Boston Cream Pie

This has been on my mind for a very long time. I first came across a recipe for Boston Cream Pie in my Hummingbird Bakery Book, which is also one of my 10 favourite cookbooks. The recipe seemed a bit complex, considering it had 3 parts to it; cake, custard, chocolate glaze..... If you know me, you also know much I love to keep the cooking simple. So, although I really wanted to make this cake, what I wanted more was to simplify it. And simplify I did.


Now, don't let the name deceive you. This is no PIE at all. It is in fact a cake.  I did google  a bit and figured out what really makes a Boston Cream Pie. It's as simple as this, Layers of vanilla cake, filled with custard, topped with chocolate glaze........... Tada!!!!!!!!!! Armed with this new information, I decided that for the cake, I could use my usual vanilla cake recipe, which is only like the simplest cake recipe everrrrrrrrr, for the custard,  I could cheat,  making it using custard powder ( Do not judge me now) and the for chocolate glaze , chocolate ganache is the easiest thing to make. And I would have a glorious Boston Cream Pie. Oh btw ,this post is going to have 2 recipes actually; one, vanilla cake ( you can do like only a 1000 things with it) and 2 chocolate ganache, (Warning : It's a bit addictive)


We had this ladies night in with my friends and me being me, offered to make the dessert for the evening. Also , this dessert would be a perfect birthday cake for a friend, who had celebrated her birthday earlier in the week . I decided to add a bit of extra indulgence to this already perfect dessert cake, and added a bit of cointreau to soak the layers of vanilla cake; best decision I ever made in my kitchen!!!!

How I made it :

I started with the cake. Simple vanilla cake.  Butter, sugar, eggs, milk and flour, vanilla. While the cake baked, I made my chocolate ganache. Ganache is the simplest thing to make and is so versatile. You can use it as a filling, glaze, frosting for a cake. It also is perfect for dunking cupcakes. All you need to remember is equal parts cream and chocolate. I use amul cream, which is low fat cream. and it works just fine, although a lot of recipes suggest using double cream, like nilgiris and that works fine as well. For the chocolate, I used dark chocolate for this recipe, but you can also use regular chocolate or a mix of both.

To make the ganache, first, gently heat the cream, on a slow flame, or in the microwave. Take it off the stove and add chopped chocolate. Leave it aside for a couple of minutes, then gently stir to make sure all the chocolate is melted. The gancahe will be pretty thin when you've just made it, and will thicken as it cools. You can also store ganache in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if you haven't licked the bowl clean that is.

Once the cake was done, I let it cool, while I got on with making the custard, just following the packet instructions for making pouring custard. Though  I used half a litre of milk to make the custard. I used just about half of it for the filling.

To assemble the dessert. I mixed the cointreau with a bit of sprite to make a soaking syrup .I cut the cake into half. One layer on the board, I put spoons of the cointreau syrup and then spread a generous layer of custard, that had cooled by now. Then top it with the other layer of cake, and some more soaking syrup. And to finish it off, I put spoons of the ganache that had cooled for an hour or so. Using a knife, I just spread it around the top and sides of the cakes. Let the cake cool in the fridge a couple of hours and it made a delicious dessert. The custard tasted smooth and silky and the cointreau paired great with the dark chocolate, and of course, another item on the food bucket list ticked off !!!!!!

Boston Cream Pie

Ingredients:

For the Custard
Custard powder
1/2 ltr milk
Sugar


For the vanilla cake :

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups maida
100 grams unsalted butter softened
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup milk


For the Ganache :
200 ml cream
200 dark chocolate, roughly chopped

For the soaking syrup (optional)
Mix  4 tbsp cointreau and  100 ml sprite


A.Make free pouring custard, following the instructions on the packet. Let it cool

B. For the cake :

1. Preheat the oven to a 170 C. Grease and flour a 7 inch round tin.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder. Keep aside
3. Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy. Add the eggs one by one
4. Add the vanilla essence and mix.
5. Add the flour and milk, alternatively, starting and ending with the milk.
6. Pour into the baking tin and bake for about 30 mins till a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool.

C. Ganache : While the cake is cooking
1. Heat the cream on a gentle flame till warm
2. Take off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let it aside for a couple of mins and then stir till all the chocolate has melted. Leave aside and let it cool

D. Assembling the dessert :

1. Cut the cooled cake into two layers
2. Place one layer on a serving board and soak it with half the cointreau mix.
3. Spread a generous layer of custard
4. Place the other layer of cake over the custard and pour the other half of the syrup, all over the cake.
5. Pour the cooled ganache on the top of the cake and using a knife, spread it to the sides of the cake.
6. Refrigerate the cake for about an hour at least before serving.