Stella di Pandoro

with Custard Cream & Cranberries 

Pandoro literally means 'golden bread'. The star of any Italian Christmas dinner when you know how to dress it properly, with

Crema Diplomatica. Creamy, sweet, luxurious and seasonally fruity this gorgeous dessert elevates a packaged cake into a showstopper. 

Ingredients

Method

SERVINGS: 12-16 PREP TIME: 30 MINS. COOK TIME: 10 MINS. 

Custard:

1. In a pot add milk, vanilla bean and lemon rind.

2. Bring to a light boil on medium low heat and turn off heat. Set aside to cool.

3. In a bowl beat the yolks with the sugar and then stir in the flour.

4. Remove the vanilla bean and lemon rind from the milk.

5. Slowly add the flavored milk to the egg mixture and stir.

6. Transfer to a saucepan on low heat and keep stirring until cream thickens and there are no lumps. Turn off heat and set aside to cool. 

Chantilly Cream:

1. In a bowl, whip the cream and scraped vanilla bean with an electric mixer. When it reaches stiff peak consistency it's ready. Set aside. 

2. When the custard is completely cold, fold in the whipped cream with a spatula, until the two creams become smooth and homogeneous.

Cranberries:

1. In a small saucepan add fruit juice and cranberries, bring to a low simmer.

2. Sprinkle in the sugar and stir carefully so you don't break up the cranberries.

3. Cook on low heat until cranberries become plump but not broken (about 12 minutes).

4. Take off heat and let cool.
   

Assembly: 

1. In the Pandoro box, find the sachet of icing sugar & pour that into the bag with the Pandoro. Shake gently to dust Pandoro with icing sugar.
2. Remove to a cutting board, and starting from the top cut Pandoro into 4 equal rounds.
3. Place the bottom Pandoro layer on the platter you'll serve it on.
4. Layer the Crema Diplomatica on the bottom layer.  Great if some goes over the edge, it adds to the rustic look.
5. Add the next Pandoro layer, spinning it so the points are staggered giving that star look. 
6. Layer with cream and repeat using up all four layers, staggering them each time.
7. For the final piece, fill the indentation on the top with the Crema and top with a mound of cooked cranberries.
8. Dust some icing sugar around the bottom of the cake.
   
9. Finally be creative!  Add cranberries to the star point ledges, on the sides of the cake, letting some fall onto the base of the plate, all these 'happy accidents' add to the enchantment. 
   
10. Drizzle leftover cranberry juice all over to create an icicle look.
    
11. Let sit in fridge for about 10 minutes, before cutting and serving.
    
12. If there's any Chantilly left, dollop it on the cut pieces before serving.