Recipe: Strawberry Cake

The day before
Prepare your pastry cream which will become Mousseline:
- In a saucepan, pour a tablespoon of cold water and boil the milk with the opened vanilla bean (or vanilla sugar).
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the yolks and caster sugar and beat until the mixture "whitens".
Then gently mix the cornstarch.
- Pour the boiling milk (after removing the vanilla bean) over your mixture while stirring, then put everything back in the saucepan.
- Then, while continuously stirring with a whisk, let it boil for 2 minutes, add 40 g of butter cut into small cubes and spread onto a plate.
Dust with a little powdered sugar or add melted butter to prevent your cream from forming a crust.
In your mixer, place the remaining butter (80 g) and run for 2 to 3 minutes at reduced speed. Then add the pastry cream, well chilled, and run at medium speed for 6 minutes, so that it becomes light and airy.
Your mousseline cream is ready, spread it out and refrigerate it.
Preparation and assembly:
1/ Make your sponge cake (you can make it two or three days before).
2/ Quickly wash the strawberries, remove the stems and place them dried on a small plate.
3/ On your work surface, place your sponge cake and trim the 4 sides with a knife.
4/ Then, with a serrated knife, split it in 2 lengthwise and position the two inner faces visible in front of you. With a brush, generously moisten the inner half of the bottom with the strawberry syrup.
5/ Arrange your strawberries on top, making sure that those that will go around the edge have their stems turned towards the inside of your cake.
6/ Pour half of your cream over your strawberries and even it out with a spatula.
7/ Spread with a spatula, on the other half of the sponge cake, the rest of the mousseline cream.
8/ Close