Guest Post: Boston Cream Cupcakes

It's Courtney again! Baking is something that relaxes me, so I do it when I get the chance. I don't eat too much of it though - usually one portion is enough. This, of course, means my friends, coworkers, and roommate suddenly find themselves in possession of all the leftovers, but I haven't heard too many complaints.

I made these cupcakes for my birthday, which falls the day after St. Patrick's Day, and Megan asked me to share them with you! As I now reside in Boston, and Boston Cream is my favorite kind of cake, the choice to make these cupcakes was a no-brainer. Many recipes call for using a box mix for the cake, or vanilla pudding instead of pastry cream for the filling, which you are more than welcome to do. Although the recipe looks long and complicated, each individual part is quite simple, so don't get overwhelmed!

Baking Notes: Any notes and changes I made are in the recipe itself.

Boston Cream Cupcakes (yields 1 dozen cupcakes; adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Pastry Cream
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 2 pieces
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into 12 pieces
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Begin by making the pastry cream. Heat the heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the cornstarch and whisk until the mix turns a pale yellow and thick, about 15 seconds. When the cream reaches its full simmer, slowly whisk it into the yolk mixture. Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thick and glossy about 1-2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract until the butter is completely melted. Transfer the pastry cream to a small bowl and press plastic wrap directly on the surface - refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.*

To make the cupcakes, begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed. Add the butter one piece at a time and mix until it resembles coarse sand. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla extract, increase the speed to medium and mix until light and fluffy, with no lumps remaining, about 3 minutes. Stop to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (do not wait for them to turn golden, as they will not since they are a yellow cake), about 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, heat the heavy cream in the microwave for about a minute, then add half your chocolate chips and stir well. Return the heavy cream to the microwave for another minute, add the rest of your chocolate chips, and stir until they are completely incorporated with no lumps.**

Time to put it all together! Using a paring knife, cut into the center of the cupcake at a 45-degree angle about 1/3 inch from the edge and cut all the way around. Remove the cone and cut away all but the top 1/4 inch, leaving a small disk of cake. Fill the inside of each cupcake with pastry cream and top with the disk of cake. Spoon the chocolate glaze over top of each cupcake, covering the top completely. Refrigerate the cupcakes until the glaze is set, about 10 minutes.


*Courtney's Note: I made this cream the day before and it set beautifully overnight. This was also the only part I was concerned about working well. Getting the egg hot enough to be safe to eat but not scrambling is definitely tricky. I was fortunate enough to have it work the first time, but it's not a bad idea to have the ingredients ready for a re-do. Or to just have vanilla pudding on hand as back-up.

**Courtney's Note: The original recipe called for glaze. I found this too sweet, so I used a traditional ganache instead of the glaze, since the cupcakes and pastry cream were both so sweet already. The ingredients and directions as I have written them are for ganache.

Recipe: Brown Eyed Baker: Boston Cream Cupcakes