“Pie??? This isn’t PIE…!!!”

…is what they were all screaming last night.

They thought I couldn’t hear….but it was difficult to not hear Miss Betty criticizing my desserts at the meeting last night.

Oh, Miss Betty.  It was indeed  pie.

Well, it’s kind of cake…but the title says it is pie.

Boston.  Cream.  PIE.

According to Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_cream_pie

A Boston cream pie is a round cake that is split and filled with a custard or cream filling and frosted with chocolate.  Although it is called a Boston cream pie, it is in fact a cake, and not a pie. Created by French chef M. Sanzian at Boston’s Parker House Hotel, this pudding and cake combination comprises two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla custard or crème pâtissière. The cake is topped with a chocolate glaze (such as ganache) and sometimes powdered sugar or a cherry.

Okay, it’s a cake.

I’ve always been slightly intimidated by Boston Cream Pie – and I’ve decided, with the New Year and all – to face all intimidating desserts head on.

Like Souffle.  Croissants.  Bananas Foster.  Cherries Jubilee or anything that has to be lit on fire.  Baked Alaska.  Creme Brulee.

Crap like that.

And yesterday seemed like the perfect time to mark Boston Cream Pie off The Intimidation List.

It’s not that bad.  When it’s broken down into parts – it’s really easy.

Boston Cream pie is 2 layers of sponge cake, filled with pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache.

It’s beautiful.  It’s delicious.  It’s cake, not pie.

Let’s start with the cake part.  Seems logical.

1 cup flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs (separated), 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder…

Then add the vegetable oil, egg yolks, milk and vanilla, mix well.In another bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks….And fold into the batter…You can pour this into one cake pan and split it – but I have trouble splitting cakes, so I poured the batter into two greased 8″ round pans and baked for 350 for about 20 minutes.I love this color.

Okay, let’s allow these to cool and move on to the filling.

This recipe is actually from my friend Joe (hey Joe!) – he gave me this about 6 months ago, and I’m just now getting around to making it.  Just now.

Typical.

Okay, anyways…

2 cups milk, 3/4 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 6 egg yolks.And what’s for lunch?  One very large egg white omelett.

Heat the milk and cream…Beat the egg yolks and sugar to thick and light…Then add the cornstarch…Beat until smooth, then add to the hot milk mixture.  You should totally temper the eggs – you know, add some hot milk to the eggs a little at a time…

I’ll be honest, I didn’t do that.

I dumped it all in and whisked until I thought my arm would fall off.

Which is why I have no picture evidence of this step.

Bring to a boil while stirring, and cook until thickened.

Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla.

Would you look??  You just made Pastry Cream!

Cover this and shove it in the fridge.

For a while.

Like a few hours.

When everything has cooled, it’s time to assemble.

Yay!

1 layer of cake…

Pastry Cream…I used the entire batch of pastry cream, which seemed like a lot for a thin layer of cake.

But I went for it.

‘Cause that’s how I roll.

Next layer of cake….See?  spilling out the sides.  While this seems good, it is also bad – the cake will slide when you give it to your 7 year-old son to transport.

I mean, I’ve heard that.

No worries, just scrape the excess.

You can eat it, no one will know.

I mean…I’ve heard that.

Okay, last thing – chocolate ganache!

Heat 1/2 cup heavy cream – then dump in about 3/4 bag of chocolate chips and whisk until smooth…Plop onto the top of the cake…And let it run down the sides…Oh yeah.

Boston Cream Pie.

Totally.

And still gorgeous on cheap paper plates.

Boston Cream Pie

Adapted from Gayle Gand and Joe Allison

For the cake

1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, and baking powder.   Add milk, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter mixture. Gently pour the batter into 2 8″ greased round cake pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Invert the pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

For the pastry cream:

2 cups milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat milk and cream.  Whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick and light.  Add corn starch and whisk until smooth.  Temper egg mixture with hot milk mixture and whisk all together.  Bring to boil and stir until thickened.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Cover with plastic and allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

For the Ganache:

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips1/2 cup heavy cream, boiling

Heat the heavy cream, dump in the chocolate.  Allow to sit until softened, then whisk until smooth.

To assemble the cake:

Place one layer of cake on the serving platter.  Cover with pastry cream.  Top with another layer of cake.  Cover top with chocolate ganache, allow to drip down sides of cake.

Refrigerate until serving.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

What’s next on The Intimidation List?

No clue.