Boston Cream Pie

gailanng's Note:

An ancient Good Housekeeping recipe that I religiously make every New Years day. If you've never made a scratch cake, you don't know what you're missing. Using cake flour is a must. See Lennie's Cake Flour Substitute. Be sure to properly measure your flour by lightly spooning into a measure cup until overflowing then using the backside of a knife to level off. Too little flour will produce a callapsed cake and too much will have wet spots with dense layers. Cake layers freezeable. Prep time also includes assembly time.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 1.0 cake

CAKE LAYERS

• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups unsifted cake flour
• 1 cup sugar, separated
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CREAM FILLING

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate or 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans or make it easy on yourself and trace the bottom of the cake pans on a piece of waxed paper and cut to fit then place on bottom of pans. No need to grease; the cakes will fall right out.
2. For the cake layers: Separate eggs; place whites in a small, clean bowl free of any grease or oil and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl with an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Very gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
4. Add egg yolks, oil and 1/2 cup milk to flour mixture. With electric mixer, beat until smooth, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add remaining 1/2 cup milk and vanilla. Beat just until combined. Carefully fold beaten egg whites into batter. Divide batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake cakes 20 to 25 minutes or until centers spring back when gently pressed. Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes. Loosen cake around edges with a sharp knife then turn cakes out onto racks and remove waxed paper, if used; cool completely. (Tip: I make the cake layers in advance, wrap and freeze. Defrost in wrapper for a couple of hours then proceed with the filling and glaze.).
6. While cake is baking, make cream filling: In a 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup milk to boiling. In cup or small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup milk, cornstarch, sugar, pinch salt, egg and vanilla until blended.
7. When milk comes to boiling, gradually stir in cornstarch mixture with wire whisk. Return to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 1 minutes or until thickened to pudding consistancy. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
8. Make chocolate glaze: In 1 quart saucepan, heat water and sugar to boiling. Add chocolate chips; stir until glaze is smooth; remove from heat. Cool 5 to 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.
9. To assemble, place one cake layer, upside down, on a serving plate. Spread with cream filling. Top with remaining cake layer, right side up. Spoon glaze over top; spread to edges of cake. Refrigerate.

Reviews

[Maine E Ack!]

I decided to use half semi-sweet and half dark chocolate chips.and the topping was really delicious. I didn't have a problem with the filling. It came out just thick enough and perfectly flavored. The cake was nice and moist and not overly sweet. My family fought over the last piece, so next time I will make two of them!

[~Leslie~]

Wow wow wow!! This cake is sooo delicious! My husband got creative in the kitchen and made this for our family, and boy did it turn out to be a beautiful cake, so impressive! We loved it! Thanks for posting :)

[Deantini]

This is a fantastic cake! and I only got to try half the glory. I was walking the cake over to neighbours and the top slit right off and onto our lawn. What a bummer! Anyway - we all ate the bottom half with great joy! The layer cake part is very versatile and could be used in other layer cakes. I know that it will be my go to recipe from now on. The layer rise beautifully and taste wonderful. I will for sure be making this again!! Made for PRMR