Bostini Cream Pie

Daring Bakers October 2007 Challenge

Bostini Cream Pie 01a by MeetaK


I'm back from the warm, sunny and fast paced Dubai. After a lovely 2 week vacation with my parents I come back home to a cold Germany! But it's good to be home and my head is already spinning around with many new ideas and recipes I'd like to present and realize.

Before I left though, I did manage to squeeze in this month's Daring Bakers challenge. It was just too scrumptious not to!

Our lovely hostess this month was Mary of one of my fave blogs Alpineberry. Mary chose a wonderful recipe for us this month. It was straight forward but still challenging enough to tickle our baking fetishes. She chose a Bostini Cream Pie.

A Bostini Cream Pie is a take on the Boston Cream Pie, which basically is a vanilla layer cake filled with cream and topped with chocolate glaze. The Bostini Cream Pie has been adjusted to give you a gorgeous vanilla bean custard cream, topped with an orange chiffon cake and then drizzled with a rich chocolate glaze. Sounds wonderful doesn't it? Now you know why I did not want to miss out on this.

I decided to invite a few friends over for a kind of pre-vacation dinner. I mean if I was going to be making someting so rich and delicious, I might as well share it with friends - right?

As it is the case with each challenge, we were allowed a few modifications. For this challenge the modifications were:
  1. We could replace the large volume of orange juice in the cake recipe and did not have to use orange for the flavoring. The flavor could be substituted with a flavor that we thought complements the other components as long as the chiffon cake was kept "light colored". Nothing "dark" like chocolate or coffee/espresso.
  2. As the serving size was quite large, we were free to half the recipe. However no guarantees were given that the recipes for the chiffon cake and custard would scale down successfully without affecting the final product.
  3. We could make as much or as little glaze as we liked. Scaling is straightforward since it's 1 part chocolate to 1 part butter.
  4. We could play around with the "size" of the dessert.
  5. High altitude modifications were allowed as long as we stayed "true" to the recipe.
  6. Conversion for certain dietary restrictions like gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan etc. was also allowed.
  7. Recipe ingredient exception allowed only if allergy or an ingredient not available or cost prohibitive in our region.


Today you will be seeing a lot of these fantastic treats. Our group as sky-rocketed to over 200 members! So my one word of advice is to eat before you start surfing the blogs today!

Enjoy!



Ingredients
Printable version here.

Bostini Cream Pie 01 by MeetaK


Custard:
180 ml (3/4 cup) whole milk
30g (2 3/4 tablespoons) cornstarch
1 whole egg - beaten
9 egg yolks - beaten
895 g (3 3/4 cups) heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean - you can also use vanilla extract if you do not have a bean on hand
95 g (1/2 cup) + 1 tablespoon sugar

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

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




Method

Bostini Cream Pie 03 by MeetaK


To prepare the custard:

Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl and 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 or ramekin forms. I poured my custard in 6 flat oven-proof dishes. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (325 F). Spray or grease 8 ramekin molds with nonstick cooking spray or oil. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, oven proof wide mugs or even large foil 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 over-beat.

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 greased 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 over-bake. 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 and add the chocolate. 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 the custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.



Verdict

Bostini Cream Pie 04 by MeetaK


This was incredibly smooth and rich. The consistency of the cake was wonderfully smooth - just like chiffon. Paired with the thick custard and the rich chocolate sauce the dessert was simply delicious. My guests were simply bowled over by this dessert. It is everything one loves about a dessert - sweet custard with moist cake and a splash of decadent chocolate. Soeren loved the thick creamy custard and wanted extras on the cake. Tom enjoyed the lovely texture of the cake and as for me I loved every bite of the Bostini Cream Pie - custard, cake and chocolate, right down to the last spoonful.

Would I make this again?
I certainly will. I love the way this was quite easy to whip up offering maximum taste. It's the type of dessert that fits perfectly into a fancy dinner party as you can make this a day ahead. For me it was a brilliant way to offer my guests an extravagant finale to a simpler meal. And I am sure in the two weeks I was away they certainly did not forget me and my desserts ;-)

What did I learn from this challenge?
I learned that fancy desserts and cakes do not have to take too long to make. I also learned that it takes a whole lotta eggs to make a sinfully good custard LOL!

Thanks to Mary for this fantastic challenge. It was fun and I was glad that it was easy enough to follow so that I was able to fit it into by busy schedule just before leaving to Dubai.

You'll find a list of all the scrumptious recipes I created since I joined the awesome group here. Have a browse through and dare to give some a try!

