Bostini Cream Pie: a Daring Bakers' challenge

Sometimes I curse myself for my own ignorance. When I read about the DB's October challenge, I had never heard of a Bostini Cream Pie before... and glancing (at irritably quick speed) through the recipe I couldn't really picture this dessert at all. Mary was raving about it and I had no reason to doubt her tastebuds, but I did. For a whole month. It was a combination of my own ignorance, the fact that I wasn't sure what the whole dessert should look like and the fact that the sponge recipe contained oil (!) and orange juice (!!!!). Cup measures don't come natural to me after years and years of baking and living in an "imperial" country, and I am still not instantly converting cups to metric. Plus oil in baking is unheard of where I grew up so I heard alarmbells ringing all over the shop. I just didn't warm to the recipe at all. Which is why I kept pushing it out. Until the very last moment.

With a big weekend behind me, it was only this morning that I (still somewhat reluctantly) trod down to the kitchen, rolled my sleeves up and got my hands dirty. Minute by minute my mood changed as I realised there was barely 20 grams of oil, the grated orange zest gave off a beautifully fresh smell and the vanilla custard thickened nicely... already, I thought that the recipe "wasn't that bad after all" - but when I slid the first spoon into my mouth and tasted that slightly warm custard with the incredibly soft, fluffy and moist sponge on top, complemented with some smooth and creamy chocolate sauce on top, I was in heaven. It must have been in that very moment that the skies opened up and after a week of miserable rain sent down all the sunshine they had stored up for all that time. Beautiful. Spoon-lickingly good.

Using one of the few wild cards this month's host gave us, I halved the recipe. I am also giving you metric measures, but the instructions are as per Mary's original challenge. And, always looking for new finger-food ideas, I tried my luck at presenting this (as I now know) amazing dessert on individual spoons, rather than in a bowl. The sponge is hard to cut neatly, but then who needs neat when the taste is gorgeous.

I curse my ignorance. For had I trusted Mary like a usually do, I would have had a chance to eat this dessert every day since the 1st of October. But tomorrow, I'll have to move on to other (no doubt amazing) things. For once, I intend to complete my challenge at the first opportunity that presents itself. Just so I don't miss out on any finger-lickingly good moments of dessert heaven again.

Bostini Cream Pie Spoons
(yields ca. 20 spoons)

For the custard:
90 ml whole milk
10 g corn starch
½ egg (30 g)*
4 egg yolks
350 g single or whipping cream
seeds of ½ vanilla pod
35 g icing sugar

For the sponge:
110 g pastry flour
75 g caster sugar
5 g baking powder
1 pinch salt
25 g mild oil (I used groundnut)
2 egg yolks
90 g orange juice
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest (unwaxed orange)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar

For the chocolate sauce:
125 g butter
125 g dark chocolate

Mint leaves for decorating (optional)

(my changes from original recipe in italics)
To prepare the custard:
Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolk, 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. Put aside to cool.

To prepare the chiffon cake:
Preheat the oven to 175 C.
Butter a 25 x 30 cm oven-proof dish.
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 buttered dish with the batter. Bake approximately 25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cover the cake to keep 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. Keep warm.

To assemble:
Spoon about 1 tbsp of custard into each serving spoon, cut out a tsp full of the sponge to sit on top. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and decorate with a mint leaf, should you wish.

* to halve an egg, break an egg into a bowl, beat it up with a fork, then weigh and use half the amount.

Comments

[Jeanne]

OMG, could those look any more delicious?! I love the idea of miniaturising them too. Well done you on completing BOTH your baking tasks this weekend - just my WTSIM entry took up all of yesterday! And as you know, Saturday was a write-off... ;-)

[Adrion]

Great presentation! Love the little flecks of vanilla in your custard.

[Gloria]

This looks........ sooooo yummy, beauty, xxxGloria

[Augustina]

Your Bostini Cream Pie looks very luscious! I like how the photo in the spoon turned out-quite lovely!

[Meeta]

I can so relate to your thoughts! I too always have trouble converting from cups to metric. So, while I was in Dubai I bought a bunch of US cup and tablespoon measurements and am hoping it will help me out a bit mor next challenge. Your dessert looks brilliant. Nice job!

[Pille]

Love the spoon presentation idea - very inspired!! And I'm impressed - I made my Bostinis last night, and thought that was late - but this morning??? You're daring indeed:)

[Deborah]

Your presentation is gorgeous!! I doubted as well, but was pleasantly surprised!!

[brilynn]

I'm glad you finally did decide to make it! I had trouble halving the recipe as well and I was keeping the original measurement units so I don't know how you did it. Well done!

[Erin]

These are beautiful. They are making my mouth water. I love the presentation!

[jennywenny]

Love the vanilla flecks, and the spoon presentation is great, its so rich that its a perfect amount

[Annemarie]

The Bostinis on a spoon look great, though I'd be afraid of overdosing as I did spoon-shot after spoon-shot of Bostini!

