The Daring Baker's do Custard!




Yes it sounds a bit "naughty" but other than the calorie count, there was nothing bad about this month's challenge, chosen by wonderful Mary of Alpineberry - Bostini Cream Pie!

Yes, you read that correctly.... I said Bostini Cream Pie, not Boston. No mistake there. This decadent dessert was Mary's choice, a favorite of hers from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni in the Napa Valley and Scala's Bistro in San Francisco. And having made and eaten some, I can understand why!

I chose to make mine for dessert for the grown up's at Thanksgiving this year, while the children ate caramel apples. Normally they would have gotten the better dessert, seeing as I love caramel's, but this time I think we got the best!

The challenge actually consists of three different recipes, if you could call the chocolate glaze a recipe (equal parts butter and melted chocolate.) A deliciously light custard, a mildly orange sponge cake and a slightly warm chocolate glaze. Mary gave us a bit of leeway with the flavoring, provided we kept the colors the same, and gave us permission to be creative with the plating. Unlike the Boston Cream Pie, however, which is cake, then custard, then cake, then chocolate, ours had to be custard, then cake, then chocolate.

Our friend Fanny, of Foodbeam fame, suggested early on after the unveiling the idea of using wine glasses. Seeing as I don't own 16 ramekins (or really even four), I loved the idea of the wine glass and ended up being the first of many to show a picture of a wine glass style Bostini! Thanks for the inspiration Fanny!

Now onto the recipe. I've made custard before, and sponge cakes, but this recipe surprised me a bit with the ingredients list:

13 -14 egg yolks
1 whole egg
9-10 egg whites
3/4 cup whole milk
3 3/4 cup heavy cream
and sugar

Sounds pretty heavy, doesn't it? Yet despite the massive amounts of eggs and cream, this custard was light and airy. Completely unexpected! Having gotten all my eggs ready in advance, as well as all the rest of my mise en place for the custard, it came together very quickly and thickened up nicely. But it did not want to go nicely into the wine glasses without leaving splotches all over the sides! I finally had to get creative and used my rarely used turkey baster to "squirt" custard evenly into 8 wine glasses.

Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that. Probably should have.

Both the cake and the custard I made the day before our Thanksgiving feast, so that all I had to do for dessert was to cube up the sponge cake (I baked mine in my grandmother's tube pan and had 3/4 of the cake left after making 8 Bostini's), place the pieces on top of the custard and make the glaze for drizzling. I admit I did the glaze by eye, rather than by measuring out tablespoons of melted chocolate and butter, but it seemed to work out perfectly.

I did have one odd complaint about the dessert - the wine glasses I chose to serve them in did not give enough room to let fingers in to "lick" clean the sides of the glass! Which didn't stop us from trying.

This challenge was alot of fun. Not complicated, but fun!

And while we all very much enjoyed the flavors, I'm not sure how often I could justify making a dessert that uses that many eggs and so much cream!

Big Thanks to Mary for her choice in this month's challenge! Don't forget to head on over to the Daring Baker's Blogroll and check out some of the other presentations. Some of them are so gorgeous you will not believe it is the same dessert!


Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala's Bistro)
(makes 8 generous servings)


INGREDIENTS:

Custard (Pastry Cream)
3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze
8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the custard (pastry cream):
Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.

Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:
Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the way it presents in the wine glasses..nice job.

Sheltie Girl said...

Lovely Bostini's and I loved the wine glass presentation!

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

Warda said...

Wine glass makes it look so decadent and make you forget about the calories too. Looks nice.

Brilynn said...

Using a turkey baster is an excellent idea, I always end up dribbling onto the glass when I try to pour things nicely. Well done!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Great idea to cube the cake.

Brittany said...

A turkey baster!?! You truly are a brilliant and crafty daring baker! They look incredible : )

Lis said...

har! A turkey baster used for squirting the custard is priceless. And totally creative. =)

Well done, my friend!

xoxo

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

That was a draw back to the wine glass wasn't it.
I tried a ladle, that splashed the sides.
A pyrex measuring cup worked for me. I like the turkey baster for custard. A sign of genius: new uses for everyday things.

Gigi said...

The Bostini's look so elegant in the wine glass. What I great idea to serve them for Thanksgiving dessert.

Cheryl said...

The people that make wine glasses really don't think of us people trying to get our fingers in there to get the custard, do they? The nerve.

Looks fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Serving it in a glass seemed to be the best way isn't it. I see you all cleaned up real good :)!

marias23 said...

Love the way you topped it with orange zest! And I suppose they disappeared too quickly for more of your wonderful pictures :)

kellypea said...

I agree that this was fun. And I'm completely sold on dessert in a glass. It's so chic. Now watch the next challenge be something I can't stuff in a glass. Sheesh.

Julius said...

I totally agree with Rose above.

Love what you've done with the bostini. I will certainly try wine glasses next time.

Laura said...

Hmm I can see how not being able to lick the glass could be a problem. Looks like a very successful challenge Jenny! Roll on Novenber!

