Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

There are generally only two seasons in Chicago:  sunny and gray.  Construction and winter.  We’re still somehow in construction despite the changing thermometer readings and the roadways are getting worse rather than better but at the same time, we’ve far too quickly switched to gray.  As it goes here.

This is a long way to say, it’s a gray, dreary day here in Chicago, these photos ahead may be compromised but it’s a great day to bake.  As is any day, every day heh, in my opinion.

Plus the days are definitely getting shorter, cramping my wildly erratic baking schedule.  Sigh.  

Anywhoooo……

My dad is a huge fan of Boston Cream Pie.  Is it creme or is it cream?  Regardless.  Huge.  His favorite.  A highlight of my youth was watching the sheer joy come over him upon receiving one from my mom, his smile and happy blue eyes seared into my memories.  It was always a big deal.

Whenever I saw that mysterious box of Jiffy chocolate stuff out, the stuff my mom would mix up I think with water as the chocolate topping, I knew we were in for a glorious treat that evening.

Before you ask, yes, I made him one for Father’s Day this year but I’ll get to that another time.  Bubbling over with recipes to share over here!

But one casual parent dinner invite evening here, I decided to veer from the traditional and make a cupcake version I had discovered over on The Kitchn, indeed, Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes. And wow, boy, wow, am I sure glad I did because wow, holy crap, this recipe is good.  Gooooood.  Good good good.

Note:  you will make a mess all over yourself eating these.  Other note:  who cares.

Yeah, there are a few steps, yeah it’s not a bake-n-frost, but I promise you these are so worth it.  And don’t fret, they’re not complicated to make.  Seriously. 

Come On.  You cannot refuse that.

Plus too, sharing this recipe with you is extra fun for me as it’s an excuse to try out my brand spankin’ new muffin tin.  My previous one, nothing fancy, was really suffering the ol’ blueberry stains but I ended up destroying it (unintentionally, I swear, I swear) making Mike some breakfast egg muffin cups.

Alas.  Ah well.

This is definitely the most expensive muffin tin I’ve ever purchased and the most research I’ve ever done, heh, on which one to get (?!) but I figure hey, if I’m hardcore baking more now, the tools gotta stand up.  

Amiright or amiright?

The USA Pan Muffin Tin.*  Yikes, it went up in price too.  Eeesch.

Well, it performed very nicely.  I read you don’t need paper liners but I panicked at the last moment and used them anyway.  Just as a reminder, I wholeheartedly recommend the If You Care* brand.  Nothing stuck at all though the cupcake edges that rested on the flat surface browned much quicker, a surprise, so testing will be necessary with this pan.  Boo hoo.

So, easy peasy these Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes here folks.  And such deeelicious cupcakes on their own too.  If anything, add solely the cupcakes to your repertoire.  But wait, no, may as well make this whole recipe, you deserve it.

Give a sifty shake of your dry ingredients through a fine mesh strainer* while you cream up the butter and sugar until fluffy.

A good portion of the cupcake ingredients right there, yup.

Add one egg at a time to the mixer, badaboom, mix mix. 

On top of a dreary day, I’m testing a new photo editor so bear with me here.  Hm.  But bad shot anyway. Fluffy butter and sugar receiving one egg here.

Add the vanilla…

 

Even worse photo, apologies.  Eggs all in with vanilla, my friends, looks weird.

…then about a third of the dry, mix mix, half the buttermilk, mix, dry, buttermilk, mix, dry, mix.  Done.

Prior to a few big healthy stirs by hand, the fluffy pretty batter about to go for a bake.

See?  How easy was that?!

Split the batter between the wells of the pan and off to the toasty oven they go.  And your house will smell heavenly.  Yes.

Never seen a ribby wavy pan before, I guess it’s supposed to be extra non-sticky?  They said?

Time to make the creamy pudding-like filling which is darn simple too.  Whisk up the dry ingredients in a bowl and begin warming the milk.  

Had a crummy day, my head not in the game, hence the milk still sitting there.  Warm milk first.

Once the milk has warmed, add the egg yolks to the dry (not a do-ahead as the sugar will burn the yolks) and whisk it all around until it gets thickly pasty and seemingly weird.  

Why is the milk still sitting there?  BWD, baking while distracted.  But you can see how gloopy the mix gets here.

Ya know, sometimes this whisk makes me batty, coming unfurled at the most inopportune, messiest times.  I should look for another.  I prefer the spirally coil type* as they are more efficient and work faster.  For our nonstick pans we require a coated one, but this, this one,* hm.

Anyway.

Slowly trickle in some warm milk to your yolky sugar concoction to loosen it up, add more warm milk, then strain everything through a fine mesh strainer to eliminate clumpies.  Dump it all back in the saucepan, whisk constantly until the whole thing turns pudding-like which is very quick so stay there.

Tempering the egg yolk mix here with the warm milk.  I usually pour in more milk than is probably necessary. Whatevs, no harm no foul.  Or fowl, ahahahaha, pun.

