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Boston Cream Pie Cake

Boston Cream Pie Cake – light and airy sponge cake, layered with custard and topped with chocolate ganache. A very simple combination of custard and sponge cake, but a classic and always tastes amazing!

Bostin cream pie cake topped with chocolate ganache with fresh raspberries.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about this absolutely delicious cake.
“A Boston Cream Pie is a cake that is filled with a custard or cream filling and frosted with chocolate. Although it is called a Boston Cream pie it is in fact a cake and not a pie. Created by Armenian-French chef M.Sanzian at Boston’s Parker House Hotel in 1856, this pudding and cake combination comprises two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla-flavored custard or creme patisserie. The cake is topped with a chocolate glaze and sometimes powdered sugar or a cherry” – Wikipedia

A while ago, I wanted to put a collection of cakes together, all made with a common ingredient – sponge cake.

I think there are some recipes that every home baker should know and should be able to make. The first one is the sponge cake. As versatile as it is, you can make dozens of different cakes if you know just one cake recipe, by pairing it with different fillings like cheesecake, mousse, chantilly cream, buttercream, chocolate buttercream, Bavarian cream, and others.
The original recipe of the sponge cake calls for eggs, flour, and sugar only. My recipe calls for a very small amount of baking soda, which makes an already foolproof recipe even more foolproof, and some butter & water. The butter & water produce a moist, but not at all heavy cake that if used with a cream-like patisserie cream, does not need to be soaked with syrup.

Boston cream pie recipe on a cake platter topped with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries sprinkled in powdered sugar.

The second recipe that I think every baker should know is bavarian cream or custard cream. This one is also used in a variety of recipes, a couple of which include the éclair, profiterole, Boston cream pie, and napoleon. Because of its mousse-like consistency, it is very fluffy, yet not dense at all. This is just one of the variations of custard creams and it is important to know how to make it.

I wanted to share one of the tricks to get your cakes evenly baked, without the dome every time. I used to hate that I would bake a cake and then have to cut off part of it, to provide for a leveled cake. I don’t even remember how I found out about these, but I have been in love with them ever since I first got them. No more bump, no more wasted cake. What you do is, you use these “cake strips” that are strips of oven-proof material that needs to be wet before you put them around the pan, so when the cake bakes, the heat does not strike the sides of the pan first, allowing it to bake from the bottom up, instead of baking from the bottom and sides first. This yields to evenly baked cakes, every time. Magic, I tell ya! You can click on the picture to see it better.

Here are some other great Dessert recipes:

Boston Cream Pie Cake

5 from 2 votes

Soft sponge cake layers with a custard cream filling and chocolate filling and raspberries. The best homemade Boston Cream Pie recipe!

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: boston cream pie cake
Calories: 415 kcal
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

Sponge Cake

Bavarian Cream

Ganache

  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate

Garnish

  • 1 cup fresh raspberries

Instructions

  1. PREP: Preheat the oven to 350F with the rack inside the oven centered.

    Line two 8" baking pans (2-inches tall) with foil, pressing the foil tightly against the inside of the pan so that it conforms to the pan (you can use one 9 inch pan, with 3-inches tall sides, instead of 2 pans). Spray with non-stick baking spray. Fasten the cake strips around the pans.

  2. Whip eggs: With a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip 4 eggs until foamy and doubled in size, ~3 min. With the mixer still running on high, gradually add 1 cup of sugar. Continue whipping until the eggs flow off in a thick ribbon off the whisk that doesn't disappear for about 2-3 seconds, ~20 minutes.

  3. Liquids: Meanwhile, melt 3 tbsp butter and whisk in 3 tbsp water.

  4. Dry Ingredients: sift 1/3 of the flour & 1/4 tsp baking soda into the whipped eggs in halves and fold carefully trying not to deflate the eggs until the flour is incorporated.

  5. Add liquids: Add the butter & water mixture and carefully fold it in, until no streaks of butter/water are seen.

  6. Split the batter between 2 prepared baking pans.

  7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes (if baking in 2, 8-inch pans) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Alternatively bake in one 8" pan for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

    Do not open the oven before you can smell the cake in your kitchen, otherwise the cake will deflate.

  8. Remove & cool: Then, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack, remove foil and allow to cool completely.

