Triple Chocolate Boston Cream Pie

  • Level: Intermediate
  • Yield: 8 to 10 servings
  • Total: 4 hr 10 min
  • Prep: 30 min
  • Inactive: 2 hr 50 min
  • Cook: 50 min
This triple chocolate Boston cream pie starts with a fudgy chocolate cake that tastes even better the next day. It's filled with a luscious chocolate custard and topped with shiny chocolate ganache. Traditional Boston cream pie may be the official state dessert of Massachusetts, but this chocolate twist has become the official dessert of my apartment.
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Ingredients

Cake: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup warm coffee

Custard:

1 1/2 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch kosher salt

2 large egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder

Glaze:

1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup heavy cream

Pinch kosher salt

Directions

  1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-by-2-inch round cake pan and line it with parchment.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter and eggs. Alternate whisking the flour mixture and the buttermilk and coffee into the sugar and egg mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
  3. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 20 minutes, then flip the cake out onto the rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.
  4. For the custard: Put the chocolate and butter in a medium bowl and set a fine-mesh sieve over it. In another medium bowl, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, salt and egg yolks together until smooth.
  5. Bring the milk and the cocoa powder to a simmer in a small pot. While whisking, add about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture to the yolk mixture. Repeat this process until the two are completely combined. Return the mixture to the pot and heat over medium while stirring constantly. Bring the custard to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately pour the custard through the sieve into the bowl with the chocolate. After the butter and chocolate have melted, whisk until smooth. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap, making sure the plastic touches the surface of the custard, and chill until completely cold, about 1 hour.
  6. For the glaze: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan and pour it over the chocolate. Let the mixture stand until smooth and then whisk it to combine. Whisk in the salt. Chill the glaze, stirring occasionally, until it is thick enough to spread over the top of the cake, 20 to 30 minutes.
  7. To assemble the cake, cut it in half crosswise. Spread the chocolate custard evenly over the bottom half, and replace the top half. Spread the glaze evenly over the top.

Let's Get Cooking!

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elsa_elsathedog

So excited to find this. I substituted 1 c. whole wheat flour and ¼ c. almond for the all-purpose (to add some nutritional value), and then added 1 tsp xanthin gum to help it hold together. I didn't have bittersweet chocolate on hand so I substituted semisweet chocolate chips (and reduced the sugar by half in the custard part of the recipe). The cake came out a bit dense, but still worked out and everything was very good. Thank you!

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