Boston Cream Pie

Finally back to our cake theme just in time for New Year's! Today’s cake is called a pie but it’s actually a cake. I am making Boston Cream Pie. In the past we have made the cupcake version which is so tasty, but for a Summer Birthday this past year I decided on trying the actual big cake. Again, there is a lot that goes into it so you want to make sure you have time, which I had lots of this past Summer.

The Cake (it’s best to make a sponge cake as it’s lighter and fluffier and not so dense)

You will need the following to make a sponge cake…

¾ cup of flour

1 tsp. of baking powder

¼ tsp. of salt

3 tbsp. of milk

2 tbsp. of butter

½ tsp. of vanilla

3 large egg whites

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

¾ cup of sugar

3 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then heat the milk and butter in a saucepan on medium heat until the butter is melted. Off of the heat stir in the vanilla and cover to keep warm.

In your mixer bowl, whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Then increase the speed and fully whip the egg whites until they are billowy mounds. Gradually whip in 6 tbsp. of sugar and continue to whip the whites until they are shiny and form soft peaks.

If you have another bowl for your mixer, great, but if not transfer the egg whites and then clean the bowl and whip the 3 eggs yolks and the full eggs on medium high speed and add 6 tbsp. of sugar. Whip until the mixture is very thick and fluffy.

Now, place the full egg mixture on top of the egg whites and then sift the flour mixture over the top of this.

Fold everything together gently until just combined.

Pour the warm milk mixture against the side of the bowl and fold some more until everything looks evenly combined and there are no streaks of flour left. Do not over stir. Scrape the batter into the pans and bake for 12-18 minutes or until the cakes are lightly browned. Be very careful when these cakes are baking. Don’t open the over or bounce around too much!

Run a knife around the outer edge of the cakes when they come out so they don’t stick. Then flip them onto a lined plate. The cakes will be wrong side down so now flip them right side up and allow them to cool on a wire rack. They should be cooled after 2 hours. I let mine sit overnight before I did anything to them.

Now for the filling.

You will need…

2 cups of whole milk

6 large egg yolks

½ cups of sugar

¼ tsp. of salt

¼ cup of cornstarch

2 tbsp. of butter

1 tsp. of vanilla

Bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. 

While this is happening whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Then whisk in the cornstarch.

Slowly whisk in the warm milk into the egg mix and then transfer the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly until thick and glossy looking.

Now off of the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla.

Transfer into a bowl and place plastic wrap on the surface. Chill and allow it to set for about 2 hours in the fridge.

Ganache/Glaze

Now lastly for the glaze topping you will need…

I waited to do this until about 20 minutes before I was ready to serve the cake because I didn’t want it to get soggy.

2/3 cup of heavy cream

¼ cup of light corn syrup

1cup of semisweet chocolate

½ tsp. of vanilla

Microwave all of the ingredients and whisk until melted and smooth. Let the glaze cool a little bit until it’s thicken but still able to pour.

Now to assemble the cake.

Place some parchment paper down and on top of that place a cooling rack with the bottom layer of your cake.

Spread the custard filling on top and then place the top layer on to of that.

It’s time to glaze. Pour the cooled chocolate glaze right in the centre on top of the cake the glaze should drip all the way down the sides. It won’t be perfectly covered. That’s ok, it’s not supposed to be.

Like I said before, do this about 20 minutes before you want to eat the cake and then put it in the fridge to harden up. You can do this up to a day before but to avoid sogginess and slippage, I would try and do it day of. The leftovers, if there are any, can go in the fridge. They may get a little smooshed and soggy but that’s alright for the leftovers. Now that was a marathon cake to bake!