[Laura]

I'm not surprised you loved this so much, yours looks incredibly decadent. I still have the leftover elements of mine stashed and I intend to eat it for many days to come..

[Inne]

Your bostinis look wonderful as finger food Johanna! Like you, I'd never heard of it before either - and I'm not keen on chocolate and orange combined.
I gave up trying to convert measurements qutie a while ago - I've got so many American cook books it was much easier to just buy a set of measuring cups and spoons a long time ago.

[Gabi]

So glad you finally gave it a try.
Your presentation is beautiful!
xoxo

[abby]

fabulous presentation johana, as always!

[Gigi]

OMG! WOW! What a creative way to serve the Bostini's! Well Done.

[African Vanielje]

Joanna, they look gorgeous. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who left it to today, although I did leave it a bit later than you

[breadchick]

Yup, that custard is a keeper isn't it!! And that wonderful sprig of mint on top just pops your dessert off the page!! Great job on the challenge this month!!

[Elle (Dove)]

Perfect mouthfuls. Or is it mouthsful? Those photos look so good, I just had to lick the screen.

[Chris]

Wow! I love the spoons. I would like all of them please..:) Great job!

[Tartelette]

Gorgeous presentation and I am glad to hear you enjoyed the end result. I am sad I made it earlier and spread the custard chocolate cake love around the neigborhood early in the month because I wish I had a Bostini right now!!

[Katie]

Yay for overcoming fears and giving things a go. They turned out beautifully. Like you I'm not good at working in cup measurments.

[Anne]

Oh, just lovely! Great job! I felt like you did about the recipe, but I also feel the same as you about the finished result! Great surprise! Your spoons are adorable - that was a great twist!

[katha]

looks and sounds great. it somehow reminds me of "somloer nockerl" - they are made without orange, instead of one kind of sponge cake two or three (one with chocolate or nuts, i think) but topped with vanilla custard, raisins, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, too. i suppose you know that dessert - what do you think? i never heard of bostini cream pies before...

[Valli]

Your presentations of the Bostini challenge are very innovative!!! O loved to just look at your photos for a few moments! I do love Boston Cream Pie so would probably love this as well. Custard is not everyone's cup of tea but I grew up in a British family. Custard abounds!

[Katie]

What a cute way to plate! Love it!

[Belinda]

I was like you, but unfortunately, I also ended up not caring for the dessert. However, it was really fun to get in the kitchen and make myself do the challenge. I agree that the orange zest made the cake smell so good, and look how wonderfully your Bostinis turned out! :-)

[Jen Yu]

Perfect idea with the spoons. That quantity was about all I could eat too - it's so rich! Lovely post.

[Mary]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love those little spoonfuls.

[April]

Oh My!!! These little things are adorable! I think I may use your spoon idea for my cookie swap!

[linda]

I love your amuse bouche Bostini's!

[Andrea]

I love the spoonfuls of Bostini! What a neat way to serve it! I also procrastinated, but with the best intentions... :-)

[Dagmar]

What a lovely presentation! I doubted as well, but I really liked the bostinis (in small servings though as they were so rich).

[Anne]

those are absolutely divine! you captured them beautifully :)

[Sheltie Girl]

You did a wonderful job on your bostinis. Lovely pictures.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

[Claire]

I LOVE that you can see the vanilla beans. The spoon is great...so appealing.

[Lisa]

Ohh those lil spoonfuls are adorable!

hehehe glad you surprised yourself by liking it! Mary knows her stuff, eh? =)

Beautiful job as always, Johanna!

xoxo

[peabody]

It looks fabulous on the spoons!

[maria~]

Can I just say that I love love love your presentation? Very creative and looks so polished and professional! The touch of mint is interesting!

[Julie]

Oh, the spoons look so pretty, all dressed up in Bostini! Fabulous job, and a good alternative to a bigger dessert. It would be awesome to serve these as part of a dessert buffet. I'm glad you charged in and did the challenge once you set your mind to it!

[Erika of Sweet Pea Blog]

It is funny, I had similar reservation but due to the quantities of the ingredients... "was I going to have to go out and buy a hen for all those eggs??? ;) However, after 1/2ing the recipe and seeing positive results, I realised I should never have doubted Mary's choice.
Also really like how you presented the desert - original & well photographed :)

[DaviMack]

I love the idea of making it in the little spoons - and I'll bet that, calorie-wise, it's something more tolerable! Great idea!

[Ivonne]

For me, you get the award for best presentation. Well done!

[Wendy]

Your spoon presentation is so fresh and original. Your write-up was a pleasure to read and your photos beautiful. Wendy

[Rosa]

I love your presentation! Really wonderful!

Cheers,

Rosa

[Dolores]

I love your "bite sized" approach to Bostini... at that size you take a serious chunk out of Julius' 1170 calories per serving -- you can now have your Bostini without spending 10 hours on a treadmill to recover from the caloric indulgence!

[monica]

gorgeous bostini spoons! i love this presentation, perfect bites since everyone has been complaining that they are so caloric...great job on the challenge!!