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Boston Cream Pie Cake

January 15, 2018 Betsy Kuller
Boston Cream Pie Cake from BetsyBakes.com

My daughter has a habit of requesting her birthday cakes 1-3 years out.

"When I turn four, at my birkday (yes, she pronounces it with a "k"), I want a Moana cake. Mama, can you make a Moana cake? I want it to have peaches, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. 66 chocolate chips. And, Mama, when I turn five, at my birkday, can I have a Moana cake with her Mommy?" - Daughter, age 3.

My husband is almost as bad: six months before his birthday, he told me that he wanted a cake inspired by our trip to Portugal: a cake filled with the cream from a pasteis de nata and covered in a port buttercream.

Let me tell you something, I had six months to prepare and prepare I did. But it was bad. Ick. Unfortunately I figured this out the day before his birthday SO I was in a bit of a predicament. But chocolate saved the day (it always does). 

Add a lot of chocolate to a port buttercream and you end up with a slightly sweet and rich chocolate frosting. Fill the cake with a pastry cream and tadah you get a Boston cream pie birthday cake! Add a babysitter, a surprise comedy show, and a surprise party at Surly brewing (with a $4 per slice cake cutting charge), and you get a pretty sweet birthday.

Boston Cream Pie Cake with Sprinkles from BetsyBakes.com
In Cake, Chocolate Tags chocolate, cake, birthday, boston cream, pastry cream, portugal, sprinkles, cake 2
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Berry Blitz Torte

November 5, 2015 Betsy Kuller

I had been eyeing this cake for almost a year before actually getting around to baking it.  I made up lots of good excuses to not make it such as: it looks a little weird, it doesn't include chocolate, I have to make pastry cream, etc etc.

Those were stupid excuses because, let me tell you, this dessert is great and pretty easy to make. Yes, it is a bit unusual (the batter doesn't fully fill the pan? you add the meringue before baking? who wrote this recipe???) but my mantra is to always have faith in King Arthur Flour recipes.

And if you have never made pastry cream from scratch, I dare you to try it this time. If you ever thought pastry cream in an eclair in a refrigerated display case is good, you have never tasted it fresh off of the stove.


Berry Blitz Torte
from King Arthur Flour

Cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 large egg yolks (save the whites for the topping)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup all purpose flour

Meringue Topping
4 large egg whites
3/4 cup Baker's Special sugar or granulated sugar (finely ground)
1/2 cup  sliced almonds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar

Pastry Cream
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (or, better yet, vanilla paste)
1 oz corn starch
4 oz sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 whole egg + 1 yolk
1.5 oz unsalted butter

Make the cake: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Beat in the vanilla or Fiori, the milk, baking powder, and flour. Spread the mixture in the prepared pans (the batter will barely cover the bottom of the pans; that's OK).

Beat the egg whites till light; gradually add the 3/4 cup sugar and continue to beat till the meringue is smooth, glossy and somewhat stiff (but not stiff enough to form stand-up points). Spread the meringue on the cake batter, and sprinkle with the almonds, cinnamon, and sugar. Note: If you're using Fiori di Sicilia, omit the cinnamon.

Bake the cakes for 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove them from the oven, allow them to cool for 15 minutes, then loosen the edges and gently turn them out onto a rack to cool completely. If some of the almonds fall off during this process, just sprinkle them back on top.

Make the pastry cream: Place the milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Keeping an eye on the milk, whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Gradually add eggs to this mixture and mix until smooth.

Slowly add about one-third of the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking rapidly (tempering the egg mixture so the eggs do not cook). Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining milk. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. You know that it is ready when it is thick enough to stick to the back of a wooden spoon without sliding off quickly. Stir in the vanilla extract, then the butter until fully incorporated.

Pour the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with a piece of parchment paper until cool. When fully cooled, store in the refrigerator with plastic wrap. If stored properly, pastry cream will keep fresh for up to three days (but definitely best on day one).

Assembly: Place one of the cake layers, meringue side up, on a serving plate. Spread with the pastry cream. Add a layer of fresh berries. Top with the second cake layer, meringue-side up. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving time. 


In Cake Tags cake, meringue, pastry cream, cake 1
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Mini Eclairs

December 29, 2014 Betsy the Baker

There are few desserts that I dislike.  This list includes pecan pie, coconut macaroons, cannolis, cheesecake...and it used to include eclairs.  I never understood why people enjoyed a semi-cold puff of dough filled with a less than semi-tasty pastry cream. But then I made pastry cream at home and that all changed.  Here's the thing: semi-cold, semi-tasty chocolate chip cookies are still pretty good but fresh homemade pastry cream is nothing like the stuff in a chilled glass case.


Eclairs 

Make the pate a choux: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Sift the pastry flour and reserve in a bowl.  Bring the milk, water, salt, sugar and butter to a boil in a small pot over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the flour, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to combine. Return the mixture to the heat and cook the paste for 1 minute or until it clears the side of the pot, stirring occasionally.

Transfer the cooked dough to a stand mixer and with the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the steam is gone (a few minutes). While the dough is mixing on low, temper the eggs by pouring 3/4 of the eggs into the dough and mix until combined. Add the remainder of the eggs and mix until just combined (dough will have a sheen to it).

Transfer the dough to a piping bag and pipe into the desired shape onto prepared pan and brush lightly with egg wash (optional). I piped mini eclairs about 2.5 inches long but they can be much larger.

Bake at 350°F in a convection oven for 10 minutes and then decrease the temperature to 325°F with the door slightly open for 15-20 minutes or until they are slightly brown on the exterior and "dry" in the center.

Make the pastry cream: Place the milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Keeping an eye on the milk, whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Gradually add eggs to this mixture and mix until smooth.

Slowly add about one-third of the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking rapidly (tempering the egg mixture so the eggs do not cook). Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining milk. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. You know that it is ready when it is thick enough to stick to the back of a wooden spoon without sliding off quickly. Stir in the vanilla extract, then the butter until fully incorporated.

Pour the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with a piece of parchment paper until cool. When fully cooled, store in the refrigerator with plastic wrap. If stored properly, pastry cream will keep fresh for up to three days (but definitely best on day one).

To serve: To assemble the eclairs, fill a piping bag with a small tip and some pastry cream and lightly poke a hold in the end, or bottom of the cooked shells and gently add the cream until you feel it puff up. You can also slice the shells in half, lengthwise, and spoon the pastry cream onto the bottom layer and then sandwich the two layers back together.

If you so desire (and why wouldn't you?), you can add some melted chocolate to the top.

Pate a Choux
6 oz Whole Milk
6 oz Water
1 tsp Salt
1½ tsp Sugar
5 oz (9 tbsp) Unsalted Butter
6 1/4 oz (1½ cups) Pastry or Cake Flour
9 oz Eggs (~5 eggs), gently mixed

Pastry Cream
2 cups Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (or, better yet, vanilla paste)
1 oz Corn Starch
4 oz Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Whole Egg + 1 Yolk
1.5 oz Unsalted Butter


 
In Other, Chocolate Tags chocolate, eclairs, pastry cream
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