Dessert has always been my favorite thing to make. I certainly have baker’s blood in me. When I was a kid my mom baked all of our bread from scratch. The KitchenAid mixer was used more than the microwave in our house. I love having a reason to bake something, but for this Boston Cream Pie the only occasion was that I had a day off a few weeks ago and some buttermilk to use up! The recipe is from Saveur Magazine and it was amazing. Just looking at the photos again makes me want to make another one. I ended up making too much glaze and drizzling it on fresh fruit and whipped cream the next day. I accidentally deleted my original photos of the process so you are stuck looking at my Instagram photo instead!
{For the Cake}
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1½ cups flour, plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
⅔ cup buttermilk
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1½ cups flour, plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
⅔ cup buttermilk
{Filling}
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. kosher salt
6 egg yolks
1½ cups milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. kosher salt
6 egg yolks
1½ cups milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
{Glaze}
4 oz. 60-percent bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
4 oz. 60-percent bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9″ round cake pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each, until smooth. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk in 3 batches, beginning and ending with dry ingredients; beat until just combined. Pour into pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes, and then invert onto a wire rack; let cool completely.2. Make the filling: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla seeds in a 4-qt. saucepan; add yolks, and whisk until smooth. Stir in milk, and place pan over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and add butter one cube at a time, whisking until smooth; stir in vanilla extract. Transfer pudding to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; chill until firmed, at least 2 hours.
3. Make the glaze and assemble cake: Place chocolate in a bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over high heat; pour over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Slowly stir chocolate and cream until smooth and shiny; set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, split cake horizontally into two layers so that the top layer is slightly smaller than the bottom. Spread chilled pudding over cut side of bottom layer and cover with top layer; pour chocolate glaze evenly over cake, letting it drip down the side of the cake. Refrigerate cake until glaze is set, at least 30 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
