I have a confession to make. I gained 10 pounds over the last few months. YIKES! I'm having way too much fun baking and blogging. How do all you awesome food bloggers out there manage to do this without looking like the Michelin Man or the Stay-Puff Marshmallow guy from Ghost Busters? I haven't been blogging as much lately because I haven't been cooking or eating as much. Sooooooo, I was very excited when my sister called and asked me if I would bake something for her to take to a dinner party. She had offered to bring dessert to a St. Patrick's gathering but she hadn't factored in that she was moving into her new house that very same day. She was overwhelmed and I was overjoyed to have a reason to bake something yummy and then send it on its way!
I sent my sister several green suggestions including mint/chocolate cheesecake and whoopie pies with mint filling. However, she reminded me that she doesn't like mint. She also didn't go for the leprechaun balls. I don't know why. I thought they were hysterical. We finally settled on little individual Boston Cream Pies. I explained to her that Boston has long standing deep Irish traditions so these little cakes (pretending to be pies) would be perfect. I used three different recipes to adapt my own. First was a recipe from Putzing Around the Kitchen. However, this recipe used an instant vanilla pudding mix and I knew I wanted to make my own pastry cream. Second was this which provided a great pictorial. I used their method for cutting the cone shaped centers in the cakes to fill with the cream. Then there was this great video from Martha Stewart which really filled in some of the blanks regarding technique.
Here is my adapted recipe:
Individual Boston Cream Pies Makes about 15
Begin with the pastry cream because it takes about three hours to chill before filling the cakes.
For the vanilla pastry cream:
4 egg yolks, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
2-1/2 cups whole milk
2 Tbls. butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp vanilla (I always add an extra splash of vanilla so you can increase this to 1-1/2 tsp if you like.)
Whisk yolks in medium sized bowl until smooth.
Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add milk in a slow, steady stream. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes.
Temper egg yolks by very slowly pouring 1/3 of milk mixture into yolks, whisking constantly. This heats the yolks without scrambling them. Return egg mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick, 2 to 4 minutes (see the video link above to see what it should look like.) Pass vanilla cream through a fine sieve into a bowl.
Add butter and mix gently to combine.
Add vanilla and stir until combined.
Press plastic wrap directly on surface. Refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours, or up to 2 days.
For the cakes:
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup whole milk
6 Tbsp ( 3 oz) butter
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour standard muffin tins.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
Warm milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat while beating eggs and sugar.
Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
Gently fold in dry ingredients in small additions (again, check that video for great info on this)
Bring milk and butter to a boil, remove from heat and gently fold into batter.
Add vanilla.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until light gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.
When cupcakes are completely cool, use a serrated knife to cut cone shapes from the middle of each cupcake. I really love the vanilla cream so I gently removed a little more of the cake from the center then filled them with the cream. Cut the pointy end from the top and place the top on the cream.
For the chocolate ganache:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped and placed into medium sized, heat proof bowl
1/2 cup heavy creamIn a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil. Remove from heat, and add to chocolate; stir very gently until smooth.
Set aside to cool to room temperature and to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes. When glaze has thickened, spoon over filled cakes. Using a small metal spatula, spread glaze to edges of cakes, allowing it to drip down sides. Let glaze set, 15 to 20 minutes.
Keep cakes refrigerated until ready to serve. They are better the same day but it's ok to store them in the fridge overnight.
It was St. Patrick's Day so once the ganache was set, I sprinkled each little cake with green sugar. I decorated the serving basket with fresh mint, nasturtiums, and cilantro blooms from my garden.
My sister tells me everyone at the party loved these mini Boston cream pies. She said they were delicious and a big hit. She especially liked the vanilla cream. It really is worth the extra effort to make it from scratch.
These are time consuming due to all of the steps involved but worth it. I'm giving this Pinterest Wednesday recipe 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas.
those little cupcake/pies are adorable! and the pastry cream sounds absolutely delicious, too. winner!
Posted by: alexandra @ sweet betweens [blog] | 03/22/2013 at 06:57 PM