Boston cream pie cupcakes and farewells

My two best buddies, A and T, who I had the pleasure to work with for a year in my ex-lab at MIT, are leaving. They are both gonna be professors next year. Professors, can you believe it? My buddy buddies. The ones who I used to drink scotch every Thursday in the lab. Breaking you don't wanna know how many rules. The same ones who gave me the nickname of  'The Spaniard'. These two people who have been pretty much my family ever since I moved to Boston. They are gonna be professors in top universities next year.

I am leaving too, and for those who asked,  I'm moving to Portland, OR, to pursue a PhD. I cannot put into words how much I'm gonna miss them. For their farewell party in the lab, I wanted to make something special. Something that would remind them that Boston will always be a place where we spent a great time together.

If there's a dessert that speaks Boston, that's our famous cream pie. I knew that had to be my dessert. The problem? Carrying a creme filled, chocolate covered cake in this heat and humidity, sounded like a nightmare to me.  Filled cupcakes are an easier option and reduce the risk of arriving to the party covered in chocolate and pastry cream.

These cupcakes are soft, vanilla flavored, not exactly the traditional genoise that belongs to the Boston Cream Pie, but certainly pretty close. If you read often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of pastry cream and ever since I made it for the first time, I haven't been able to stop. It certainly is my favorite part of this cupcakes. To top them, some cute piped ganache. All in all, really good cupcakes that didn't last too long. 

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes


Printable version

Vanilla cupcakes adapted from Amy Sedaris

Makes 24

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk)

Preheat your oven to 350 F

In a bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside. In another bowl cream butter and sugar. Add the vanilla extract and the egg and mix until combined. Alternatively with the milk, start adding the flour mix 1/3 cup at a time. Starting and finishing with the flour. Fill the baking cups half way (believe me, they get pretty and big) and bake the cupcakes for 15-20 min until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Pastry cream

Better if made a day in advance, makes enough for the 24 cupcakes

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 cup of milk

1 1/2 cups light cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Bring milk, cream and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks, the cornstarch until the mixture turns pale and forms ribbons. Once the milk mixture boils, turn off the heat. Take a tablespoon of the milk mix and add it slowly to the egg mixture while whisking it. This will help temper the eggs, that is, bring them to the right temperature so they don't curdle when you add the rest of the milk. Now start whisking the egg mixture and add, all at once, the milk and cream. Keep mixing until you have a homogeneous mixture and then return the liquid to the saucepan. Heat the mixture until it comes to a boil. I kept cooking for about 3 minutes after that. Keep in mind, the longer you cook it, the thicker the cream. Just remember to keep whisking the cream during the whole process. You can flavor the cream by adding a couple teaspoons of vanilla extract. If you do so, add it always at the end, with the heat off.

Ganache

6 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup light cream

Chop the chocolate in small chunks. Heat up the light cream until right before it comes to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until dissolved. Let it sit in the fridge until the texture allows you to spoon it.

To assemble

Using the cone method, fill the cupcakes with cream. Then decorate the tops with the ganache, using a star tip. Keep in the fridge until about 15 minutes before serving

One last thing! A few days ago I got another award for the blog, this one from Carmen at Dulces Bocados, check her out, she makes beautiful concoctions of all kinds. This award is to demonstrate appreciation for those bloggers who try to pass on cultural values and to promote relationships between them.

I'm gonna pass the award to a few blogs... The award goes to Maduixa, Maria, Merce, Dolores and Kike and Txell. I highly recommend you visit their blogs.

Very berry cream tart

This is not a tart. This is an ode to your taste buds. This is the best of sweet things. This is the beginning of my love story with pastry cream.

It must be a family thing because my mum loves pastry cream. She doesn't like cakes (I know, weird), she's not a fan of frosting or layers of flour and butter. But she loves pastry cream. You ask her what does she want for her birthday and she answers 'anything with pastry cream'.

I myself used to like pastry cream but I was way too terrified to make it. I thought it was the hardest of things and any attempt to make it was gonna end up with a bunch of curdled eggs.

Oh my! how wrong was I! Not only is it delicious but so easy to make, you're gonna want to whip up a batch a day! 

Now, I know you feel like you could eat this with a spoon. But I promise you can even make it better. Just slice some of these...

Now you've reached tart perfection. You and my labmates, because this tart went to a work event and they all loved it!

Oh, I almost forgot... what if I told you you're gonna make a crust that doesn't shrink in the oven? Well, write this recipe down, or even better, go for the printable version

Unshrinkable sweet tart crust (from Dorie Greenspan)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick very cold unsalted butter cubed
1 large egg

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix in the cold cubed butter, working it with your hands, until pebbles form. Add the egg and keep working the dough until it comes together in a ball. Chill for 30 min. Roll the dough to a size big enough to cover your tart pan. Place the rolled dough in the pan and press it hard against the edges. With a fork, poke holes all over the crust. Cover the surface with plastic wrap.
Now here's the trick. Freeze the tart for at least 30 min before baking. I made it in advance and froze it overnight. Freezing the dough is gonna prevent it from shrinking in the oven, making it, for real, the perfect tart crust. Bake the tart at 350 F for about 20 min, or until golden brown.


Pastry cream (different sources)

3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup heavy cream*
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar

*You can change the proportions and add more cream if you'd like.

Bring milk, cream and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks, the cornstarch until the mixture turns pale and forms ribbons. Once the milk mixture boils, turn off the heat. Take a tablespoon of the milk mix and add it slowly to the egg mixture while whisking it. This will help temper the eggs, that is, bring them to the right temperature so they don't curdle when you add the rest of the milk. Now start whisking the egg mixture and add, all at once, the milk and cream. Keep mixing until you have a homogeneous mixture and then return the liquid to the saucepan. Heat the mixture until it comes to a boil. I kept cooking for about 3 minutes after that. Keep in mind, the longer you cook it, the thicker the cream. Just remember to keep whisking the cream during the whole process. You can flavor the cream by adding a couple teaspoons of vanilla extract. If you do so, add it always at the end, with the heat off.
Transfer the cream to a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap so it doesn't form a skin. Chill for a couple hours, preferably overnight. I didn't have time to wait for it to cool down too much so I chilled it for about 30 min and then transferred to the tart shell.

Once the cream is chilled you can proceed to assemble the tart. Slice about a half a pint of strawberries and or any other berry you like. Add the pastry cream to the tart and level it up to get a smooth surface. Place the berries on top. Serve cold.