Now I am back and look forward to spoiling you all with a lot of great new recipes, ideas and photographs. And also stay tuned for my tales and stories about Dubai.

For more Bostini Cream Pies surf on through the wonderful list of talented Daring Bakers located on the blogroll.


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75 comments:

  1. Beautifully plated dessert, Meeta! I'm glad you really liked this one - my fave DB creation is still Eric Kayser's fabulous milk chocolate and caramel tart!

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  2. Its simply Fabulous Meeta!!
    Love the presentation, love that Pie floating in the custard!!
    good to hear that u had a relaxing 2 weeks!!!

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  3. Great!!! I love this recipe.. and the photos are so cute!!
    bye!
    untoccodizenzero

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  4. I love the creaminess of your custard Meeta, it looks lovely!

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  5. I love the way you presented this and how you so artfully drizzled the chocolate. Yes, I do agree the creaminess of the custard comes from a whole lotta egg yolks!

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  6. the last picture is making me want some of that pie now... pls Meeta, send me some :-)

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  7. Looks beautiful and I am most definitely looking forward to stories about Dubai too.

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  8. Hey! Glad you had a good vacation with family!

    I can't believe how gorgeous this cream pie is! You totally rock!

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  9. Lovely Pie meeta.. though its a bit different from what I ate here in US... its called "Boston Cream Pie".. :D.. the pics esp the last one is truly gorgeous..:)

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  10. Beautiful...I couldn't take up the challenge this time...hands full with two ill kids as well as their mom.

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  11. Excellent advice to eat before surfing this morning. I haven't had breakfast.
    I love your photos here. Everyone of them showcases the simple nature of this really rich dessert.

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  12. Meeta, hope u had a wonderful holiday.. the Cream Pie is absolutely delicious.. cant wait to take a spoon and dig into it :)

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  13. Meeta, thanx for the wonderful treat. Gr8 pics and recipe.

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  14. Welcome back :-) and good to hear you had a fab time.
    Picture looks fantastic.

    Hugs,

    isis

    PS If it wasn't for you I would have given up my blog, but somehow can't do that as I would miss out on the Monthly Mingles, and ten posts a year or so should be doable.

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  15. Welcome back Meeta, missed you! Hope you had a great time with your parents... The dessert looks fab! I love those colors, so rich and creamy!

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  16. Welcome back.
    The dessert is so delicious. As always the pictures are superb

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  17. How lovely!
    And yes, it does take alot of eggs to make such a good custard, doesn't it? :-)

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  18. As always Meeta, lovely photos and presentation!

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  19. Your custard looks absolutely amazing Meeta. I'd settle for that alone!

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  20. Your bostini look so perfect sitting in thier pool of custard.

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  21. Meeta,

    I know yours will come up wonderfully! And it is! These look like food for a party of kings and queens! Pure indulgence!

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  22. That's a whole lot of beautiful custard Meeta! Welcome back!

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  23. Oh Meeta, I just wanted to dive into that big puddle of vanilla cream just like your Bostini chiffon cake!! Your step by step photos are wonderful as usual!

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  24. I'm so happy you liked this dessert Meeta. I could tell from your photos that your custard was just perfect!

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  25. Beautiful!

    And welcome back from Dubai!

    Paz

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  26. Glad to have you back! Beatifully palted dessert. I am sure your friends ejoyed it as well. Making it again here too!

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  27. This really is such an elegant dessert for a party, and yours looks beautiful.

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  28. I love the look of vanilla bean specks in the custard, it just makes everything prettier!

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  29. Meeta, wish I was your neighbour, girl you always make me drool over your pic. How do you make these treat ,kudos to you

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  30. lovely photo of bostini, glad you had a nice trip

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  31. Who could resist such gorgeous bostini's that you've made...they're oh so beautiful :)

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  32. Wow, now that's a lot of custard! No wonder the guest loved it so much.

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  33. Perfectly plated! You make it look so easy :) I love the way you can still see the vanilla in the custard...I have to try it with vanilla bean next time :)

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  34. Ah! You are back. I think I am getting heavier just looking at those pics. Di-vi-ne.

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  35. Your pics scream luscious, velvety and creamy! Well done!
    Can't wait to hear -and see- Dubai, we were there oh, like 10 years ago and it made a huge impression on me, for different reasons.

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  36. Hey welcome back meeta... was missing all the soul-soothing pics here... bostini cream pie looks sinful!!

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  37. Thanks to each and everyone of you - for taking the time to leave your wonderful comments.

