To-Die-For Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
Creativity is a funny thing darlings. I had a recipe in mind for this week. Went to the grocery store and stocked up. Wrote up a recipe. Had a pretty good first round of trying it out. But after one bueno round of recipe-testing, I felt the urge to create something . . . else. It’s not that I was abandoning ship, I just knew there was something else calling for my attention at the moment. And going along with my creative urges ended up being a beautiful thing.
Not only did I end up with a delicious new recipe, I found the perfect accompaniment to dear boyfriend and I’s long-awaited date night to get *druuumroll* LOBSTER ROLLS. Even though North Carolina is by the coast, lobster rolls aren’t a ~ thing ~ here like it may be in other states. Truth be told, I had never tried one until dear boyfriend and I hopped on over to a nearby city to remedy my lack-of-lobster-roll-exposure. Keeping in the New England theme, our homemade dessert courtesy of moi was to be a spin on the classic Boston cream pie, but in cupcake form. So I did a 360 from my original baking plans this week and made these To-Die-For Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes. And. THEY. WERE. SO. YUMMY.
An important lesson was learned in the course of making this recipe, and it’s one that’s so underrated but so true. Go with your gut. It’s a maxim that has served me well in life and in this blog. I never want to force myself into anything. If something doesn’t feel right, then I don’t fight it. I go where I feel inspired, invigorated and excited. And this time I went straight for these delicious To-Die-For Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes.
So one of my favorite things? Taking a dessert and making it into . . . another dessert.
So what is a Boston cream pie anyway?
Umm the most delicious thing ever. Oh you mean the technical definition. Declared the official state dessert of Massachusetts in 1996, a Boston cream pie is a two-layer sponge cake with pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache. The Parker House hotel in Boston claims to be the birthplace of this decadent dessert, but the Boston cream pie likely descends from another dessert called a Washington pie (a two-layer cake filled with jam and dusted with powdered sugar). A couple of changes were made over time with the filling and the topping which gave rise to the modern version of the Boston cream pie.
Also, the term “pie” is a little deceiving actually. It’s really a cake. Back in the 19th century, cakes were baked in shallow pans called Washington pie plates. Go figure. Thank you to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets for the background information.
Light and fluffy vanilla cupcake, silky vanilla pastry cream filling and a slathering of whipped chocolate ganache frosting to top it all off. These Boston cream pie cupcakes are seriously to die-for.
To-Die-For Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, room temp.
- ¼ cup whole milk, room temp.
- ¼ cup sour cream, room temp.
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. In a separate (large) bowl, combine the melted butter, eggs, milk and sour cream, mixing gently and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add in the vanilla extract. Mix until just incorporated.
- Fill the wells of the pan ¾ of the way full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar, milk, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Cook the mixture until it thickens and steam rises off the surface, stirring occasionally.
- In a separate bowl, separate the egg yolks from the egg whites (keeping the former). Gradually pour half of the hot milk mixture into the bowl with eggs, whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs to ensure they won’t curdle.
- Transfer the yolk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the pastry cream thickens (about 2-3 minutes).
- Remove the saucepan from heat and transfer its contents to a heat-proof bowl. Add in the vanilla extract and mix well. Cool to room temperature. Then cover with plastic wrap directly over the surface of the pastry cream so a skin doesn’t form. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- To insert the filling to each cupcake, use an apple corer (I use the OXO Good Gripes Apple Corer), a piping tip, or a melon baller to make a hole in the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake with the pastry cream and then cover by frosting with the chocolate ganache.
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until steam starts to rise from the surface.
- Remove the hot cream from the stovetop and pour on top of a bowl with the chocolate chips. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.
- Whisk the cream and the chocolate together until smooth. Cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
- After chilling, use an electric hand mixer to whip the ganache over medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the frosting to a piping bag to frost the pastry-filled cupcakes.
