Chef Juliette
Various Almond Preparations
Five almond preparations, one discipline: remove the skins cleanly, dry every kernel through, then cut, toast, or cloak it in pale caramel without letting its fragrant oils escape.
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Fraises Zelma Kuntz
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2685, Fraises Zelma Kuntz, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Fraises Zelma Kuntz teaches the cold fold: ripe strawberries under rose-pink raspberry Chantilly, crowned with piped cream and filbert Pralin for tartness, air, and crunch in every spoonful.
Desserts
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Celebration
30 min
Active Time
0 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Fraises Zelma Kuntz (strawberries with raspberry whipped cream) teaches the cold fold: raspberry purée and Chantilly must meet in equal bulk, and both must be thoroughly cold. The one true thing before you touch so much as a bowl is this: fold it cold. Warm purée loosens the butterfat, the cream slackens, and the dessert loses its lightness.
The original service assumed a pâtissier, the pastry cook, with prepared Pralin waiting in a dry box, Chantilly whipped to order, a cold room, and polished metal timbales ready for filling. At home, this becomes four generous servings made with a fine sieve, a chilled bowl, and one glass compote or four dessert coupes. Batch production and silver service are brigade scaffolding and can go. The equal-volume fold, the separate piping of Chantilly, and the powdered filbert Pralin are the dish itself, so they stay. One cook, one whisk, one evening.
When it is right, the strawberries remain distinct beneath a pale rose cream, the piped Chantilly holds a soft ridge, and the Pralin brings caramel and hazelnut against the tart fruit. Before assembly, cool the sieved purée completely. That is the step that decides the dish.
Fraises Zelma Kuntz belongs to the named entremets, composed desserts, of the Parisian grand-hotel table, where fruit was assembled with prepared purées, creams, and nougat powders held by the pâtisserie. The formula traveled through the classical canon as a concise service instruction, and the surviving entry preserves its dedication without explaining who Zelma Kuntz was. Filbert is another English name for hazelnut; its Pralin supplies the toasted caramel edge that keeps the berries and Chantilly from becoming merely sweet.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small ripe strawberries
Quantity
3 cups (710 ml / 400 g)
chilled, hulled, and thoroughly dried
raspberries
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 250 g)
fresh or frozen and thawed
heavy cream
Quantity
2/3 cup (160 ml / 160 g)
thoroughly chilled
icing sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g)
pure vanilla extract
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 2 g)
powdered filbert Pralin
Quantity
1/4 cup (60 ml / 30 g) Pralin (No. 2352)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small ripe strawberrieschilled, hulled, and thoroughly dried | 3 cups (710 ml / 400 g) |
| raspberriesfresh or frozen and thawed | 2 cups (475 ml / 250 g) |
| heavy creamthoroughly chilled | 2/3 cup (160 ml / 160 g) |
| icing sugar | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g) |
| pure vanilla extract | 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 2 g) |
| powdered filbert Pralin | 1/4 cup (60 ml / 30 g) Pralin (No. 2352) |
Equipment Needed
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Electric hand mixer or balloon whisk
- •Large chilled mixing bowl
- •Small piping bag with a 1 cm star tip
- •1-liter glass compote or four 300 ml dessert coupes
Instructions
- 1
Chill the service
Place a 1-liter glass compote or four 300 ml dessert coupes in the cold for at least twenty minutes. Rinse the strawberries quickly, dry them completely, then hull them; leave small berries whole and halve only those too large for a spoon. Keep them chilled and unsweetened. Sugar draws out their juice, and this dessert wants distinct cold fruit rather than berries swimming in syrup.
Wash strawberries before removing their hulls. Once hulled, they drink water through the cut end and lose the concentrated flavor the dish depends upon. - 2
Make the purée
Purée the raspberries until smooth, then press them firmly through a fine sieve to remove every seed. Measure 3/4 cup (180 ml / about 180 g) of the finished purée and chill it until thoroughly cold. If the blender has warmed it, set the bowl over ice and stir for several minutes. Do not hurry ahead with tepid purée; cold is the structure here.
- 3
Whip the Chantilly
Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) of the liquid cream. Whip the remainder with the icing sugar and vanilla until the Chantilly holds medium peaks with smooth, softly curved tips. Measure 3/4 cup (180 ml) for folding and keep the remainder cold for piping. If the cream turns grainy, stop immediately. Ça se rattrape: fold in the reserved liquid cream a teaspoon at a time until the Chantilly becomes smooth again.
- 4
Fold equal volumes
Stir one-third of the measured Chantilly into the 3/4 cup of cold raspberry purée to lighten it, then fold in the remaining Chantilly in two additions with broad strokes from the bottom of the bowl. These are equal volumes after the cream is whipped, not equal raw weights. Stop as soon as the color is even. If the mixture slackens, do not beat it. Set the bowl over ice for five minutes, then give it two gentle folds; ça se rattrape.
- 5
Set the strawberries
Arrange the chilled strawberries in the cold compote or divide them among the four coupes without packing or crushing them. Spoon the raspberry Chantilly over the fruit, letting it fall naturally into the gaps and cover the berries. Chill for fifteen minutes, just long enough for the cream to regain its body.
- 6
Pipe and finish
Fit a small piping bag with a 1 cm star tip and fill it with the reserved Chantilly. Pipe generous rosettes or a continuous shell border over the raspberry cream, then sprinkle evenly with the powdered filbert Pralin (No. 2352). Add the Pralin only at service so it remains crisp rather than dissolving into the cream. Bring the compote straight to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The book's equal quantity means equal bulk: measure the raspberry purée and the already-whipped Chantilly by volume. Matching the raw weights would give too much purée and a loose cream.
- •This dish truly needs ripe fresh strawberries. Frozen raspberries make an excellent smooth purée, but frozen strawberries collapse when thawed and cannot provide the cool, distinct fruit at the center of Fraises Zelma Kuntz.
- •Use the filbert version of Pralin (No. 2352), finished and finely powdered according to its own entry. Hazelnut praline paste is a different preparation; it is heavy, oily, and will sink into the Chantilly.
- •Serve with a lightly sweet sparkling wine such as demi-sec Champagne. A very dry wine tastes severe beside Chantilly and ripe berries.
Advance Preparation
- •The raspberry purée can be sieved and chilled one day ahead. Cover it closely so it does not absorb refrigerator odors, then stir before measuring.
- •Prepare the filbert Pralin (No. 2352) in advance through its own entry and keep it in a tightly closed container in a dry place. Sprinkle it only when the dessert is going to the table.
- •The strawberries may be washed and dried several hours ahead, but hull them closer to assembly. The completed dessert can wait in the cold for up to two hours before its Chantilly decoration and Pralin finish are added.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 215g)
Calories
255 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
15 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
17 g
Protein
3 g
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