BOSTON CREAM PIE

By 1For_Him

Ingredients

• CAKE:
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• FILLING (1 1/2 cups pastry cream):
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
• GLAZE:
• 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Details

Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spritz a 9" x 2" round cake pan with non-stick vegetable oil spray, line it with parchment, and spritz the parchment. Note: make sure your cake pan is at least 2" deep.

To prepare the cake: In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until very thick, until the batter falls from the paddle in thick ribbons. This will take several minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

Place the flour, baking powder, and salt into a sifter or sieve and sift over the cake batter. Mix on low speed just until combined, about 1 minute.

Bring the milk and butter to a simmer in a small saucepan. Slowly stream it into the batter with the mixer going, and beat for another minute.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, checking carefully for lumps of flour. Remove any lumps with a small spoon and discard. Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until it's a deep golden brown and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Remove the cake from the oven, run a nylon spreader or table knife around the edges, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Turn the cake onto to a rack to cool completely.

To prepare the pastry cream:

In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together 2 1/2 cups of the milk, the sugar, salt, and the vanilla bean. (If you're using vanilla extract add it at the end.) Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch, flour, and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk.

Whisk some of the hot milk mixture with the egg yolks to temper them. This keeps the yolks from turning to scrambled eggs when you add them to the simmering milk. Pour the egg/milk mixture back into the remaining simmering milk. Doing this through a strainer will help prevent lumps later. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture thickens.

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract (if you're using it). If you're going to flavor the pastry cream with chocolate or some other flavor, this is the time to do it (see variations below).

Rub a piece of butter over the surface of the cream, top with a piece of plastic wrap (make sure it touches the top of the pastry cream so it doesn't develop a skin), then refrigerate until cool.
To complete, fold the whipped cream into the cooled pastry cream.

When the cake is completely cool, use a long, sharp serrated knife to slice into two equal layers. Fill with the pastry cream, spreading it right to the edges. Replace the top layer.

Prepare the glaze by melting the chocolate, corn syrup, and cream together until smooth and lump free. Add the vanilla and stir well. Pour the glaze over the filled cake and serve immediately. Store any leftovers in the fridge, well wrapped in plastic.
Yield: one 9" cake, 10 to 12 servings.