To top that off, I've never been much a fan of custard or pastry cream-filled anything--which is sort of ironic, because I kind of established a name for myself with chocolate eclairs in high school. But I have found that over the past few years, I'm kind of growing into it. Plus, the hubby really likes custard-style stuff, so I suppose I can expand my repertoire.
Lots of what I have posted so far has been fancy stuff. I would say that 90% of my business, however, is not fancy stuff. It's a couple dozen strawberry cupcakes with sprinkles here, it's four dozen chocolate cupcakes with coffee frosting (and no sprinkles there), and the occasional fancy order thrown into the mix. And generally, if someone asks me if I can do something, I never say "no."
So when a woman who has ordered four or five things from me in two or three months asked if I could do BCP cupcakes for her daughter's birthday, of course I said yes. And then I combed the internet and my cookbooks to find a suitable starting point.
I found lots of semi-homemade recipes that started with yellow cake mix and vanilla pudding. But, having never had BCP, I didn't know if that would be "suitable," or if it would immediately expose me as a total fake. We all know that I have nothing against cake mixes, when used appropriately. But I also have equal affinity for absolutely-from-scratch recipes... so, in order not to label myself as a BCP Poseur, I went for the scratch method. The resulting cake is dense and moist, and the pastry cream is thick and custardy, and not very sweet. The glaze is rich, with a hint of sweetness. Put it all together, and it's very, very rich.
Consider yourself warned, folks. Unlike my other postings, this is very much an intermediate-level recipe. If it intrigues you and intimidates you at the same time, I'd highly recommend using the cake and glaze, but choosing a simpler (perhaps vanilla pudding-based) custard as a filler. Also realize that unless you start in the morning for an evening cake, this is NOT a same-day cake.
Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
makes approx. 20-24 cupcakes
Pastry cream
(this is adapted from an actual BCP cake recipe, so you will have a LOT of pastry cream left over for other delightful uses, or you can double the cake recipe and still have enough cream)
2 cups half-and-half
6 large egg yolks (saving these egg whites is great for meringue)
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) sugar
Pinch salt
1/4 cup (1.25 oz) all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into four pieces and chilled
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Heat half and half in medium-sized saucepan over medium heat until just simmering. Meanwhile, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt together until smooth. Add flour to yolk mixture and whisk until incorporated. Remove half and half from the heat. Whisking the egg mixture constantly, slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot half and half mixture to the eggs to temper. Once incorporated, add all of the egg mixture into the pan with the half and half, whisking constantly. Return the pan to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, or about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, whisking constantly, for 8 minutes. Note: this is when you go find your husband/child/friend and ask them for their help in the kitchen. Then you can walk away and come back 8 minutes later. Increase heat back to medium and cook, and bring your whisking speed up until you feel like you're going to whisk your little arms off, whisk-whisk-whisking away for 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbles burst on the surface. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla until incorporated. Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer set over medium bowl. (If you don't have a fine mesh strainer, you may be able to use cheese cloth, or even skip this step--though you might have some clumps.) Press lightly greased parchment paper directly on the surface of the cream and refrigerate until set--at least two hours, but as many as 24.
Cake
1-1/2 cups (7.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1-1/2 cups (10.5 oz) sugar
Make sure oven rack is in the middle position, and preheat oven to 325 degrees (if you have convection, you can set it lower). Line your muffin pan with baking cups. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs and sugar together at high speed until light and airy, about 5 minutes. While it's whipping, combine milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and cover to keep warm (if your eggs aren't ready yet). When the eggs are light and fluffy, slow the whisk down to the lowest, slowest speed and slowly add hot milk mixture. Slowly and consistently add flour mixture to liquid mixture, mixing just until combined. Give the batter a few turns with a spatula to make sure everything is incorporated. Batter will be somewhat frothy and liquidy, a lot like pancake batter. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 to 3/4 full (I recommend using a 1/3 C measuring cup to scoop batter into liners). Bake 20-24 minutes or until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, turning pans once during cooking (My oven is convection, and thus was set lower. I recommend keeping a close eye on your cakes. They may not need as much time, or, since all ovens vary, they may need more).
When cupcakes are 100% cooled, use a small serrated knife to core out a section of cupcake in the middle. Do whatever you want with the scraps (I recommend drizzling them with glaze in a bowl and giving them as a loving gift to your husband). Fill a plastic zip-top bag with the custard and snip off a corner. Pipe the cream into the cupcake until level with the top. Use an offset spatula or spoon to smooth cream level with top of cake. Set aside (refrigerate, if possible) while preparing the glaze.
Glaze
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (I highly recommend a food processor for this step)
Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk gently until smooth, or approximately 30 seconds. Let stand, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, or about 5 minutes. Spoon the glaze into the middle of each cupcake, and let spread slightly. Use offset spatula or spoon to bring it to the edge. Spoon more glaze to cover any bumps, crumbs, or unevenness.
If you want the pretty white stripes, melt 2/3 cup white chocolate chips, 2 teaspoons corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl in 15-second increments. Stir thoroughly with a fork until smooth. Using the same fork, scoop glaze out of bowl and over cupcakes placed on wax paper, using long, confident movements--beginning and ending off the cupcakes to avoid big splotches of white.
Chill for at least two hours before eating.
And hey, folks, if I find a good "fake" BCP recipe, maybe I'll share it later!
Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The Best of America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, 2012.
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