Friday, July 30, 2010

Boston Cream Pie

Now that baby Audrey has arrived and I am no longer pregnant sick everyday, I'm quite excited to be back in the kitchen cooking. (Mark's quite excited, too!) There will be several good recipes coming your way in the next week or so.

Mark's mom is in town this weekend and we are celebrating her birthday. When asked what kind of cake she wanted, she said a Boston Cream Pie. I have never eaten one of these nor made one, but here is the recipe that everyone seemed to enjoy!

Ingredients:

For Cake: One box yellow cake mix and ingredients to make it according to the box.

For Filling:
-1/2 cup light cream
-1/2 cup milk
-1/4 cup white sugar
-1 pinch salt
-4 teaspoons cornstarch
-2 eggs
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Chocolate Frosting:
-3(1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/4 cup light cream
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

To Make the Cake: Mix and bake in 2 round 9" pans according to the directions.

To Make The Filling: Combine the 1/2 cup light cream with 1/4 cup of the milk and cook over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Immediately add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt, stirring until dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat.
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the milk with the cornstarch and whisk to remove lumps. Whisk in the 2 eggs. Add the hot cream mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Return to the mixture to the saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and is smooth (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and allow to cool to room temperature.

To Make The Chocolate Frosting: In a heavy saucepan over low heat, stir the chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons butter until they are completely melted. Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, add the 1/4 cup light cream in a thin steady stream. When mixture is smooth, stir in the confectioners' sugar and beat vigorously. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

To Assemble Cake: Spread the cooled filling over one the cooled cakes and place the second cake on top. Pour the chocolate frosting evenly over the top allowing it to spill down the sides

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- I actually made my cake 4 layers, therefore I doubled the filling and the chocolate frosting portion of the recipe.
- The cake turned out great, but my frosting needs some work. It didn't turn out as thick as I thought it should but I think it's because I ran out of powdered sugar and didn't have quite enough.

If you like Boston Cream Pies, let me know what you think if you decide to make this recipe. Also, I've yet to figure out why it's called a pie when it's really a cake!