Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes #2

By carvalhohm

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 2/3 cups gluten-free flour blend
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cups whole milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream, recipe follows
• Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream, recipe follows

Details

Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees . Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.

Crack eggs into small container and set aside. Set sugar aside. Then, in small bowl, mix the gluten-free flour, nutmeg and salt together with fork and set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer on medium speed, beat butter with paddle attachment until butter is light in color and fluffy. Add sugar to butter and continue beating until sugar is uniformly incorporated into butter. Stop mixer and scrape down sides of the bowl. Then restart mixer on low speed and add 1 egg at a time, waiting until it is fully incorporated in butter mixture before adding next egg. Once all eggs have been added, stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl to ensure that all butter is incorporated with eggs. Add dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with milk and oil, added in two additions, fully incorporating each addition into batter before moving to next step. If needed, stop mixer after each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then resume mixing on low.

Once all dry ingredients and the milk have been combined with butter mixture, evenly fill cupcake pan cavities two-thirds of way. Bake cupcakes until the top of each cupcake is slightly springy to touch and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately turn cupcakes out of pan onto a cooling rack. Let cupcakes cool completely.

Putting it all together: Using an apple corer or knife, core centers out of cooled cupcakes and remove. Fill cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream. Pipe Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream to cover top of each cooled cupcake.

Cook's Note: To bump up chocolate flavor, you can melt 4 ounces good-quality dark chocolate and stripe top of frosted cupcakes with dark chocolate.

*Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream:*

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 whole egg
1 1/2 ounces egg yolks
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste

Bring shallow dish or container for finished pastry cream near stove top, and have plastic wrap nearby as well. Measure butter and vanilla bean paste into small container and bring over near stove top. Pour milk and 1/4 cup sugar into heavy sauce pot and scald over medium heat until milk starts to steam. Do not boil milk!

Meanwhile, whisk together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to combine and prevent any lumps in cornstarch, and then add whole egg and egg yolks. Whisk egg yolk mixture until smooth and completely combined, and then bring over to stove area and set bowl with yolks on top of damp dish towel.

When milk is steaming, remove from heat. Whisking egg yolk mixture constantly, slowly pour milk in steady stream into egg yolk mixture. Once all milk is combined with egg yolk mixture, pour it back into sauce pot and return to medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Continue whisking and bring it to boil. Let egg yolk mixture boil for 1 minute (and continue whisking constantly so lumps don't form!) and then remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla bean paste, and then pour entire contents of pot into shallow dish.

Immediately cover surface of pastry cream with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour. Once cool, remove from refrigerator and whisk until completely smooth and lump free. Fill piping bag with pastry cream and set aside until you need it.

*Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream:*

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 ounces egg whites (from about 4 large eggs)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
3 sticks (12 ounces) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/16 teaspoon (pinch) fine sea salt

Measure sugar and 1/4 cup water into heavy saucepan and heat over high heat until sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes (use a candy thermometer to gauge temperature).

While sugar is cooking, beat egg whites on medium speed in mixing bowl of stand mixture to soft peak stage (whites will look foamy and white). Be careful not to over whip whites (if the egg whites start to look clumpy, then they've been over whipped. If this happens, toss them out and start again! If whites are beating faster than sugar is cooking, turn down mixer speed. You can always turn up speed if you need to!) Add cream of tartar and continue whipping.

While egg whites are whipping on medium speed, gently pour sugar syrup down side of mixing bowl. Turn speed up to high and whip until mixing bowl no longer feels warm to touch, about 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt dark chocolate in microwave-safe bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until chocolate is completely melted.

Turn mixer speed back to medium and add butter in small chunks until it is completely incorporated. Stop mixer, scrape down sides of bowl and add vanilla bean paste and sea salt. Turn mixer back on medium-low speed until vanilla paste has mixed entirely through buttercream. Spoon small amount (about 1/2 cup) of buttercream into melted dark chocolate and stir to combine. Add chocolate mixture back to buttercream and whip thoroughly, stopping mixer to scrape down sides of bowl to make sure all chocolate is combined.

Fit 18-inch plastic piping bag with 847 star tip and twist bag right by tip to prevent buttercream from leaking out. While you grasp piping bag right above star tip with your hand, fold top of piping bag over your hand and spoon butter cream into piping bag.