the cake. The genoise sponge we made was so light and fluffy and it soaked some of the juices of the strawberries that it was a perfect couple together. So easy to make too, you mix two batters together. A batter that looks like a sweet mayo and a meringue plus the dry ingredients and perfection is what comes out. Vanilla mousseline is what makes this cake so delicious, its not too over poweringly sweet its just right. O! and i must not forget the lemon simple syrup, thats that SURPRISE! that no one can put thier finger on. I love this journey to dessert enlightenment...i dont know if i would call it light though...i think ive gained 5 pounds this quarter lol. I leave you with a tip to decorating the top: keep it simple..simple is gourmet and simple is an art form. Watching chef switch around fruit and essemble the ingredients on top I realized that this is an art form. Things in 3's and 5's are appealing to our eye and its okay to have a random blueberry to the side...it keeps things interesting.

A NEW cake filling

Thanks to European cakes I have found a new filling. I have tried pastry cream as a filling before, but it ended up too sticky to spread to where they would be cake crumbs all in it, but alas! a new filling has arrived. Take pastry cream and add butter to it! Its stiff enough and spreadable enough for a cake filling.
Last week chef was inspired by this video from France. He made us do a strawberry pistachio tart. As seen below.

Now this has got to be the most delicious non chocolate dessert (cuz I like my chocolate) I have ever had. The only negative I have about it is its really hard to eat a giant strawberry...you kind of have to take it off the tart and cut it. But beautiful it is, and to make it more fancy baking it in a square pan rather then a round one so you can slice it 2 inches makes for a prettier presentation. It is made as follows:

Sugar dough

Almond pistachio cream

Strawberry jam

Fresh strawberries

Pistachio mousse