This is my quick and simple rendition of Boston Cream Pie, the well-known dish from Boston’s Parker House Hotel, which I made with cake mix and gorgeous chocolate ganache on top.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 4 hrs |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 1 cake |
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 6 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or to taste
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray.
- Stir yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, water, and vegetable oil in a bowl until moistened. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
- Divide cake batter between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven until cakes have risen and are lightly golden brown, 33 to 38 minutes. Check for doneness after 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes should come out clean. Allow cakes to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Cool cakes completely, about 40 minutes.
- Whisk 3 eggs, cornstarch, and sugar in a large bowl until well mixed and lemon colored, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Heat 1 cup heavy whipping cream, whole milk, and 1/2 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil.
- Reduce heat to low; pour egg mixture into cream mixture and whisk until thick, about 1 minute.
- Pour egg and cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard any chunks.
- Whisk vanilla and salt into the egg and cream mixture until combined. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap pressed against the surface. Chill in the refrigerator to form a pastry cream texture, 3 to 4 hours.
- Place chocolate in a large bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon butter and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream in a saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour cream mixture over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Set aside until cooled, but still pourable, about 20 minutes.
- Place one cake layer on a plate, flat side up. Spread pastry cream to within 1-inch of the cake edge. Place second cake layer on top, rounded side up. Press gently to push pastry cream to the edge. Pour chocolate mixture over the top of the cake and spread so it drips over the edge.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 695 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 72 g |
| Cholesterol | 199 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Sodium | 514 mg |
| Sugars | 46 g |
| Fat | 41 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
“ To make a uniformly smooth and creamy ganache, always add chopped or melted chocolate to warm cream, rather than the other way around. Stir with a rubber spatula for a bubble-free result that’s perfect for truffles and cake glazes.” “Many classic ganache recipes call for adding hot cream to a bowl of chopped chocolate and stirring until smooth. However, this mixing method can cause the ganache to separate, giving you tiny specks of chocolate within the ganache. If you do add hot cream to chopped chocolate, it’s essential to let it stand undisturbed for a minute or so to give the chocolate a chance to melt before gently stirring. This will help to prevent tiny specks of chocolate from appearing in the finished ganache.”
Filling would not set. Waste of money!
This is an easy method! And turned out beautifully! Truth be told – I did whisk the egg/cornstarch/sugar for a bit to ensure it was well incorporated. Also I tempered the eggs…. Instead of pouring the eggs into the hot milk, I slowly streamed 1/2 the hot milk into the eggs while I whisked away. Then I poured the whole thing into the rest of the hot milk (sauce pan) – no need to strain because there were not scrambled egg chunks! I did keep the heat medium-low to ensure uniform temp and to make sure the mix was heated through for a little bit (because eggs)… it turned out so smooth, creamy, fluffy! Delicious!!!
Love the recipe and made no changes
it came out ok. edible,yes. it being my first try at it, I felt it came out fine. i couldn’t figure out the lemon coloring, but I figured it was for the pudding part, which I figure it was only to give it a more yellow color, didn’t use it, but it tasted fine. i felt is was a little more than needed. it ran down the sides and the chocolate was way to much. it looked almost like I frosted it instead. all this aside we liked it, but I won’t use as much the next time.
the pic ture looked soooo good so I made it and it tased good to
made this for my sons bday a couple of years ago, he was a happy teenage boy lol
The only change I made was that I actually followed the recipe. I’ve made this for many years but have never used a cake mix. It was excellent
I made the recipe with the exact ingredients except I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of dark/bitter bc of my children’s tastes. I had no trouble with the vanilla cream setting but my ganache was a little looser than I liked (even after waiting 30 mins and putting it in the frig for an additional 5). The only change I made was that I made it as cupcakes so I could freeze some unfrosted ones. We always have too much left over in a whole cake.
only problem is too much ingredientss. only need half for filling and topping
Ohhh man! GREAT recipe! Thank you Chef John! I did add about 5-6 drops of yellow food coloring but did not change anything else in the recipe (one just cannot “”fix perfect” lol) BUT I will be making this again…and again…and again! This is being made for my churches fish fry…it’s almost a sin to eat it! But He forgives after all
Hated it. Cumberson
I’ve never made a cream filling or a chocolate ganache before, but by carefully following the directions exactly (with a couple of exceptions noted below) I was able to make this turn out beautifully. 1. I took the advice of another reviewer and did not reduce the heat in step 8. I kept it at medium, and with watching carefully and stirring constantly, the cream set up quickly and nicely. 2. I did not have 8 inch cake pans, so I used 9 inch. This worked well, and made checking the doneness early more important. Even with the larger diameter cake, I felt like the cream ran out the sides more than I would have wanted, so I wouldn’t make it with the smaller size pans even if I had them. The cream was thick enough, it’s just that it seemed like there was too much for the size of the cake. 3. I’m a super dark chocolate lover, so out of habit, I bought 70% cacao chocolate instead of regular dark chocolate. Fortunately I tasted the ganache while it was still very warm and decided it wasn’t quite sweet enough for cake topping so I could still stir in 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. I’d definitely recommend using 60% dark chocolate rather than something stronger. I also got a little impatient and was afraid the chocolate would cool too much in 20 minutes, so I poured it over after 15. This made it a little runnier than it should have been, and more wound up on the plate than was ideal. Next time I’ll trust the 20 minutes.
everyone loved it! My mistake, not giving cream ALL the time it needed to set. Patience will pay off! Loved the recipe, video helped immensely! Made it as written minus a half hour or so on waiting on cream!
The box cake mix was the only saving grace of this pie. First Chef John’s recipe that went wrong for me. The chocolate topping tasted like unsweetened cocoa powder, the center never set even after 4 hours plus frig time and then placed in the freezer. The center had a good taste but the consistency of syrup. Cannot recommend this recipe.
I I don’t usually use box cake mix but this worked great and it was quick and easy.
It turned out awesome!!! I really don’t understand why some folks had a hard time!!! For the custard I did add a little more corn starch into the egg mix then poured into the cream mix, everything else I followed to the letter.
Easy and delicious !!!
very good and easy too ,but I guess American boxed cake mixes are larger than in Canada because there was way too much cream filling in the middle ! The top of the cake actually slide off while in the fridge and made an awful mess , so I just put it back together as best I could and called it my garbage can cake . Would make this again but adjust the filling amount.
Made this for my sons birthday came out great!
The recipe is fantastic ,but instead of vanilla extract I used a vanilla bean by cutting it length wise and removing the seeds (paste). It just tastes better ! For a great chocolate ganache add 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup instead of butter, the consistency is beautiful and the shine is awesome!