Boston Cream Pie

(*It looks like a reindeer cake doesn't it-heehee!)

Boston Cream Pie is a wonderful treat, it's definitely not an everyday dessert. I've had this one bookmarked for awhile so I was happy to try it finally. I, along with many people, wonder why is it called Boston Cream Pie? This explanation I found was originally presented on the Joy of Baking's website, it reads as follows:

There are two questions that immediately come to mind when you hear Boston Cream Pie. One is "Why is it called a pie?", and the other is "Why the name 'Boston'?". To answer the first question of why "pie" instead of "cake", it is probably because colonists baked their cakes in pie tins as they did not own cake pans. As far as calling it Boston Cream Pie, the story began when a New York newspaper in 1855 published a recipe for a 'Pudding Pie Cake'. This recipe was similar to the Boston Cream Pie recipe of today except that it had a powdered sugar topping. From there we go to Boston where a man named Harvey D. Parker opened a restaurant called the Parker House Restaurant. On the menu was a 'Parker House Chocolate Pie', the recipe to which was similar to the New York newspaper recipe except a chocolate glaze had replaced the powdered sugar topping. We are not sure how it was renamed to 'Boston Cream Pie', but Bo Friberg in his book 'The Professional Pastry Chef' thinks "the name stems from the original title (in the New York paper) combined with the reference to Boston."

Boston Cream Pie (from Joy of Baking)

Pastry Cream:

1/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 large egg yolks
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
Scant 3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sponge Cake:

5 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon unsalted butter


Pastry Cream: In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks. (Do not let this mixture sit too long.) Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.

Meanwhile in a small saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil over medium heat. (Watch carefully and remove from heat just as the milk starts to foam up.) Pour the milk slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.

Place the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, continue to whisk constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes thick.

Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Let the cream cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Sponge Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Butter and line the bottoms of two - 8 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. While the eggs are still cold separate three of the eggs, placing the yolks in one large mixing bowl and the whites in another bowl. To the yolks, add the two remaining eggs. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Place the milk and butter in a small saucepan, over low heat, and warm until the butter melts. Remove from heat, cover, and keep warm.

In your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the whole eggs and yolks and 6 tablespoons of the sugar on high speed for about five minutes, or until they are thick, fluffy and light colored (when you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in a slow ribbon). Beat in the vanilla extract.

In another clean mixing bowl, with the whisk attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the egg whites and cream of tartar, at low speed, until foamy. Increase the speed to medium-high and gradually add the remaining sugar, beating until soft, moist peaks form. Gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then add the rest of the whites folding just until incorporated. Sift half of the flour mixture over the top of the batter and gently fold through with a rubber spatula or whisk. Sift the remaining flour over the batter and fold in. Do not over mix.

Make a well in the center of the batter and pour the melted butter/milk mixture into the bowl. Gently but thoroughly fold the butter mixture into the batter. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans, smoothing the tops, and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until light brown and springy to the touch. (A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Immediately run a spatula or sharp knife around the inside of the pans and then invert the cakes onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper and re-invert. Cool completely. When the cakes have cooled and you are ready to assemble the Boston Cream Pie, make the Chocolate Glaze.

Place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Bring the cream and butter just to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a 3-5 minutes. Gently stir until smooth. Set aside for a few minutes until it has thickened to pouring consistency.

To Assemble: Place one cake layer on your serving plate, bottom side facing up. Spoon the pastry cream onto the cake (if your pastry cream has thickened too much while chilling, using a hand mixer, beat the pastry cream with a little bit of milk and it should lighten up,) spreading to make an even layer. Place the second cake layer (bottom side up) onto the filling. Pour the glaze onto the center of the cake and carefully spread the glaze, with an offset spatula, to the edges of the cake, allowing the glaze to drip down the sides.

Let the cake sit until the glaze sets, about one hour. Serve. This cake is best eaten the same day it is made. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. Serves 8-10

Lemon Bundt Cake

I picked up my first Bundt pan this weekend really wanting to try this recipe. Lemon desserts make me think of spring and I know spring is on the way here in MN so I'm hoping and praying it comes sooner rather than later. Thinking back, Bundt cakes used to be a bit more popular than they are today I imagine. This isn't the Bundt cake with the pudding in the center, this isn't your grandmothers cake. This Lemon Bundt comes from America's Test Kitchen, which is one of the most watched cooking shows on Public TV. These fine folks work with a recipe until it can be replicated with the same consistent results in different environments every time. If these nice people dole out a recipe, pay attention, it's the very best there is.

The Bundt pan is a Minnesota native of Nordic Ware. What started as a family owned, home grown operation in their own kitchen, now boasts a huge empire of over 60 million Bundt pans in Kitchens across the United States. Here is their pdf tip sheet on how to bake a perfect Bundt!

Lemon Bundt Cake (from America’s Test Kitchens as seen on Kelsey’s Apple a Day Blog)

Cake:

3 Lemons, zested and juiced for at least three Tbsp. lemon juice
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup lowfat buttermilk
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
18 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (2 ¼ sticks)
2 cups granulated sugar

Glaze:

2-3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp buttermilk
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour (alternatively, brush pan with mixture of 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon melted butter). Mince lemon zest to fine paste (you should have about 2 tablespoons). Combine zest and lemon juice in small bowl; set aside to soften, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk in medium bowl. In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine. In standing mixer fitted with flat paddle mixer attachment, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce to medium speed and add half of eggs, mixing until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs; scrape down bowl again. Reduce to low speed; add about one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until just incorporated after each addition (about 5 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake until top is golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes.

FOR THE GLAZE: While cake is baking, whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk). Cool cake in pan on wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake directly onto rack. Pour half of glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1 hour; pour remaining glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours.