Monday, October 29, 2007

Daring Bakers Mission Accomplished

Who or what are the Daring Bakers ?



The Daring Bakers are an online community that have monthly challenges to teach, inspire, and push us to our full potential. We bake the exact same recipe, support each other through our own private blog, and post our experience on the exact same day. This month was hosted by Mary of Alpineberry. The recipe is from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni in the Napa Valley and Scala's Bistro in San Francisco


My first Daring Baker Challenge. The recipe was revealed and I thought "Oh No" I don't really even like Boston Cream Pie and this recipe was a spin off of just that.
Bostini Cream Pie
It is a vanilla bean custard, topped with a light orange chiffon cake and drizzled with a rich chocolate glaze.
I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. I had never made custard before.


I guess what I was worried about was the tempering of the eggs (9 yolks and 1 whole egg) with the scalding hot cream. (I've also shyed away from homemade ice creams using eggs.) After the eggs were added, successfully, I might add, I started cooking the custard, It looked lumpy. Again, there was that worry factor. But the directions said to strain the custard, which I did. Every thing turned out custardy smooth.
Phase One-check


Then came the chiffon cake. It reminded me of making the cake for my annul yule log. I had heard from other Daring Bakers that they had problems with the cake. They believe they did not fold the egg whites correctly into the orange batter. It produced a rubbery layer on the bottom of their cake. I was very careful here. All went well! I actually got a dozen cupcakes that I used for the Bostini and an 8in. cake layer which I froze for a latter project.
Phase Two-Check



Glaze and Assembly
Talk about a really rich topping O-My. Yummy!!! How can you go wrong when you mix butter and chocolate.
Assembly was the fun part. I used different glasses for my serving dishes. The one in the coffee glass was more of the layered look. While it was pretty, I liked the ones in the stemless wine glasses. I just thought they looked elegant.
Phase Three-Check





Reviews

This dessert was fantastic. The custard was much easier then I thought. I made it again for the filling in my coconut cake. The flavor was outstanding. The cold custard, orange cake, and warm glaze was heavenly. It wasn't as hard or as time consuming as I thought it would be. Just alot of eggs!
I keep thinking this would be a great jelly roll style cake with custard rolled in the middle and glaze oozing over the top. Great for the holiday and definitely a keeper recipe.
The empty glasses are our review.

Check here to see many more Bakers baring Bostini.


Bostini Cream Pie

Ingredients:

Custard:
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 (EDITED:vanilla extract is okay)
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:

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. accomplished

35 comments:

  1. This challenge was my first custard as well and like you, I was intimidated. Looks great!

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  2. Great job on your first challenge! I love all of the glasses that you used.

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  3. Hi Megan,

    I totally agree with you about trying this recipe as a roll... a great idea for a buche noel, I think.

    I'm a new DB'er as well. Please feel free to check out my bostini here.

    Julius

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  4. Well done on your first challenge!

    I was always worried about making custard for fear that it would curdle, but it's really not that hard.

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  5. Isn't it great to be challenged and find out you can do it. Well done! When I was mixing the eggs and the milk I couldn't get it to become homogenous, so I strained it at that point, and it turned out I didn't need to strain it later.

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  6. A roll..great thinking! As fun as it was to make the Bostini, I think I'm having even more fun learning everyone's ideas for various creative renditions.

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  7. I love the picture of all your glasses full of custard and waiting for a bit of cake. Congrats on your first challenge.

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  8. I think this challenge was a lot of fun to plate up differently...everyone has done such a great job with presentation...your Bostinis look lovely, and I agree, the stemmed glasses do make for an especially elegant presentation. :-)

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  9. Congratulations on your first challenge. You aced it!

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  10. I love the stemless glass presentation the best. Great job.

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  11. You have done a great job with ur first challenge!

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  12. I'm glad you were able to overcome your custard worries. Very nicely done on your first challenge.

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  13. Lovely! Wonderful job on your first challenge! And yes, way too many eggs. LOL

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  14. Congrats on your first challenge! Very well done. Welcome to the Daring Bakers!

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  15. Great job on your first challenge and I love the the Irish coffee mug for the presentation!!

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  16. Congrats on completing your first challenge!! Beautiful!

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  17. You did a wonderful job on your first challenge. Welcome to the DBers!

    Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

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  18. I think those look terrific! And now you've mastered custard, you're ready to make some ice cream... a lot of ice cream ;) Great job!

    jen at use real butter

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  19. Yay Megan! Your lil bostinis look fab!

    Great job! Welcome to the Daring Bakers! =)

    xoxo

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  20. I join you on the first custard and chiffon cake. I like the cug with the handle...cute.

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  21. Megan,

    Congratulations on completing your first Daring Baker challenge. You did a great job!

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  22. COngrats on your frst challenge! Our plates looked as clean as your glasses! Great job!

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  23. Megan you accomplished it with flying colors!
    Welcome to the DBs. I like the sound of that future project.

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  24. Great looking pies! Wonderful!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  25. Hey dear! Congrats on your first DB challenge. Your presentation looks awesome, with the different coffee/wine glasses and all. And from the last picture of empty glasses, it must've been delish!

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  26. It looks simply lovely :) well done!

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  27. Congratulations on your first challenge! I agree--the stemless wine glasses gave an elegant look, but the coffee glasses are totally a tall glass of yum! Great job!

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  28. Oh, my! You know, not many of the other DB's posted pictures of exactly how many servings this came out to, and I'm a bit astonished! That's a lot of dessert! And all beautiful, of course. :)

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  29. Thanks everyone for stopping by,
    I think a good time was had by all!

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  30. your bostini looks absolutely perfect Megan.

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  31. Now rolled jelly style is a plating I would like to see!
    Nice work!

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  32. Your first photo gave me yet another plating idea ... beer stein bostini for the football crowd!

    Congratulations on your firsh challenge Megan, and welcome to the group. You did a great job conquering your insecurities; I loved your "one step at a time" approach. Looking forward to learning alongside you during future challenges!

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  33. Nice job on challenge #1!
    I think a roll would be great!
    I like the Irish coffee glass presentation you prepared.
    xoxo

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  34. I love the coffee cup ones...very cute.

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