Make the Bavarian Cream

  1. Gelatin: Mix 1/4 cups water & 1½ tsp gelatin. and allow to bloom for 5 minutes.

  2. Heat the milks: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat together 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and half of the sugar until boiling.

  3. Temper eggs: In a separate bowl large enough for 2 cups liquid, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well mixed.

    Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while continuously whisking to temper the eggs. Transfer the mixture back to the sauce pan.

  4. Cook the custard: return the saucepan with the custard to the stove and cook over medium heat while whisking non-stop until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil, or the mixture will curdle. Remove from the heat.

    Tip: You know that it’s thickened when you can dip a wooden spoon into the custard, then run your finger on the back of the spoon and the streak where you swiped your finger stays clean (the custard does not run back onto the ‘swipe’).

  5. Add gelatin: Add the gelatin mixture into the custard and mix until the gelatin has dissolved, about 2 minutes.

  6. Run the custard through a fine mesh sieve and allow to cool to room temperature, mixing the mixture from time to time.

    Tip: do not refrigerate as it will harden around the edges of the bowl, making for a clumpy cream.

  7. Whip cream: Once the custard is at room temperature, whip 1 cup of cold cream with a mixer, until soft peaks. Add the custard into the cream and carefully fold it in.

  8. Refrigerate the cream for about 10 minutes, folding it with a wooden spoon about every 3 minutes, until it is no longer runny and thickens enough to spoon.

To assemble the cake:

  1. Split the cake with a long serrated knife into 3 even horizontal layers.

  2. Layer the cake with cream: Place a dab of the cream onto the middle of the serving platter. Add the first layer of the cake on top and press to adhere. Add half the cream and spread into an even layer. Top with the middle layer of the cake and top with the other half of the cream, spreading it into an even layer again. Lastly, add the top layer on top and press adhere.

  3. Refrigerate the cake for 2-3 hours to allow the cream to set.

Make Ganache

  1. 10 minutes before taking the cake out of the fridge, heat 1/4 cup heavy cream until boiling. Add 1/3 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. Whisk until smooth.

  2. Pour the chocolate ganache in the middle of the cake. While turning the cake around, smooth the chocolate with a spatula, allowing it to drizzle down the sides.

  3. Garnish: Top with 1 cup of raspberies and dust with powdered sugar.

  4. Refrigerate until serving.
Nutrition Facts
Boston Cream Pie Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 415 Calories from Fat 198
% Daily Value*
Fat 22g34%
Saturated Fat 12g75%
Cholesterol 243mg81%
Sodium 104mg5%
Potassium 110mg3%
Carbohydrates 48g16%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 34g38%
Protein 8g16%
Vitamin A 939IU19%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 73mg7%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • Tanya

    Is the cream kind of like pudding?

    · Reply
  • Rachael

    Hello,
    I’ve always wanted to make one of these cakes and I shall make one for a tester for my mum’s 60th. I was wondering why its says heavy cream twice in the cream ingredient? Would heavy cream be double cream in the UK? Would this work in an 8″ tin? Love your stuff you do 🙂

    · Reply
    • Hi Rachel!
      Thanks for reading and making my stuff!! It says heavy cream twice because half a cup is added to the milk and heated, but the 1 cup is whipped up and added to cooked, cold custard.
      Heavy cream would by any cream with 33% fat content or more.
      If you use 8 inch baking pan, the layers will just be taller, that’s all.
      Good luck!

      · Reply
  • Claudia

    Wow! Your cake is sooo delicious! 🙂 I just made it a couple of days ago and everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I added the baking soda in the end because I didn’t know when to add it. Now I think I should’ve added it to the flour. Also, when I was putting the batter in the pans, the butter just stayed in the bottom of the bowl and so one of the pans got most of the butter:b I was so nervous to deflate it so I didn’t fold it so much. I didn’t use a ring either because I didn’t have one to fit my 9″ pans snuggly. But it still looked beautiful. Thank you again. Will definitely repeat 🙂

    · Reply
    • Thanks Claudia for your feedback!

      · Reply
  • Inessa-GrabandgoRecipes.com

    Marinachka, what a beauty…
    Defiantly will make it 😉

    · Reply
    • Thanks Inessa! I just found a whole bunch of comments in my spam folder, sorry for taking this long)) Got to adjust my settings somewhere))

      · Reply

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