Boston Cream Pie

Is it a pie? Or is it a cake? Well, it is surely a cake and a fabulous one at that. I made my first ever Boston cream pie for Latifs birthday and it was absolutely delicious. The sponge was light and simple, the pastry cream was yummy and the ganache was rich and sinful.

So why is it called a pie then? A Boston Cream Pie is simply a vanilla sponge with pastry cream and chocolate ganache on top. It is said that when the cake was invented pie pans were used to bake cakes in and thus it was called a pie!

Since it was for the two of us, I made only half the recipe. But I highly recommend making the full thing as you will surely crave more (Or wait, I guess its safer to make just half of it...)

Recipe Source - Annie's Eats

Ingredients - Makes one 9 inch cake

For The Pastry Cream
2 Cups Single Cream/Half and half (I used 7/8 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon butter to make 1 Cup single cream)
1/2 Cup Sugar
Pinch Of Salt
5 Large Egg Yolks
3 Tbsp Cornflour (Cornstarch)
4 Tbsp Cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 ½ Tsp Vanilla Essence

For The Sponge Cake
1/2 Cup (2 oz.) Cake Flour
1/4 Cup (1.25 oz.) All-Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Milk
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Essence
5 Large Eggs, At Room Temperature
3/4 Cup (5.25 oz.) Sugar

For The Ganache
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup
226 Grams (8 oz) Semisweet Chocolate, Finely Chopped
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Make The Pastry Cream

1. Heat the single cream, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.  

2. Combine the egg yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the sugar has begun to dissolve and the mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds.  Whisk in the cornflour until combined and the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.

3. When the cream mixture has reached a simmer, slowly add it to the egg yolk mixture to temper, whisking constantly.  Return the mixture to the saucepan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Return the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. 

4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla.  Strain the pastry cream through a  fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl.  Press plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

Make The Cake

1. Grease and flour the sides of two 9 inch round pans and line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 175 ° C (350 ° F ).

2. Whisk together the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

3. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and butter over medium low heat till the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Keep aside.

4. Separate 3 eggs and place the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and the yolks with the remaining 2 whole eggs in a separate bowl. Beat the whites until light and foamy on low. Increase the speed to medium and gradually add 6 Tbsp of sugar. Continue beating till the whites form soft moist peaks. Transfer the whites to a clean bowl and add the yolk and whole egg mixture to the stand mixer bowl. Beat with the remaining 6 Tbsp of sugar until thick and pale yellow in color (about 5 minutes).

5. Add the beaten eggs to the bowl with the egg whites.  Sprinkle the flour mixture over the beaten eggs and whites.  Fold in very gently with a spatula, about 12 strokes.  Make a well in one side of the batter and pour the milk-butter mixture into the well.  Continue folding until the batter shows no trace of flour and the eggs are evenly mixed.

6. Immediately divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.  Bake until the tops are light brown and spring back when touched, about 16 minutes.  Immediately run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cakes.  Place one pan on a towel and cover the pan with a plate.  Invert the pan so that the cake is upside down on the plate.  Peel off the wax paper and re invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the second cake layer.

Make The Ganache

1. Combine the heavy cream and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; cover and let stand for 8 minutes.  (If the chocolate has not completely melted, return the saucepan to low heat and stir constantly until melted.) 

2. Stir in the vanilla extract very gently until smooth.  Cool the glaze until tepid so that a spoonful drizzled back into the pan mounds slightly.  (You can refrigerate the glaze to speed up this process, stirring every few minutes to ensure even cooling.)

Assemble The Cake

1. Place one layer of the sponge on a cake board (dab a smear of the glaze on the bottom so that it does not move). Place the cake board on a wire rack with a tray underneath to catch the excess ganache.

2. Spread the pastry cream evenly over the cake  (You can reserve a little for decoration).

3. Place the other layer on top and press gently.

4. Pour the glaze slowly over the entire cake making sure it flows down the sides and covers evenly. Let it stand for some time till the glaze harden (Place in fridge to speed up the process if needed). Serve at room temperature, best eaten the same day (It still tasted great the next day!)

Happy Eating!!