73/99: The Bostini

 Yum.

I've been waiting to make this one for awhile.  I really wanted to use a similar cup to Rose's because hers has a cool handle but I haven't come across one.  Tonight I had some friends over for dinner and decided to finish with the Bostini despite the lack of a custard or cappuccino cup.  In the end, I think my cups turned out just fine.  They had some pretty drawings of the side of them that had been etched in glass that I thought would look nice.  You can't really see them in the picture though.

For dinner I decided to make Dorie Greenspan's "my go-to beef duabe" (beef stew slow roasted in red wine, brandy, and herbs) from her book "Around My French Table."  Note to readers- the book is fabulous.  There was recently a Julie and Julia style blog community going on around it called Tuesdays with Dorie that I followed... it definitely inspired me to put the book on my Christmas list.  Now that the group has finished they are starting a new book called "Baking with Julia" in February.  I have twenty something cakes left so I'm seriously considering joining up with the group.  I would love to finish this one before I take on another project but I don't know if I can get that many cakes done by FEBRUARY!! We'll see...

Anyway, the Bostini was wonderful. The chocolate sauce was dark and the cake was tender.  It was especially delicious after it was soaked in the vanilla bean pastry cream sauce that is at the bottom.  

The only problem that I ran into was that I was so ambitious about keeping the kitchen clean while I was cooking that I forgot about the cream on the stove.  It ended up boiling (almost over the pot) and in the end it never got thick enough.  Maybe I didn't whisk long enough, maybe the boiling messed it up, or maybe it was just fine and I had custardy expectations that were incorrect from the beginning. Who knows...

But in the end, it really didn't matter because with a combination of the cake, the chocolate, and the pastry cream sauce, it was delicious.  I halved the recipe and made 6 instead of 12 and I think that was the perfect amount.  Plus I don't have 12 pretty cups. 

So here's the process:

First, the cupcakes:

Mix the cake flour, sugar, and salt.  Then make a hole in the middle to pour in the liquid ingredients.  I always like doing this.  I have no idea why it is necessary or how it helps baking but it feels so organized and neat.

Then the egg yolks and whole egg along with orange juice (and orange zest that I didn't have any of), oil, and vanilla.

Mix it all together to make it fluffy.

Then I had to switch bowls to make the meringue because I don't have two stand mixer bowls...

Next the meringue:

Fold them together:

 And voila. Cupcake batter.

Then for the Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream Sauce.  I didn't actually use a vanilla bean because I didn't have one and Rose said vanilla would work just fine.

So first you mix the eggs, milk, and cornstarch:

This is when I realized how messy I am and decided to try to clean up more along the way. New years resolution maybe?

Then you mix Sugar, salt, and vanilla.

And bring the heavy cream to a boiling point--- this does not mean boiling over the top of the pan. But of course I got distracted and turned into a neat freak absent minded chef. I guess that's really nothing new though.

 

Once the cream was done, I tried to whisk it fluffy but it remained pretty liquidy.  I hoped its time in the fridge would give it some strength but it was a bit disappointing.  The good news is that despite the strangely liquid consistency, it still tasted great.

Next came the chocolate butter glaze.  The title says it all: butter + chocolate = glaze.  Easy as pie.

I'd vote this recipe a success.  Not too difficult, absolutely delicious, and visually impressive. Hats off to Rose for this one.

Rose's Heavenly Cakes- page 351