Strawberry Flan – A Classic German Glazed Fruit Flan
Here’s a traditional German Fruit Flan or Obsttorte. It’s made with a sponge cake base covered with a thin layer of custard/pudding/pastry cream and then topped with fresh fruit and sealed with a shiny glaze.
Also try: Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry Lemon Roll Cake, Chocolate Pear Tart
This continues to be one of my favourite ways to serve fresh seasonal fruit. I use strawberries to kick off summer and then move to blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and peaches. In the winter months I turn to canned fruit – peaches or mandarins are perfect! But don’t stop there – kiwis, bananas, pineapple and even gooseberries or grapes work too.
In my family growing up, when there was a celebration – the cakes and tortes came out! And a fruit flan would always be part of it. Unlike my poor Canadian friends who only got one birthday cake, we would get five or six birthday cakes! The variety would often include a whipped cream torte, a butter cream torte, a chocolate cake, a nut cake and a fruit flan. It looked a little like this.
As we became more Canadian, the number of birthday cakes became fewer. Now, we’re down to about two cakes – a whipped cream torte like Black Forest Cake and a fruit flan of some sort. While often over shadowed by the Black Forest Cake, I just can’t imagine a birthday or spring celebration without a classic fruit flan.
Don’t Have a Traditional Flan Pan?
This cake uses a special pan that creates the perfect lip for the fruit and provides that classic shape. Without this pan, you won’t get a nice indent where you can add a filling if using the classic sponge cake recipe. Instead of the classic sponge cake used in the traditional recipe, use a butter cookie style crust and use a regular flan pan or spring form pan and push the batter up the sides of the pan. It ends up being more like a fruit pizza – but still a tasty celebration of fruit in a beautiful display.
Here’s the butter crust recipe I used:
- ¾ cup Butter softened
- ¼ cup Icing Sugar
- 1½ cups Flour
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Beat butter and icing sugar until well combined.
- Add flour and beat on low speed until crumbly.
- Press crumbs into the bottom and ¼ inch (6 mm) up the sides of a 10-12 inch (25-30 cm) springform or flan pan.
- Prick bottom with fork and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.
Preventing a Soggy Cake Bottom
Some fruit are juicier than others and can cause the cake to become soggy as the fruit releases it’s moisture. Here are three ways to prevent your cake from becoming soggy.
- Use the pastry cream or lemon curd as a protective layer between the cake and the fruit.
- Sprinkle corn starch or vanilla pudding powder on the cake before adding the fruit.
- Melt chocolate or use nutella or other nut butters as a base before adding fruit. This may not be traditional and adds a whole different flavour to your fruit flan, but it’ll be tasty and you won’t have a soggy bottom!
The Glaze
The glaze is a way to seal the fruit and prevent it from drying out or turning brown (bananas). You can also make a glaze using unflavoured gelatin. Here’s what I use when I don’t have a clear jelly.
1/4 cup fruit juice (such as cherry, apricot, or a blend) 1/4 cup water 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 2 tablespoons powdered gelatin (or 2 packets)
1 Tbsp or 1 pouch unflavoured gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup boiling water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
- In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatine over cold water to bloom or dissolve for 2 minutes.
- Add boiling water and stir until completely dissolved, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add sugar and lemon juice. Let cool for 15 minutes before pouring over fruit.
For a coloured or flavoured alternative use fruit juice instead of water.
Strawberry Flan Recipe
Strawberry Flan
Ingredients
- Cake Base
- 1/3 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp hot water
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pastry Cream*
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp All-purpose Flour
- ¾ cup Milk
- 2 tsp Butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Glaze**
- 3-4 cups Strawberries ~1lb
- ½ cup Apple or Apricot jelly
- 2 tbsp Water
Instructions
Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour flan pan including sides.
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, beat at least 3-4 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract and hot water.
- Add eggs one at a time beating well between each one.
- Mix flour and baking powder. Add slowly into creamed batter.
- Spread into prepared flan pan with spatula making sure batter fills the sides. It won't look like a lot of batter, but it's just the right amount.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
- Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes then carefully remove the cake from pan. (This is the trickiest part! If needed slide a knife along the sides and around the bottom as gently as possible.)
- Let cool completely before filling.
- Cake can be made a day ahead and stored well wrapped once cool. It can also be frozen.
Pastry Cream
- For pastry cream, whisk together egg yolks, sugar and flour.
- In saucepan, heat milk until bubbles begin to form.
- Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot milk into the yolk mixture.
- Return mix to saucepan and bring to boil. Whisk constantly and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.
- Pour into bowl. Cover surface of cream with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
- To assemble flan, spread pastry cream on top of crust, follow with sliced or whole strawberries placed tightly on top of the cream. Start from the outside in with a plan in mind to avoid having to rearrange the fruit too much.
- For a glossy finish, brush strawberries with a jelly glaze.
Glaze
- For glaze, heat jelly and water in small saucepan until no lumps remain. Use a pastry brush to paint the glaze on the strawberries.
- Keep in fridge for 3-4 days.
Notes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Cook with the seasons, effortlessly! I’m Getty, a food educator and Professional Home Economist, helping you select, store, and serve seasonal ingredients in delicious, simple, everyday meals. Sign up for seasonal tips and recipes delivered straight to your inbox, and dive deeper with my books, guides, or YouTube content.
How big is your flan pan? Mine is 28cm.
Yes, that’s the same as mine.
I didn’t have a flan pan, but it worked anyways as I didn’t put the pastry cream or fruit to the edge. Next time I might cut the strawberries in half. It was delicious and a good way to start the summer.
Thanks for the feedback Valerie.