Stella di Pandoro

If you're looking for a stunner of a dessert, this is it. A real showstopper! Thanks to Nicoletta and Loreto of sugarlovespices.com for this gorgeous recipe and their helpful advice.

Easier to make than it looks, the filling and sauce can be made ahead of time and partially pre-assembled before serving time.

Ingredients:

1 Pandoro

Cranberry Sauce:

3/4 cup cranberries

1 1/2 tbsps sugar

3 tbsps fruit juice (I used orange juice)

Lemon Custard:

4 egg yolks

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

40 g (1/3 cup) flour, sifted

1/2 L (17 oz) milk

1 tsp vanilla

rind of 1 lemon

Chantilly Cream:

250 ml (1 cup) whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

30 g (2 tbsps) icing sugar

Chocolate Tree Toppers:

150 g (half a large bar) 70% dark chocolate

candy sprinkles

6" wooden skewers

This beautiful Pandoro (literally golden bread) can be found in Italian specialty stores or on the international aisle of your favourite grocery store around Christmas and New Years. It has an incredibly soft texture which made me nervous about how this whole thing was going to hold up, but it all worked out! 

It comes with it's own packet of icing sugar, so dump the whole packet into the plastic bag with the Pandoro and gently shake until it's completely coated. Set aside.

Cranberry Sauce:

In a small saucepan add the fruit juice and cranberries and cook on a low simmer. Add the sugar and gently stir trying not to break the berries. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until plump. Remove from heat and cool.

Custard:

In a medium saucepan add milk, vanilla and lemon rind and bring to a boil on medium low heat. Then turn off the heat and set aside to cool. In a mixer bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until foamy then add the sifted flour. Remove the lemon rind from the cooled milk with a slotted spoon and slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture. Return it all to the saucepan and on low heat stir until thickened and smooth. Not going to lie, this part was a little labour intensive as I stirred and stirred for a good 15 minutes! But it was worth it! Once thickened remove from heat and set aside to cool.

(Only one little spot stuck to the pan!)

Chantilly:

Once the custard is completely cooled move on to the chantilly. Whip the whipping cream and vanilla together and when peaks start to form add the icing sugar. Beat together until fully whipped then fold into the custard until smooth.

Using a serrated knife, cut the Pandoro into 4 equal slices. Place the bottom slice on a serving plate and spread some of the filling. Off set the next slice so the points are staggered giving the appearance of a tree. Add more filling.

Continue stacking, staggering and filling until you reach the top. Then fill the concave on the top slice with more filling. The filling is supposed to drip down the sides but I was afraid this was just going to end up a big puddle on the bottom of my plate (and fridge!) I assembled this Christmas morning so I stopped at this point and refrigerated. I put a plastic container top over the top filling then covered everything with a big plastic bag and crossed my fingers before putting it in the fridge! If continuing and serving right away the cake and filling do have to set in the fridge at least 10 minutes.

At serving time I went to the fridge, fully expecting to find a fallen leaning tower of Pisa, but my Pandoro was intact! With a spoon I carefully placed cranberries and drizzled sauce on the top and on each point of the stars all the way down the cake.

It looked beautiful, but how to cut it?! It seemed like it would just ooze and squish when cut. It did not! 

I cut through two layers for each serving and they cut beautifully! I spooned some leftover filling onto each plate before placing a slice on top.

It was a HUGE success! Thank you again to Nicoletta and Loreto of sugarlovespices.com for your delicious and beautiful dessert and advice!

I added chocolate tree toppers which was not in the original recipe because, well .... chocolate 😃

Simply melt the chocolate 20-30 seconds at a time in a bowl in the microwave stirring each time until almost melted. Then stir until smooth. Coat half the skewer with chocolate then drizzle back and forth in a tree shape. Add sprinkles and chill 10-15 minutes.

This Stella di Pandoro serves about 15 people

Original recipe from: sugarlovespices.com

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