Boston Cream Pie

I guess I’ve been named the baker of my office but while I don’t bake goodies for the office all that much, I do try to pull out my best stuff when I do.  And because of this, I was asked by the “big boss” to make her birthday cake a few months back for the office’s monthly birthday celebration.  But there was a catch.  It had to be the Parker House Hotel’s recipe for Boston Cream Pie. Ok… Thankfully she had cut out the recipe from a Boston newspaper years and years ago (and I have no idea which paper it was from) which she graciously shared with me.

Yikes though right?!  A specially requested dessert for the big boss using a recipe for probably the most famous Boston Cream Pie which I’ve never made before.  In fact, I didn’t even know that a BCP was a cake and not a pie because I’d never eaten it before.  Remember Billy Joel’s song Pressure? You got it.

Anywho, the cake turned out great!!  It was considerably more time-consuming than I expected it to be but well worth the effort.  The cream was delicious, the cake was much more dense than I ever thought it would be (and the flavor was great) and chocolate ganache…this definitely was was the best part.  Thankfully, after making a few of Dorie Greenspan’s recipes, the techniques for this recipe came back to me pretty quickly and I was very happy with the results, as was the boss which is really all that matters.  I do plan to make this cake again but will definitely double the cream for the filling and will make sure it is thoroughly chilled before applying to the cake, as the cake had a little accident in the car on the way to work which thankfully was easily remedied by pushing the top layer back up onto the bottom. Fun times, people, fun times.

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One Year Ago: French Chocolate Brownies

Two Years Ago: Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies and Spaghetti with Pinot Grigio and Seafood

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Boston Cream Pie

source: The Parker House Hotel

White Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk or sour milk
• 4 egg whites (reserve 2 egg yolks for filling)

1. Grease and flour two 9″ cake pans.  Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl.  Add shortening, butter or margarine, vanilla and buttermilk or sour milk. Blend on low speed of mixer then beat on 2 minutes on medium speed.  Add egg whites and beat 2 additional minutes.  Pour into cake pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. (25 to 30 minutes is more appropriate – my cakes cooked a little too long) Cool for ten minutes; remove from pans.

Cream Filling

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used closer to 1 1/2 or 2 tsp – taste it before adding too much)

1. Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan.  Gradually add milk and egg yolks; blend well.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils; boil and stir for 1 minute.  Remove from heat; blend in butter and vanilla.  Cool 1o minutes. (The cream would be better off thoroughly chilled – 10 minutes is not enough time.) Spoon onto one cake layer; carefully top with remaining layer.  Prepare Cocoa Glaze (Ganache).

Cocoa Glaze (Ganache)

• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine water and butter in small saucepan.  Bring to full boil; remove from heat and immediately add cocoa.  Stir to blend well (mixture leaves side of pan and forms a ball).  Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth – whisk if necessary. (You will need to beat the mixture very well for it to liquify.) Pour onto top of cake allowing some to drizzle down sides.  Chill before serving.