    For those who want to make this for the first time - do not be too scared of all those eggs. It makes for a much creamier custard consistency and cake!

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  38. After a day of reading the posts of the Daring Bloggers, I am as full as if I'd eaten this cream pie myself! Once again you have outdone yourselves. Love seeing the different presentations, too.

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  39. 9 yolks + one whole egg - n wonder then that the custard is as creamy and rich as it looks! Glad to know it comes together easy (for you!).

    Totally drooly...

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  40. Glad you had a wonderful vaccation Meeta, and you are already back in action! Looks beautiful :)

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  41. Wow Meeta another of your beautiful creations.
    Lots of treats on Halloween for Soeren, do you have it in Germany or does it go by some other name ?

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  42. The composition of your photos always makes me stop, and just gaze at them for a few moments...so beautifully done. And your Bostinis are so cute, with the perfect drizzles of chocolate glaze...wonderful work! :-) I'm looking forward to peeking back in to hear about Dubai!

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  43. Gorgeous photos - I especially like the last one. Your Bostini looks perfect - I'm glad you were able to fit it in before your trip!

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  44. meeta! It is beautiful as usual.

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  45. Meeta.. you've done it again - Another challenge very well executed. Looks absolutely decadent.

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  46. Lovely lovely bostinis! Glad you had such a nice vacay and welcome back :)

    jen at use real butter

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  47. Welcome back!

    I love the photos and the custard looks fantastic!

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  48. Great Bostini Meeta! I really liked the chiffon cake as well, and will try another one for sure =)

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  49. Welcome back! I too love the pool of thick, rich, creamy custard.

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  50. Oh Meeta, it looks wonderful. I can even see the little flecks of vanilla in your super smooth custard. Compliments to both the chef and the photographer. :)

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  51. *drool*!

    This looks delicious. Can't wait for the next bakers' challenge :)

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  52. Meeta -
    Habba Habba Habba!! I wish I were in Weimar just to taste all those goodies you make/bake. This is sooooo fabulous.

    -Mythili

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  53. Really wonderful and ever so pretty! Great job!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  54. Meeta,

    Your bostini is just tremendous! I hope you had an incredible time in Dubai - I got your gorgeous postcard and just in time too as it's getting cold here! Hugs!

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  55. I love how you plated them, sweetie! They are GORGEOUS!!

    I got my postcard yesterday - thank you! squeeeeeeeeeee!

    I'm glad you guys had a good time and I look forward to hearing about all this food you mentioned! heee!

    xoxo

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  56. Welcome back, Meeta! Wonderful job as always and I can't wait to hear more about your exciting trip!

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  57. Beautiful job as usual Meeta!
    Love the crisscross drizzle!
    Glad you had a good vacation too.
    xoxo

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  58. I love them in the little dishes...very original.

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  59. wow, you went for big! when i chose the amuse-bouche format, i didn't know just how delicious these would be, so in hindsight, i regret not having had a big bowlful like you! great pics as usual!

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  60. Fabulous pictures of your bostini. You did a wonderful job on the challenge.

    Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

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  61. oh wow, what a beautiful presentation Meeta....love the cutlery too, very elegant!

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  62. Meeta,
    Great plating and lovely pics - as usual!

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  63. They look perfect, absolutely perfect. Great job as always Meeta!

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  64. They look wonderful! Even your napkins look great--I love their subtle orange color.

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  65. HI Meeta, this is so spectacular.. the pie looks great. Not sure if i'll b able to make it, but i did enjoy seeing those b'ful creation. thanks for sharing :)

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  66. I agree, it's everything I want in a dessert. :) Definitely one of my favs. Yours looks beautiful!

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  67. Your photos are fantastic. What a memory to leave your friends with. I bet they are glad you are back. I agree, elegant desserts do not have to difficult to make. I enjoyed your write-up. Wendy

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  68. Wonderful presentation! I especially like the last photo with the half-eaten bostini!

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  69. Hi Meeta,

    I'm a new DB'er and I am bowled over by your plating. It is *beautiful*.

    Please feel free to see my bostini here.

    By the way, I love your blog!

    Julius, The Occasional Baker

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  70. Wow Meeta... I love that you can see the flecks of vanilla in your custard. I'm glad you enjoyed this one... I always wonder what your "verdict" on each month's challenge will be. :)

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  71. Hi, My name is Kurtis Baguley, the Pastry Chef whom created this dessert.

    I would have to say, Looks yummy

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Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta