The Most Amazing Ever Boston Cream Pie

I love cake.


 I LOVE frosting.


When I have a real hankering for cake (usually chocolate), I like to whip out the old Hershey's Hot Water cake on the back of the cocoa container. 45 minutes later, you have the best, moist and fudgy cake in the universe. Which is good. But even better topped with frosting as thick as the cake itself. 
Preferably chocolate as well.


I think I love cake so much cause it carries frosting to my mouth.


But anyways...
usually, If I see a new cake recipe, and it has more than 2 steps (1: Pour ingredients in bowl. 2: mix ingredients in bowl.), I kinda shy away. not cause I don't like making fancy things, but If i'm making a cake, usually its cause I want it now. Not in 6 hours.


But THIS cake. Oooooh yes. I will climb mount Everest to get this goodness in my mouth. I mean, who doesn't love a good Boston Cream Pie with moist, not too thick/not too thin cake (I guess perfect would be the word), loads of vanilla custard and loads of chocolate loveliness poured over the top?!
That someone just does not exist. And if they do, they live a pitiful life.


With that being said...go make this cake. It will be worth the 6,000 steps. I promise.

These are the second ones I made. I walked away from the mixer the first time I tried them, and my egg whites over-whipped, resulting in very flat cakes. I had to eat them. It was awful.
And by awful.........I mean tasty.

This stuff is definitely good by the spoonful. I had to taste test you know.

   

                                                           

You want to use all the custard, for sure. 

I would have had more, but spoons kept finding their way to my mouth.

It was weird.

Boston Cream Pie



Ingredients:
For the pastry cream:
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
3 tbsp. cornstarch
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the sponge cake:
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar

For the ganache:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the pastry cream, heat the half-and-half, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the sugar has begun to dissolve and the mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the cornstarch until combined and the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.

When the half-and-half mixture has reached a simmer, slowly add it to the egg yolk mixture to temper, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Return the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla. Strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

To make the cake, adjust an oven rack to lower middle position. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with wax or parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides of the pans; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla; set aside.

Separate 3 of the eggs, putting the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and reserving the 3 yolks plus the other 2 whole eggs in a separate bowl. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and beat the 3 whites on low speed until foamy. Increase the mixer speed to medium and gradually incorporate 6 tablespoons of the sugar. Continue beating until the whites form soft, moist peaks, being careful not to overbeat. Transfer the egg whites to a clean mixing bowl and add the yolk-whole egg mixture to the stand mixer bowl. Beat the egg mixture with the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar at medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and pale yellow in color, about 5 minutes.
Add the beaten eggs to the bowl with the egg whites. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the beaten eggs and whites. Fold in very gently with a spatula, about 12 strokes. Make a well in one side of the batter and pour the milk-butter mixture into the well. Continue folding until the batter shows no trace of flour and the eggs are evenly mixed.

Immediately divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake until the tops are light brown and spring back when touched, about 16 minutes. Immediately run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cakes. Place one pan on a towel and cover the pan with a plate. Invert the pan so that the cake is upside down on the plate. Peel off the wax paper and reinvert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the second cake layer.

To make the glaze, combine the heavy cream and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; cover and let stand for 8 minutes. (If the chocolate has not completely melted, return the saucepan to low heat and stir constantly until melted.) Stir in the vanilla extract very gently until smooth. Cool the glaze until tepid so that a spoonful drizzled back into the pan mounds slightly. (You can refrigerate the glaze to speed up this process, stirring every few minutes to ensure even cooling.)

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cardboard cake circle. Place strips of parchment or wax paper underneath the edges of the cake all the way around the perimeter. If desired, reserve about half a cup of pastry cream for decorating. Spread the remaining pastry cream in an even layer on the first cake layer, all the way to the edges. Top with the remaining cake layer and press down gently. Pour the glaze onto the middle of the top cake layer and let it flow down the sides of the cake. Use a spatula, if necessary, to help cover the sides completely. Let the cake sit until the glaze fully sets, about 1 hour. This cake is best served the day it is made.