Boston Cream Pie
What is Boston Cream Pie?
Boston cream pie is not a pie at all but a sponge cake (or other yellow batter cake) filled with a pastry cream and topped with a freshly cooled chocolate ganache for enrobing.1
A traditional Boston cream pie has 3 main components:
- Vanilla batter or sponge cake
- Pastry cream as filling
- Chocolate ganache as topping or enrobing
How is Boston cream pie made?
Here is a typical formulation of vanilla sponge cake for the base:
| Ingredient | Baker’s % (based on flour weight) |
|---|---|
| Foam Preparation | Foam Preparation |
| Liquid Whole Eggs | 61.0 |
| Granulated Sugar | 110.0 |
| Liquid Ingredients | Liquid Ingredients |
| Whole milk (hot) | 60.0 |
| Vanilla extract | 2.5 |
| Butter | 45.0 |
| Dry Ingredients | Dry Ingredients |
| Cake / All-purpose flour | 100.0 |
| Baking powder | 3.5 |
| Salt | 1.0 |
| Total | 375.0 |
Formulation of pastry cream
| Ingredient | Baker’s % (based on flour weight) |
|---|---|
| Egg Yolks | 32.0 |
| Granulated Sugar | 36.0 |
| Corn Starch | 11.0 |
| Butter | 11.0 |
| Whole Milk (hot) | 175.0 |
| Vanilla Extract | 3.0 |
| Total | 267.0 |
Formulation of chocolate ganache
| Ingredient | Baker’s % (based on flour weight) |
|---|---|
| Dark or bittersweet chocolate (chopped) | 41.0 |
| Heavy cream (hot) | 43.0 |
| Total | 84.0 |
Application
Processing
- Bake sponge cake in standard layer pans or pie tins.
- When cool, split each cake into two layers.
- Fill with pastry cream and ice the tops with chocolate fondant, or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.
Sponge vanilla cake
- Mixing
- Stir dry ingredients and set aside
- Blend milk, vanilla extract and butter together while heating in a saucepan until fat melts over medium-low heat. Set aside liquid mixture.
- Whisk whole liquid eggs and sugar on high speed for about 5 min until a light and pale sponge is formed.
- Gradually add hot milk-butter mixture on top of freshly mixed sponge
- Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until fully combined and mixture is homogeneous
- Depositing: deposit batter in a 9 in (23 cm) round cake pan. Generously grease the sides, and line it with parchment paper.
- Baking: bake sponge cake at 325°F (160°C) for about 30 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cooling: let product cool for 15 min while still in the pan. With a very thin knife, cut around the edge to release the cake from the side of the pan. Carefully flip the cake onto the rack, then turn it right-side-up to cool completely.
Pastry cream
Mix all pastry cream ingredients together in a saucepan (except vanilla extract), then heat mixture at medium fire. Cook the mixture while whisking constantly to allow the intended custard to thicken and become highly viscous, a consequence of water boiling and starch gelatinization.
Strain custard through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl, pushing it through with a small spatula. Stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the surface. Refrigerate pastry cream for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours before final assembly.
Final cake assembly
Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the cake into two layers and place the bottom layer on a serving plate. Stir custard or pastry cream and spread onto the cut side of the bottom half. Replace the top half of the cake, cut side down.
Chocolate ganache
In a small saucepan over medium-low, pour cream over chocolate chips, and let stand for 3 minutes. Whisk until smooth and dark. Spread the chocolate glaze evenly over the top of the cake. Refrigerate topped or glazed cake for at least 3 hours before serving.
References
- Byrn, A. American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes Behind More than 125 of Our Best-Loved Cakes. Rodale, 2016, p. 46
