Boston Cream Pie

Boston Cream pie isn't a pie at all. Instead, it's a soft, fluffy sponge cake filled with a thick layer of pastry cream and a generous serving of chocolate ganache. How can you not love this dessert? It has everything one can dream of in an ideal cake, and all elements in this dessert work together to create a wholesome experience. Try this decadent dessert today.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Sponge Cake

1½ cup Flour

1¼ tsp Baking powder

3 Eggs

Pinch of Salt

1 cup Castor sugar

2 tsp Vanilla extract

60g unsalted Butter

1 cup Full-Fat milk

Pastry Cream

4 egg Yolks

2 cups Full Fat milk

½ cup Castor sugar

1½ tbsp Vanilla extract

40g chilled unsalted Butter cubes

2 tbsp Cornflour

2 tbsp Flour

Pinch of Salt

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup Dark chocolate

¾ cup Heavy cream

Method

Step 1 - Pastry Cream

Add yolk, sugar, cornflour, salt, and plain flour to a bowl. Whisk together till a smooth pale paste is achieved.

Step 2

In a saucepan, add milk and vanilla extract. Bring to a light simmer. Then slowly add to the yolk mixture, whisking continuously.

Step 3

Transfer the mixture to the pan and place on medium heat. Whisking continuously, let the mixture thicken. Once the pastry cream thickens, increase the heat to high and let the cream boil for a minute.

Step 4

Then take it off heat, add the butter and whisk until combined. Then transfer to a bowl. Cover with cling wrap close to the surface of the pastry cream.

Step 5

Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

Step 6 - Sponge Cake

Preheat the oven to 170°c. Line an 8" inch cake tin with parchment and grease the sides with butter.

Step 7

In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together. Then in another bowl, add yolk and sugar. Beat on medium till mixture is thoroughly combined, pale and doubles in size.

Step 8

In a saucepan, add milk, butter and vanilla extract. Place on heat and bring to a light simmer, melting the butter entirely.

Step 9

Then add dry ingredients to the yolk sugar mixture, ⅓ at a time. Once thoroughly combined, scrape the bowl down. Then add the wet ingredients ⅓ at a time. Once all the ingredients are mixed in, scrape the bowl down, and mix for a couple of seconds.

Step 10

Then transfer the batter to the cake tin. Bang the tin against the counter a couple of times. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or till the toothpick test is passed.

Step 11

Then take the cake out and let it rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edges. Open the tin and transfer the cake to a cooling rack.

Step 12

After 40 minutes, cut the top of the cake, making an even layer—cut the cake from the middle.

Step 13 - Assembly

Place one cake layer on a plate, add your pastry cream and spread evenly. Then place the other layer of cake.

Cling wrap the cake, ensuring no openings. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.

Step 14 - Chocolate Ganache

Chop the chocolate into bite-size pieces. Then in a saucepan, add heavy cream and bring to a simmer.

Step 15

In a heatproof bowl, add the chocolate. Pour the heavy cream on top, covering the chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Then whisk at an interval of 5 minutes till the ganache thickens.

Step 16

Then take the cake out, pour the ganache on the surface and serve.

Tips

1. Make sure to whisk continuously while adding milk to the yolks; otherwise, the yolks might scramble.

2. While the pastry cream is on heat, whisk to avoid lumps.

3. Bringing the pastry cream to a boil helps deactivate amylase in the structure that hinders the pastry from thickening.

4. Beating the yolk and sugar to a smooth pale is essential for the cake to be soft and moist.

5. Don't boil the milk; just bring it to a light simmer.

6. The cake batter might be a little thin, but don't worry.

7. Cover the bowl after pouring the cream on the chocolate for a smoother ganache.