Boston Creme Cupcakes
For my hubby’s birthday, I made him his favorite dessert in cupcake form – Boston Creme Cupcakes. They were delicious!! The recipe below is how to first make a vanilla cupcake from scratch and then how to make the boston creme and chocolate ganache to complete it!
Vanilla Cupcakes
Prep: 30 minutes Stand: 30 minutes Bake: 20 minutes Cool: 45 minutes Oven: 350˚F
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
Directions:
Allow butter, egg and egg yolks to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Spray a non-stick spray with flour or grease a pan and pat with flour to help eliminate stickiness during cooking. Do not use muffin papers because you want it to have a smooth look.
If using vanilla bean, use a small sharp knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean; set seeds aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Preheat oven to 350˚F. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, beating on medium to high speed for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl. Add egg, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds (or the 1 tsp vanilla extract) and the 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; beat until combined. Alternately add flour mixture and whipping cream to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined (batter will be thick).
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, fulling each about three-fourths full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups.
Bake about 20 minutes for 2 1/2 inch cupcakes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.
Boston Creme Pies
Prep: 30 minutes Chill: 3 hours
Ingredients:
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 TBS cornstarch
- 1 1/3 cups milk
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 12 2 1/2 inch vanilla cupcakes (recipe above)
- 1 6-oz package semisweet chocolate pieces (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
Directions:
For vanilla cream: in a small bowl lightly beat egg yolks; set aside. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
Gradually add about 1 cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return all of the mixture to the saucepan. Cook and stir until bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in vanilla. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
To assemble: using a serrated knife, cup each Vanilla Cupcake horizontally in half. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the vanilla cream onto the cut side of each cupcake bottom. Replace cupcake tops. Place cupcakes on a wire rack set over waxed paper.
For ganache: in a medium microwave-safe bowl microwave chocolate pieces and whipping cream on 100 percent power (high) for 1 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir until smooth.
Spoon ganache over cupcakes. Let stand just until chocolate is set. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 12 (2 1/2 inch) cupcakes. Enjoy!!
Side note: Instead of just spooning a little bit of ganache over the cupcakes to place a little bit on top, we poured a good amount on to make it with a bit more chocolate. Instead of chilling for that last hour, we ate them shortly after. They were still quite delicious.
