Boston Cream Pie

Courtesy Gale Gand

Show: Sweet DreamsEpisode: Desserts from the Yankee Kitchen

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (26)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(26)

Cook Time:
2 hr 45 min
Level:
--
Yield:
--

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 2 hr 45 min
Total:: 2 hr 55 min

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Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pastry cream, recipe follows
Ganache, recipe follows

Pastry Cream Filling:

2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Ganache:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream, boiling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until combined. Beat an additional 3 minutes on high speed and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the egg white mixture and fold in. Gently pour the batter into a 9-inch greased pie pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Invert the pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Pastry Cream Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.

Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. (The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.)

Ganache: In a medium bowl, pour the boiling cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until melted.

To assemble pie, remove the cake from the pan. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Place bottom layer on a serving plate or board, and spread with the pastry cream. Top with second cake layer. Pour chocolate ganache over and down the sides of the cake. Store in refrigerator.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Boston Cream Pie
Vanessa Silverado, CA 07-15-2009
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Big Hit
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made this for my college friends one night in cupcake tins to make mini boston cream pies and everyone loved them, then the... next day i made a regular size pie for my family. The recipe is perfect and i had a lot of the chocolate left over, so we all ate it with anything we thought chocolate would be good on (everything). Read more
recipe Boston Cream Pie
Amanda Jamul, CA 06-21-2009
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The cake is perfect if you can follow directions
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

There is nothing wrong with the recipe if you are not expecting it to turn out like a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.... The cake is supposed to be mild, moist, and dense. you can add vanilla or almond extract if you want extra flavor with out changing the chemistry of the batter. If you havn't made a custard before, just make sure to watch the pan and keep stirring; it will thicken very quickly after a few minutes and is easy to burn or get lumpy. The ganache is supposed to be runny. i was fine with about 1/2 of the recipe. Read more
recipe Boston Cream Pie
Louise Warren, ME 06-10-2009
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Just like the original
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

We had Boston Cream Pie at its birth place in Boston a couple of weeks ago (at the Omni Parker Hotel) and this recipe looks... right on. It is true that the cake doesn't have much flavor but then if you modify it... it's not Boston Cream Pie anymore.. right? It's your own version... which is fine of course. Personally, I like the idea of adding a bit of lemon zest to the cake batter. The picture doesn't show that much filling so maybe it isn't true to the recipe (?) The filling should be close to 2/3 " thick. Also.. maybe increasing the cake batter by one half to make it a bit higher might be a good idea. An easy way to slice the cake in half is by using unflavored dental floss. It works like a charm and no crumbs! Read more
recipe Boston Cream Pie
Sasha Charleston, WV 05-30-2009
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Fantastic!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My husband loved this recipe! The filling had an unfortunate accident (that is to say we couldn't keep out fingers out of... it) so it was actually a bit scanty on the filling. Filling also makes a great cream puff filling!Read more
recipe Boston Cream Pie
Heidi Chapel Hill, NC 03-03-2009
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Good Cake w/a few minor tweeks
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

This was a terrific recipe that needs only two tweeks. 1-Add a cup of vanilla pudding to the cake mix recipe for... moistness. 2-Make sure you chill the ganache thoroughly for spreadability. My family absolutely LOVED this. This is great for home or for entertaining. I plan to make it for guests in the future. I disagree that there's too much filling. There's JUST the right amount. This tastes as good as one you might get in a restaurant. Read more
recipe Boston Cream Pie
Toni River Forest, IL 09-27-2008
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Great-tasting cake / pie; requires some tweaking
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Got pretty good results from this, despite a couple of texture/consistency problems. My husband and I both loved it! The... cake itself came out a bit dense, and was not completely cooked in the middle after 35 minutes. Don't know if this is because I sub'd melted butter for the oil and increased 2 eggs to 4. Would have liked the cake to be a bit lighter. As others have said, cake alone tastes a little plain, but then, it's really all about the filling and the chocolate glaze, isn't it? You could add a teaspoon or two of lemon or orange zest, or almond extract, to the batter to crank up the flavor. I used instant vanilla pudding (3.8 oz. box) in place of the custard filling. Saved time, money, and works just as well IMO. The ganache was too thin, AND made way too much; I would suggest cutting the quantities of chocolate and cream in half (or using only half of the ganache and saving the rest), and then possibly reducing the amount of cream a little to make the ganache thicker. Even after adding arrowroot and chilling it in the refrigerator for an hour, it was still barely thick enough to stay atop the cake without dripping down the sides. All in all, great cake and worth the time/effort it takes to make it (4-5 hours overall). I will definitely make it again, with adjustments as suggested above.Read more