Chill it, cool the cupcakes, and it’s assembly time.  This is the (second) best part because you will get cake and/or filling and/or chocolate all over hands while doing this and you’ll have to lick it off.  I mean, you just do.  Shrug.

Clap clap, it is assembly time, woot!

With a paring knife,* dig into the top of the cupcake and slice out a cone shape, fill that bad boy up with creamy stuff, and slather on the chocolate ganache….aw boy, I am woozy.

That yummy creamy filling filling the void there….

I personally always jam the whole little cones back into the cupcake rather than trimming them to a smaller cap size, not caring what the top ends up looking like.  I am not wasting cake people, sorry.

Aaaand the cupcakes all plugged back up, stuffed with dreamy pudding filling, just a’-waitin’ on that luxurious chocolate crown.

Besides, the chocolate atop does a nice job of masking any non-photo/non-Insta-worthy lumpy bumpiness.  (Oh, and that chocolate ganache, I did 2/3 semi-sweet, 1/3 bittersweet.  Uh huh, that’s right.)

Aw boy.  I’m dyin’.  Excuse me, cough, I have to uh, check on uh something, ahem.  Be right, cough, back.

Besides, who cares what these Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes look like, you’re just gonna take the whole entire plate of delightful little numbers over to the couch with a tall glass of cold milk and eat them all anyway.  C’mon.

Yep, see ya.

Voila, Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes!  And with that, plenty of time to plan ahead for National Boston Creme Pie Day this month!  Ha HA!  Yay!

Note:  This content originally appeared on Flaky Bakers.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Yield

12 cupcakes

Prep time

40 Min

Cook time

30 Min

Total time

1 H & 10 M

Everything you love about a Boston Cream Pie, the pillowy cake, the creamy dreamy vanilla pudding, and the rich chocolate ganache yet made into a handheld version.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon (6 g) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) baking soda
• 1/2 cup (57 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup (151 ml)  buttermilk, room temp

Cream Filling

• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons (15 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon (2 g) fine sea salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup (77 ml) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) vanilla extract

Chocolate Topping

• 1 cup (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark or a combo
• 1/3 cup (76 ml) heavy cream or half and half or milk

Instructions

Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C) and with paper liners, line a muffin tin. For added assurances, spray the flat surface of the pan with cooking spray.
2. Add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda to a fine mesh strainer over a small bowl and shake to sift.
3. In a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat until fluffy on a higher speed, about 3-5 minutes. Turn the machine off, scrape it down, and add one egg with the mixer on stir until combined. Add the second egg, combine, then add the vanilla.
4. Sprinkle in about a third of the dry ingredients and stir until barely mixed, then add half of the buttermilk. Alternate dry with wet, ending with dry, and stir until just mixed. Remove the bowl and give a final few stirs by hand with a large spatula, scraping all the way to the bottom of the bowl.
5. Split the batter between the wells of the muffin tin and bake until slightly golden and a toothpick tester comes out clean, around 22-25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for about five minutes then remove to a baking rack to cool completely before final assembly.

Filling

1. In a small saucepan, begin warming the milk over medium heat until it begins to steam.
2. Add the dry ingredients, the sugar, the flour, and salt, to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Once the milk has warmed, add the egg yolks to the dry ingredients and whisk strongly until a paste forms. Slowly add a portion of the milk to the egg/sugar combo while whisking to loosen the paste and temper the eggs. Pass this mixture through a fine mesh strainer and return it to the sauce pan.
4. Turn the heat to just over medium and while continuously whisking, cook the liquid until it turns to a slightly thicker pudding. If when you stop whisking you see big bubbles forming, it is ready. Remove from the heat and blend in the vanilla.
5. Pour the cream filling into a small bowl, cover the top directly with plastic wrap, then chill in the refrigerator.

Final Assembly

1. In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream and chocolate at 30 second intervals until the chips have melted completely. Stir until thoroughly smooth, glossy, and it becomes thick.
2. With a sharp paring knife and tilting it, carve out a cone shaped piece of cake from the middle of the cupcake at least about halfway down the cupcake interior and around an inch in diameter at the top. Fill each cupcake with about a slightly heaping tablespoon of cream, splitting the cream evenly between all the cupcakes.
3. Either trim the cone shaped plugs of cake or place them back whole in the cupcakes. The latter will result in cream being pushed out slightly.
4. Top each cupcake with about a tablespoon of the chocolate ganache topping, splitting the chocolate evenly between the cupcakes, and spread across the tops.
5. Serve immediately or store in containers to serve later.

Notes:

Original author’s note: Double everything, bake the cake batter in two 9” round pans, and build as a normal Boston Creme Pie.

Adapted from The Kitchn

Nutrition Facts

Calories

267

Fat (grams)

12.6

Sat. Fat (grams)

7.4

Carbs (grams)

37

Fiber (grams)

.9

Sugar (grams)

24.7

Protein (grams)

3.6

Sodium (milligrams)

194.8

Please see the "info" section for nutrition details.

cupcakes, Boston Cream

recipe

American

Created using The Recipes Generator

*The USA Pan Muffin Tin, If You Care paper liners, whisks, fine mesh sieves, and paring knives are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.