Deborah said...

Wonderful job!! I thought about doing glasses at first, and now you are making me wish I would have!!

April said...

Your Bostini looks great!! or should I say looked great!

David T. Macknet said...

Oooh - I like the chunks of cake! Looking at your swirl of orange on top makes me wonder how candied lemon peel wouldn't work.... Looks delicious!

Karen Baking Soda said...

Proud turkey baster owners, unite there is a glorious new application in your future! Love the idea Quellia, and the wine glass presentation is so elegant!

Anonymous said...

Love the presentation, Jenny! Can you believe that we're 300 strong!!!

Unknown said...

I thought about doing mine in an iced tea glass, but figured it would be MUCH easier to transport as one large cake. Yours looks fantastic.

Jen Yu said...

A great take with the wine glasses! Looks delicious and the empties vouch for that too :) Lovely.


-jen at use real butter

Anne said...

At first I did plan making them in mould but since I wasn't satisfied with the result, I too have to use a glass to serve it. Glad you liked the end product :)

Anonymous said...

Looks beautiful in the wine glasses. That is a funny image of all the guests 'licking' the sides with their fingers :) Great photos and brilliant to serve this to adults and at a party...even making half the recipe, there was a lot of it.

Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms

Julie said...

They look great--almost like a traditional trifle! The image of someone with a turkey baster full of custard cracks me up, too. It sounds like something I'd do! I'm glad it worked out! And I agree--it's not a dessert to make often, but it's certainly worth making again! I bet all the caramel apple kids were jealous! I would've been!

Dolores said...

The turkey baster trick is genius! I love your presentation, and I think the empty glass says it all!

Kelly-Jane said...

Great pies! I never thought to put them in a glass, and it works so well =) Well done.

leslie @ definitely not martha said...

Turkey baster = stroke of absolute genius. You will definitely be helping me with my custard next time. :)

Leslie at definitely not martha

Andrea said...

I love the turkey baster and will definitely borrow that idea. Also like the idea of cubing the cake for something a little different. Well done, your Bostini looks beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Creative to cut the chiffon in pieces, I like your presentation!

Dagmar said...

I love the wine glass presentation!

slush said...

Beautiful! I love the cubed cake, what a great idea. And I love the empty glass most of all, you know they loved it!

Belinda said...

I think that this particular challenge allowed for so much creativity in the presentation, which was a lot of fun. Your wine glass Bostini looks just right...festive and elegant at the same time. :-)

breadchick said...

I don't own a turkey baster but now I'm going to have to get one because I am in your and Bri's camp, I make a huge mess when I'm dribbling things like that on desserts! Great job this month as usual and great post!!!

Anonymous said...

I love how you made it a trifle - great idea!

Elisabeth said...

I loved this dessert. I'm thanking of serving it for our Thanksgiving here in the States too.

Elisabeth said...

I loved this dessert. I'm thanking of serving it for our Thanksgiving here in the States too which is just around the corner.

african vanielje said...

Quellia, you certainly got stuck into yours, and I can see why. You made them look and sound so delish. I can't believe I am looking at a post by such a veteran DB'er. well done

Ilva said...

I'm seeing a lot of nice ideas on how to serve these and I have to say that I like the way you made smaller pieces of the cake, practical but yet you managed to make it look elegant!

Annemarie said...

Oh, very creative indeed with the use of your turkey baster (pre-turkey basting, though, I trust)! Hope it helped contribute to a very happy thanksgiving.

Christine said...

I'm glad you were able to spread the Bostini joy with many others!

Peabody said...

Well done...looks very elagant that way.

Unknown said...

I love that you put the orange zest on top. I wish I had thought of that! It looks so yummy! Amazing job!

Anita said...

I like the wineglass idea a lot - your bostini looks like the prettiest parfait!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Very yummy looking! Well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

Dharm said...

what a great idea to use your turkey baster! The dessert looks awesome!

Wendy said...

The wine glass presentation is so elegant. I busied my self with finding ramekins when really, I could have used anything. Next time. What a festive way to end your Thanksgiving feast. Wendy

Inne said...

Great job Quellia and beautifully presented - it looks almost like a trifle. And those stupid wine-glass-making people should get product testers (a bunch of Daring Bakers perhaps?) in to sort out flaws in their designs!

Megan said...

Turkey baster-hmmm. Great idea!
But so much delicious dessert.

eatme_delicious said...

Yum looks great in the wine glass. I was wondering how you would get the custard in there without getting any on the sides! I used a wide glass dish and still got some on the sides. The turkey baster is a brilliant idea. :)

test it comm said...

Looks good. I like the orange peel twist.

Gabi said...

Love the knotted orange peel! Your Bostini looks so inviting!
xoxo

Chelsea said...

Beautiful Bostinis! I'll bet you were very popular at Thanksgiving. You know that Pumpkin Pie is never going to cut it again.

LizG said...

Great presentation and blog post. Well done!