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Boston Cream Pie

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  • Author: Cindy @ My Country Table
  • Prep Time: 4 hours
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Servings 1x
  • Category: Cakes
  • Method: Baked

Description

Boston Cream Pie consists of a thick, rich pastry cream that gets sandwiched between two layers of hot milk sponge cake and drizzled with dark chocolate ganache.  What more could you ask for?


Ingredients

Units Scale

PASTRY CREAM

  • 2 cups half & half
  • 6 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon 2 percent or whole milk
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces


Instructions

PASTRY CREAM

The pastry cream needs to be made and chilled prior to making the cake, so make sure you allow plenty of time for the pastry cream to chill.  You can actually make it the day before you bake the cake.

  1. Add the egg yolks, sugar, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in the flour and set aside.
  2. Add the half & half to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, until the mixture just begins to simmer.  Pour about half of the hot half & half into the egg yolk mixture and whisk vigorously for about 30 seconds.  (This is called tempering).  If you add the eggs directly to the pan of hot half & half, you’ll end up with pieces of scrambled egg in the pastry cream).  Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining half & half.  Cook over medium-low heat,  whisking constantly until the mixture thickens,  This takes between 4 to 5 minutes.  Raise heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring vigorously, until bubbles start to pop on top.  Remove from heat.  Add the butter and vanilla and whisk to combine.
  3. Place a wire mesh strainer over a medium bowl.  Pour the pastry cream into the strainer, using a large spoon to push the pastry cream through the strainer.  Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the pastry cream, covering the entire surface.  Chill the pastry cream for at least 2 hours or overnight.  Remove the pastry cream from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before spreading between cake layers, so that it has time to soften for easy spreading consistency.

HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.  Line each pan with a round of parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper.  Set aside.

  1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
  2. Add the milk and butter to a 2 cup measuring cup and microwave until it’s hot.  Stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside.
  3. Add the eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer.  Whisk the eggs for a few seconds and add the sugar.  Whisk on high speed until light and creamy, about 4 minutes.  Add the hot milk/butter mixture and whisk by hand until combined, then whisk in the dry ingredients. The batter will have small bubbles on top and it will be slightly thick.
  4. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake pans.  Bake until the tops of the cakes are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes, depending on your oven.  Mine took a little longer.  Transfer cakes to a wire rack to cool.  Meantime, remove the pastry cream from the refrigerator so it has time to soften.
  5. Once the cakes are completely cooled, run a thin sharp knife around the edges and remove cakes from the pans.  Peel the parchment paper from the bottom of one cake layer and place the layer on a cake plate.  Spread the pastry cream over the top of the cake layer, then place the second cake layer on top.  Gently push down on the top layer to adhere it to the pastry cream.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  1. Add the whipping cream and corn syrup to a small pan and bring just to a simmer over medium heat and remove.  Meantime, break the chocolate into pieces and add to a 2 cup measuring cup.  Pour the hot whipping cream mixture over the chocolate.  Allow it to sit for 5 minutes without stirring.  Using a small fork or whisk, whisk the mixture until combined and smooth.   You should no longer see any traces of cream in the chocolate.
  2. Pour the ganache on the center of the top of the cake.  Using an offset spatula, spread the ganache evenly just to the edges of the cake, allowing gravity to take control of the ganache and pulling it over the edges here and there.  In other words, let it do its own thing.
  3. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours before serving, giving the ganache time to set up.  If you refrigerate the cake overnight, remove it from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.