| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 55 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 2 hr 45 min |
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream, boiling
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pastry cream, recipe follows
- Ganache, recipe follows
- 2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
- 6 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until combined. Beat an additional 3 minutes on high speed and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the egg white mixture and fold in. Gently pour the batter into a 9-inch greased pie pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Invert the pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
- Pastry Cream Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.
- Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. (The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.)
- Ganache: In a medium bowl, pour the boiling cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until melted.
- To assemble pie, remove the cake from the pan. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Place bottom layer on a serving plate or board, and spread with the pastry cream. Top with second cake layer. Pour chocolate ganache over and down the sides of the cake. Store in refrigerator.
Reviews
Way too much ganache! The pastry cream and sponge came out perfectly, but the ganache is a mess! If your cake is too small, you probably over folded, and the pastry cream is the perfect amount, it should be very thick when it sets!
I made an easier version of it when I was short on time by buying an angel food cake at the store, and using slices of that cake for the layers here. With the pastry cream and the ganache from this recipe, it was reasonably quick and easy, and everyone loved it. Delicious!
My Dad loves when we make this recipe for Boston Cream Pie. He said he has created a lot of cream pies over the years but this was the best tasting.
We loved the chocolate and the rich, sticky, creamy cream filled center. Yum!
This Boston cream ‘pie’ is NOT A PIE!!!!!
I agree with those who say the custard filling and the ganache are both more than needed; 3/4 of the amounts would have been about right. Otherwise, it’s quite tasty. The ganache instructions were pretty sketchy so I went to another source for more instructions and was glad I did. Also, weigh, don’t measure, the chocolate if you’re substituting chocolate morsels for baking chocolate.
Why is the Heavy Cream for the Ganache under the cake ingredients? I made this twice. The first time was amazing. Everything worked. The second time my cake shriveled when I took it out of the oven. I am thinking I over beat the egg yolk/flour mixture? Because I made sure to fold the batter together as to not lose the aeration. Any thoughts?
So delicious! I made exactly as written, well almost. I made a mistake and put the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch all in the same bowl w/o premixing the eggs & sugar and it still turned out amazing. the proportions are perfect and I will definitely make again, this time w/o my mistake!
The taste is delicious.
amazing recipe. don’t substitute anything. buy a good chocolate free of soy lecithin and enjoy! gale never fails!