Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

I have been looking at these for years - and I finally made them. When I first got my Martha Stewart Cupcakes Cookbook I wanted to make these....but the pastry cream part scared me off.  I wasn't that confident back then that I could pull it off.  But I am now - and I totally took this recipe on and made it my own.  They are labor intensive - but so worth it.  If you have a lot of time on your hands - I highly suggest making these.  You can skip a step and buy pre-made pastry cream, but I made my own.  And I will include the recipe for everything for you to make it yourself.  But the end product looks like this......

hello deliciousness

.......and they are delicious. 

So I started off by being smart and making my pastry cream the night before I made them, my thought was it was one less thing to worry about in the morning.  So I make the pastry cream and put it in the fridge overnight and don't worry about it at all, until after I've made the cupcakes, got my chocolate ganache glaze going and I take out my pastry cream and see this.....

bad CB

....I take off the plastic wrap - and it's a solid gelled mass.  I overcooked it.  So now I had to start a new pastry cream all over....good thing it doesn't take long.  And I decide to just let my ganache set up and become thick and frosting-like instead of a glaze and stick it in the fridge until I need it.

So away I go cutting all the cupcakes in half......

lots of cupcakes

....and then my pastry cream was ready and I scooped out a little onto each cupcake and sandwiched it.

creamy goodness

So here's the part where you can decide if you want a runny chocolate layer, or a thick chocolate frosting.  If you want the runny layer, then make the ganache after you've put the pastry cream in between the cupcakes.  If you want it thick, then make it before you start to put the pastry cream between all the cupcakes and put it in the fridge to thicken up.  Away I went frosting all the tops with rich heavenly chocolate. 

Into the fridge they go to set for 30 minutes and then you can eat one.....

yummers

I had Heays bring some into work and I played treat fairy and dropped some off to my "regular Tuesday" drop offs.  One feedback from a coworkers of Heays was why did I cut the cupcake in half?!  Why didn't I fill it?  Much easier and less labor intensive.  And when I brought some to one of my friends last night, he asked the same thing - why didn't I fill them instead of cutting them in half.  Next time I make them, I'm so going to do that.  :) 

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Makes 20

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pam cooking spray

Pastry Cream

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Pastry Cream

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

pinch of salt

2 cups milk

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk egg yolks until smooth in a large bowl.  Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan, and heat over medium.  Stirring constantly, gradually add milk in a slow, steady stream, and cook until mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisking constantly, slowly pour one third of the milk mixture into egg yolks.  Pour mixture into remaining milk mixture in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil and is thick enough to hold its shape when lifted with a spoon, 2-4 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
3. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl.  Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap, pressing it directly on surface to prevent a skin from forming.  Refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray standard muffin tins with Pam and set aside.  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Combine milk and butter in a saucepan; set over very low heat. 
2. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk eggs and sugar until fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted, about 5 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium.  Gradually add flour mixture, whisking until just incorporated.
3. Bring milk and butter just to a boil.  With mixer on low speed, add hot-milk mixture to batter in a slow, steady stream; mix until smooth (don't overmix).  Beat in vanilla.
4. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each halfway.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes are golden, about 15 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes.  Run a small offset spatula or knife around the edges to loosen; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. 
5. To finish, use a serrate knife (and a gentle sawing motion) to split cupcakes in half horizontally.  Spread about 1 tbsp pastry cream on the bottom half of each cupcake.  Replace top halves.  Spoon about 1 tbsp glaze over each cupcake.  Refrigerate 30 minutes to set. 

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1. Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.  Bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour mixture over chocolate.  Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.
2. Using a flexible spatula, gently stir in chocolate and cream until totally combined; begin near the center of the bowl and gradually work your way toward the edge, pulling in as much chocolate as possible, until the mixture is smooth and glossy.  Use immediately.