Crema de Fruta

This is a reposting from my old kusina.

Thanks to Celia K for her crema de fruta post, I thought this would be good alternative to the usual chocolate cake that my hubby always prepares for anyone's birthday in our family. I wanted for my in-laws to have something to look forward to during birthday celebrations, and not only to bring their gifts and greetings to the celebrant.

I deviated from CeliaK's method by preparing my own sponge cake. Why? Because when I told hubby about my plan, he grimaced a bit, saying that sponge cake is usually rubbery, chewy, tough and dry...and that he preferred the crumbly type of cakes. BUT he said, "if that's what you want, then go on. It's your birthday anyway."

Good thing I found a sponge cake recipe with this promise: " While most sponge cakes are light and somewhat dry, a sponge cake made with milk, has a softer more tender texture." The recipe is that of Boston Cream Pie which I got from Sarah's baking911 site.

Here's the recipe for the sponge cake:

Milk Sponge Cake

1 cup sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons unflavored vegetable oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

Adjust rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment or waxed paper; do not grease. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl add the the milk and oil; do not be concerned that they do not blend together.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, yolk and sugar to combine. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, whip the egg mixture until it is light ivory in color and very fluffy, about 6 minutes. Add the vanilla toward the end of whipping. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture in two additions. Pour the milk mixture down the side of the mixing bowl. (It will sink to the bottom of the bowl under the batter.) Gently fold until the milk mixture is thoroughly incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is golden on top and it springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Remove pan from oven to a wire rack until cool.


While baking the sponge cake I prepared the custard. Comparing CeliaK's custard filling with that of the Boston Cream Pie Recipe, I noticed the only difference in the ingredients were the amounts, and the inclusion of rum in the latter. I thought it would not hurt to follow that in BCP since I used a springform pan, so that the custard would just be enough to cover the top of the cake. I just eliminated the rum. I leave to you to include it or delete it from this custard filling recipe from baking911.
Boston Cream Filling
Only half of this rich, thick pastry cream, lightened with whipped cream is needed for the dessert. Enjoy the remaining filling with fresh fruit.

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon each dark rum and vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

In a small bowl whisk to combine the egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar, then the flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and 1/4 cup sugar and heat just until it comes to a boil. Remove, and pour half of the hot liquid over the yolk mixture, stirring to combine. Pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan, and bring it to a boil again, stirring constantly. When it is thick and smooth, remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a large bowl to cool. Cover surface with plastic and refrigerate. When ready to assemble the dessert, stir in the rum and vanilla until smooth, then fold in the whipped cream.


Then while cooling the custard, I sliced the top off the cake as soon as it was cool enough to do so. I just thought this would create more traction for the pudding and the fruits, plus it gave me an excuse to taste the cake. And guess what I discovered: It tasted like that of Special Mamon Tostado (almost like the Goldilocks' Mamon but without that greasy unpleasant film that it leaves on your palate). I had hubby taste it too, and he said it was not what he expected of sponge cakes as it was not tough.

Next I prepared the gelatin. I used Knox unflavored gelatin and then followed the instructions on the packet using 2 envelopes.

While it was cooling in the fridge, I started assembling the fruits (peaches, Mandarin oranges and Maraschino cherries) over the custard that I poured on top of the sponge cake. Then I placed inside the fridge covered with a plastic wrap to let them chill for about an hour, and then poured a thin film of gelatin. I let that thin film set for about 30 minutes, sort of like laminating the surface, acting like a seal, before I poured more gelatin to cover the fruits completely. Let the gelatin set. (It was a minimum of 3 hours from the approximated time of serving, but feel free to make this several hours earlier). (Note: I made a mistake before of pouring the gelatin while it was still very liquid, and the cake, custard and fruits were room temp. The gelatin seeped through the cake and soaked it, making it tough when the cake cooled completely. Believe me, you don't want to make the same mistake again.)

My visitors were intrigued by it. I served it very informally as such; only separating the sides off from the pan using a small silicone spatula, then gave them each a slice of the cake. No, the number of cherries did not correspond to my age (wish it did!) . They all said it was different and good. None was left (there were 13 of us in all; no leftover on their plates!) at the end of the day (much to my older son's dismay). Any Filipina can hold her head up high when serving this dessert to a foreign crowd.

Egg (Custard) Pie

I first came across the recipe of CeliaK (God bless her!) that looks like the traditional egg pie back in PI -- custard with dark brown topping. So, getting the ideas from her recipe, I tried mine with some variations to save time (using graham crust instead of making my own pie crust; I rarely have the time nowadays because of work) and use up some of the ingredients in my pantry given by relatives (i.e., honey). If you are interested in making your own graham cracker pie crust, I have copied and pasted a recipe down below.

My first attempt created that dark brown but too spongy topping, and I wanted the top thinner, and I wanted the custard sweeter (guilty of having a sweet tooth!). But in wanting to see how my in-laws would receive it (my husband is hopeless), I did not make the top dark, but golden brown. Now, my SIL is a very opinionated person who cares not a bit if you will like what she is gonna say or not, but when she got her first bite of this egg pie, her comment was: "Oh my God, this is to die for!!!" and helped herself to a second serving.

My MIL raises chicken layers so we could get the freshest eggs, and right now she gets 18 eggs a day! What to do? Give us some, and sell the rest. In return, I try to make this egg pie or leche flan, which she and FIL both love (makes me wonder why my hubby does not).

Here is my final recipe (my kids like the leche flan better, though):

Ingredients (good for one pie)

Keebler's Graham Crust (with 2 extra servings - see slide show below)
2&1/3 cup milk
1 beaten egg for brushing the crust (the excess goes into the mixture)
3 eggs Plus 1 yolk
1 egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1&1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
2. Place the crust onto a baking pan/cookie sheet and brush with beaten egg. and bake for 5 minutes. (This procedure is actually found under the label.)
3. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients (except the 1 egg white) in a blender using pulse setting.
4. Pour the excess beaten egg (from step 2) into the mixture that you are gonna prepare.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until it forms soft peaks.
6. Using a wire whisk, cut the egg white into the mixture by gentle mixing until just a thin layer of egg white floats.
7. Increase the oven temp setting to 400 deg F and immediately take out the crust and pour the custard mixture into it and fill to capacity.
8. Bake immediately for 15 minutes then lower the temp to 290 deg F and bake for 30-60 minutes more (depending on how many pies you are making; you kind have to keep watching). When the middle part is a bit wiggly like soft jelly, take the pie out (don't when it seems liquidy still). [If you do not bake right away after pouring the custard onto the crust, the custard starts disintegrating the crust and you will see the custard impregnated with graham cracker. I have done that!]
(EDITED- removed the confusing extra lines - thanks to Teresa for her query!
EDITED again12/06/07 because I noticed my step-by-step instructions were not too clear, thanks to Dona's query. I think was busy SingSnapping while making this post...lol!)

This is a great Christmas give-away idea for your Filipino friends!

Graham Cracker Pie Crust recipe from Southernfood.
This crust is simple to make, and may be used for a 9-inch pie or cheesecake.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 10 minutes
Here's How:

1. In a small saucepan or the microwave, melt 6 tablespoons of butter.
2. Place about 24 graham crackers in a plastic bag. Roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed. This may be done in small batches.
3. Measure 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs into a medium bowl.
4. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the graham crackers.
5. Add the melted butter.
6. Stir or blend together with your hands.
7. Press into the pie plate or other pan.
8. To pre-bake the pie crust, bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven.