Boston Cream Pie

Most commercial Boston Cream Pies leave a lot to be desired. They are made with shortening, artificial vanilla flavoring, and who knows what is in those too-sweet chocolate glazes?

While most cookbooks claim that Boston Cream Pie is traditionally made with spongecake, I hail from New England and am here to tell you this is not so. I checked my The All New Boston Cooking School Cookbook by Fanny Merrit Farmer (10th edition, copyright 1959, published by Bantam in 1965) and she uses a regular butter cake. The Yankee Magazine website has a Boston Cream Pie recipe with an almost identical cake recipe except it is made with shortening. (To be fair, they have four Boston Cream Pie recipes; one uses a sponge cake and two of them, including the one from the Parker House--which claims to have served it since opening, if not invented it--use rum in the filling, which is an unnecessary rarification. But then again, they are now the Omni Parker House and therefore part of a chain..........)

Well enough run-on sentences. On to the recipe.
(This recipe makes my personal Hundred Best Recipes List, even though the list isn't finished.)

Boston Cream Pie

Vanilla pastry cream (make first)

1 cup half-and half or whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
small pinch salt
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbsp (4 1/2 tsp) cornstarch
2 Tbsp butter
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat the half-and-half or milk, 3 Tbsp of the sugar, and the salt in the top of a double boiler (or in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat) until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until thoroughly combined, then whisk in the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the cornstarch and continue whisking until the mixture is creamy and thick, about 30 seconds.

3. When the half-and-half/milk mixture is at a full simmer, gradually whisk it into the yolk mixture, then return to the pan and whisk contantly until the mixture is thick (coats a spoon even when the spoon is removed). Off the heat, whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and then the vanilla.

4. At this point, you can strain the mixture if you like. Place plastic wrap right on the surface (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Cake

1/2 cups cake flourk like Swansdown or Softasilk
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Butter, line with parchment or wax paper, and butter again two 8" round cake pans.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar, vanilla, and egg.

5. With beaters on low, beat in 1/2 cup of the flour mixture, then 1/4 cup of the milk.

6. Beat in another 1/2 cup of the flour mixture, and another 1/4 cup milk. Add the remaining flour and beat to blend.

7. Spoon into the pans. Eyeball so they have approximately equal amounts of cake batter or weigh the two pans.

8. Bake approximately 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans to finish cooling on cake racks.

Chocolate Frosting

1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
2 c. confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

1. In the top of a small double-boiler or in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the chocolate with the butter and the mild. Let cool to lukewarm, then transfer to a mixing bowl.

2. Add half the sugar and the vanilla, and beat until the sugar is incorporated. Add the second half of the sugar and beat it in, too. Use immediately.

Assembling the cake

Trim the tops of both cake layers, if necessary, so they are flat. Brush the crumbs off of one of the cake layers, and put it on a cake plate. Spread the pastry cream on the layer, stopping 1/4" to 1/2" from the edge. Put the second layer on top of the pastry cream, bottom side up. Frost with the chocolate frosting all the way to the edge of the top layer, letting some run over.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
none

(even though the post heading gives some date in January, I didn't post this until 10 February. Blogspot has some quirks.)

Potluck 2: Texas Sheet Cake

The office is having a going-away party tomorrow. The honoree decided he wanted a potluck lunch, which means I will be able to eat at least one thing there--the dessert, because I am bringing it. Potlucks mean either Cherry Cobbler (see here) or Texas Sheet cake because they are both made in a jelly-roll pan and serve a lot.

There are recipes for this all over the web. Some leave out the word "Texas". Epicurious calls it a Chocolate-Buttermilk Sheet Cake. Some are baked in a 15x10" jellyroll pan and are thin. Some are baked in a 13x9" pan with the same amounts and they are thicker. They are all about the same. Here's mine:

Texas Sheet Cake

1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, or milk soured with a couple teaspoons of vinegar
2 large eggs

Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
3 Tbsp cocoa
1/4-1/3 cup milk (depends on whether whole milk, 2% or skim, and the weather)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (soy-free)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly-roll pan. Put water, 1 stick butter, cocoa powder, vegetable oil, vanilla and baking soda in large microwave safe bowl. Microwave by 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until the butter is melted and the cocoa is mixed in. Whisk in sugar, flour, salt, then buttermilk (or equivalent) and eggs. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cake in pan to a rack.

Meanwhile, melt remaining stick of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in with a wooden spoon: powdered sugar, milk (start with 1/4 cup), the 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add more milk if you need to to make the frosting spreadable--not so thick that it will rip up the top of the cake.

Spread frosting over warm cake. Sprinkle with nuts and mini chocolate chips. Press in slightly. Cool cake (and carry it to your party) in pan. Cut into 24 pieces.

Chocolate Cake

This week I dedicate to chocolate cake, because it is the reason I missed posting last week. I was making one Saturday morning to take out to dinner with me that evening. A big kitchen knife dropped and cut one of my fingers enough to have stitches, so I spent time in the emergency room instead of blogging.

Chocolate cake is one of the best things ever invented, in my opinion, but is problematical for the soy allergic because a lot of chocolate contains lecithin. Now, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network said for a long time that soy oil and lecithin won't cause allergic reactions, but I am here to tell you different. Apparently a bunch of us told FAAN that, too, because now they say to "check with your doctor" about soy oil and lecithin.

Baking chocolate doesn't have lecithin, though, so I set out to find a really good cake made with plain baking chocolate. I found one, but when we ate it we all agreed it didn't have enough frosting. Because the frosting recipe is a little fussy (but worth it, believe me), we did not want to mess with scaling it up, so I scaled the cake recipe down. The only problem is that you have to own 7" cake pans. The cake is easy to make, though, because it uses a "quick-mix" technique.

Little Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
7 Tbs butter, softened
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 tsp baking powder (slightly rounded 1/4 tsp)
2/3 tsp baking soda (slightly rounded 1/2 tsp)
1/3 tsp salt
2/3 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbs water
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Put out all the ingredients to come to room temperature.
2. Melt the chocolate with 1 Tbs butter in a double boiler (or in the microwave) and allow to cool until almost room temperature (if it is too warm, and the batter is too cold, you end up with little speckles of unsweetened chocolate in the cake).
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter two 7" round cake pans, line with waxed paper or parchment, and butter again. (Or spray both times with canola oil from a Misto sprayer.)
4.) Put the dry ingredients in the mixer and mix for about a minute. Add the remaining 6 Tbs butter, 1 Tbs at a time, and mix until it looks like Bisquik or pancake mix--slightly grainy.
5. Measure the yogurt in the bottom of a glass 1- or 2-cup measure, then add the rest of the wet ingredients to the measuring cup. With mixer on low, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer and whip for 2-3 minutes. Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the middle if the cake comes out clean.

Chocolate Frosting

4 1/2 oz usweetened baking chocolate
4 Tbs butter (1/2 stick)
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk (use less if it is not whole milk)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a small mixing bowl, melt the chocolate and the butter over hot water--kind of like making your own double boiler--or melt it in the microwave and add it to the small mixing bowl.
2. Stir in the sugar, salt, about 3/4 of the milk, and the vanilla. Mix well.
3. Set the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and cold water, and beat the frosting until it is thick enough to spread--kind of like mayonnaise. Adjust the consistency with some more of the milk, if needed.