TROPICAL PIE

By DOMESTICDIVA

Summary: Dessert is served! A light sponge cake sandwiched with an indulgent silky smooth custard and fruit filling, topped with a rich ganache … and further crowned with grated chocolate. The Boston Cream Pie just got a tropical makeover!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• Sponge Cake
• 3 eggs {2 separated, 1 whole}
• 110 g sugar, divided 20g + 90g
• 65 g plain flour
• 1 scant tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 20 g / 1 tbsp milk
• 20 g/ 2 tsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 vanilla bean scraped {or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract}
• Crème patisserie {approx 150g} recipe inspired from my friend Pamela @ Cooking Ninja
• 30 g raw sugar {or granulated}
• 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
• 100 ml low fat cream
• 150 ml 2% milk
• 2 eggs
• 20 g cornflour
• Filling
• 100 g mascarpone {recipe for mascarpone}
• 150 g crème patisserie {recipe follows}
• 1 tin Del Monte Fruit Fiesta
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• Dark Chocolate Ganache
• 100 g dark chocolate
• 50 g low fat cream
• Milk chocolate for topping if desired

Preparation

Step 1

Method:
Sponge cake
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 7″ round tin with parchment {bottom and sides}
Melt the butter and milk and leave to cool {I did it for 30seconds in the microwave}
Sift the flour, baking powder and pinch salt. Reserve.
In a clean bowl, beat the 2 egg whites with 20gm sugar until stiff peaks form. Reserve.
Beat 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks with the remaining 90g sugar until mousse like and doubled in volume {about 5-7 minutes on high}.
Add the vanilla bean and beat for another minute, then with a spatula gently fold in the flour mix in 3-4 goes.
Take about 1/4 cup of this and mix through the eaten egg yolks to loosen the whites a bit. Now gently fold the rest of the beaten whites through the batter, taking care not to release the beaten in air.
Pour the milk/butter mixture into the centre and fold through gently but uniformly.
Transfer into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes / until light golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then gently remove from tin, and cool completely on rack. Cut into 2 layers.
Crème patisserie {can be made the day before}
Bring the milk to a simmering boil. Reserve.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon in a big bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture.
Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. Then stir in the cream until the mixture is well combined.
Transfer the whole mixture into a pot, with the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until it has thickened.
Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, and strain / pour it into a clean bowl.
Thermomix Recipe
Place sugar and vanilla bean in TM bowl, and process for 30seconds on speed 10. Add remaining ingredients, plus vanilla bean shell and cook on 90C/Speed 4 for 7 minutes {until thick}. Strain into a bowl immediately to cool. I chilled it overnight.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
Place dark chocolate in a deep bowl.
Simmer cream over very low heat in a heavy bottom pan and simmer over very low heat until tiny bubbles appear at the edges {don’t let boil}. Pour over the dark chocolate and whisk until the chocolate has melted.
Allow to cool before pouring over cake. It should be thick enough to pour but not too thin to drip off completely.
Assembling
Drain the contents of the tin and stand in a sieve to get rid of any liquid. {You can chill it if you like}
Whisk the crème patisserie, mascapone and sugar together until smooth. It will be very thick.
Place bottom layer of sponge on serving platter. Place an adjustable dessert ring around it {else use a mousse strip}.
Top with the filling cream and then sprinkle over with the fruit bits {reserve a few for garnishing if desired}, pressing into place gently. Top with the other half of the cake, press gently and chill covered with cling wrap for 5-6 hours.
Grate over some milk chocolate {room temperature} if desired. Chill until ready to serve.