Monday, October 6, 2014

Cake of the Week: Boston Cream Pie


Well here I am back again, for my sixth (and final!) academic year in Boston. Though this city is small, it is somehow big city famous for a number of things, most notably cold, colleges, clam chowder, the Charles, cannoli, and Boston Cream Pie. 



Until a couple weeks ago, however, I had never tried the city's signature dessert! (Except in undergrad dining hall, which is obviously not a great example of anything.) So for our innagural Wednesday dinner party of the semester, RoommateRachel made clam chowder and I experimented with pastry cream and made what I must say was a de-freaking-licious Boston Cream Pie, following the classic Omni Parker House Recipe. 



Let's talk about this "pie" for a bit, as it is confusing. First things first, Boston Cream Pie is not a pie at all. It is a two-layer sponge cake filled with pastry cream and covered in chocolate ganache. It originated at what was then the Parker House in downtown Boston in 1856. And here's a fun fact: the Boston Cream Pie has been distinguished as Massachusetts’ official state dessert over Toll House Cookies and the Fig Newton. That's some pretty stiff competition!


This recipe constituted a few firsts for me: my first sponge cake, and my first pastry cream. Both turned out excellent. The sponge cake is shockingly simple and really delicious -- just some eggs and flour and sugar. And the pastry cream, OH THE PASTRY CREAM. That is all.


Some notes about the recipe: since I have to work with the pans I have, instead of making the cake in a 10-inch pan (who has that??), I did two layers in 9-inch pans. Also, the original recipe made about twice as much pastry cream than was needed. The recipe below is adapted to be what you should do. The original recipe I adapted from is here.

Boston Cream Pie

Sponge Cake:
  • 7 eggs, separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
Pastry Cream:
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup light cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon dark rum (or vanilla)
Chocolate Ganache:
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup light cream
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds for garnish
Directions:
  1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Separate egg yolks and whites in large bowls. Add ½ of the sugar to each bowl. Beat the whites until stiff peaks form, and beat the yolks until they look light in color. 
  3. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture. Gradually fold in flour with a spatula. Fold in the butter. Pour this mixture into two 9-inch round greased cake pans. 
  4. Bake  for about 20 minutes, or until spongy and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool fully.
  5. For the pastry cream: In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the butter, milk, and light cream to a boil. 
  6. While this mixture is cooking, combine the sugar, cornstarch and eggs in a bowl and whip thoroughly. 
  7. When the cream, milk, butter mixture reaches the boiling point, slowly whisk in the egg mixture and cook to boiling. Boil for one minute. 
  8. Pour into a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Chill overnight if possible. When chilled, whisk in 1 tsp. dark rum or vanilla. 
  9. For the ganache: once cake and pastry cream are completely cool, immediately before assembling the cake, heat cream in the microwave until it's very hot but not boiling. Add in chocolate chips and let sit for one minute. Stir until smooth.
  10. Assembly: This one's pretty straight-forward. Spread pastry cream in a thick layer on top of the first cake. Top with the second cake. Spread ganache over the top and sprinkle the top and sides with slivered almonds. The cake will look messy. It's supposed to. And trust me, no one will care.