Classic Boston Cream Pie

No, it was not a "Boston" fever for me (having just recently prepared Boston baked beans).

From Boston Cream Pie

It just so happened that I was looking at different chocolate recipes from a Hershey's book to prepare for celebrating Nov 8th. I was planning to make a Florida citrus cake that my co-worker recently brought to work and that I loved, but I asked hubby first.

Me: Honey, would you be interested in a lemon-type cake that I can prepare for our anniversary?
Him: Nah...I am not fond of lemon cakes. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting would be good, though.
Me: Or maybe you would prefer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting?...
Him: That would be even better.

Well, thinking that he was probably referring to the boxed yellow cake and Duncan chocolate frosting when he mentioned that that was what he would like, I was not really looking forward to preparing something from the box when it was a special occasion. Although we plan to go out of town this coming week for a major celebration (no kids!!!), I did want to prepare something special (as in, from scratch) on the day itself.

So I was browsing through the photos in that Hershey's book and this Classic Boston Cream Pie caught my attention. It did look close enough to a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but it has something else that I LOVE: custard. However, my husband is not a fan of custard like my leche flan (though he likes the custard in eclair, and had been hinting for years that he would love to have those). So, on the day before our anniversary...

Me: Honey, would you be interested in Boston Cream Pie?
Him: Sure. My grandmother used to make those.

Ok, I got the go signal, although his response somewhat appeared lukewarm to me (it might have been because he was tired. He and the boys had been splitting and piling wood, while I cleaned out the upright freezer in preparation for our fresh meat supplies for the coming year).

When it was finally done and served, hubby's face was priceless. He even closed his eyes to savor his slice. Mmmmm...

My boys, needless to say, loved it. Older boy said, "Ma, are we having Christmas or Thanksgiving here? You should make this and show off, errr, ah, let them taste this." Younger son said, "Yeah, Ma, this is really good! Mmmm!!!"

Cake:
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour one 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Beat shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; add alternately with milk to shortening mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes our clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

4. Prepare RICH FILLING. Using long serrated knife, cut cake horizontally into two even layers. Place 1 layer on serving plate, cut side up; spread filling over layer. Top with remaining layer, cut side down. Prepare DARK COCOA GLAZE. Pour glaze over top of cake, allowing glaze to drizzle down sides. Refrigerate several hours or until cold. Cover; refrigerate leftover dessert. 8 to 10 servings.

RICH FILLING
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1-1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan; gradually add milk and egg yolks, stirring until blended. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cover; refrigerate several hours until cold.

DARK COCOA GLAZE
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat water and butter in small saucepan over medium heat until mixture begins to boil; remove from heat. Immediately stir in cocoa. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating with whisk until smooth; cool slightly. About 3/4 cup glaze.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

This is my second attempt at making this cake which is so loved by my husband and my kids.

My first one was not as artistic as this one though. The recipe was shared by stel, and can be found here.

The only revision I made was the addition of Piroulle (sp?) . I placed them along on the inner side of the heart-shaped pan after the base was baked and some mousse was poured so I would have some form of "glue" to stick the Piroulles in. I cut them first to the level of the pan before sticking them into the cake base. Once in place, I then poured the rest of the mousse and followed the rest of the directions. Instead of chocolate shavings only, I added Lindt chocolate truffles. The Piroulles (sp?) were good for munching alone, but used for this purpose, it becomes chewy, so that it serves mainly a decorative purpose.

I thank stel for this recipe!

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Recipe courtesy of babyrambutan.

Served this for wedding anniversary (obvious ba?)


Ingredients:

8 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used Trader Joe's
Bittersweet, the hunky block fr.Belgium)
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate (Baker's)
1 cup (2 sticks)unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup rum (Bacardi, the goldy one)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 tsp. sugar
1 & 3/4 cups heavy (whipping) cream, chilled
1 oz. dark chocolate for shaving.

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a
9-in. springform pan with a parchment or waxed paper
circle.
2. Melt both choc.s and the butter in the top of a
double boiler placed over simmering water.
3.Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixing
bowl and allow it to cool to room temp.
4. Add the egg yolks, rum and vanilla to the
chocolate mixture and whisk briskly until blended, 5
seconds.
5. Beat the egg whites in a medium size mixing bowl
with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until
frothy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add 1/3 cup
sugar and continue beating just until the peaks are
stiff but not dry, about 1 minute more.
6. Add one third of the egg whites to the chocolate
mixture and whisk gently to lighten this batter.
Add the rest of the egg whites and whisk until
blended.
7. To form the cake base, spread one third of the
chocolate mixture evenly in the prepared pan with a
rubber spatula. Refrigerate the rest immediately.
8. Bake the base until it rises and then drops,
18-20 minutes. Cool it in the pan in the
refrigerator, 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile whip 1 cup of the cream until stiff in
a medium-size mixing bowl with an electric mixer on
medium high speed. Fold the cream into the
remaining chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula.
10. Scoop the chocolate mixture on the cooled base
and smooth the surface with a spatula. Stretch a
piece of plastic wrap over the top of the pan and
place the cake in the freezer overnight.
11. The next morning run a frosting spatula (or thin
knife) and remove the side.
12. Place a large plate upside down on the top of
the cake and flip the cake onto the plate. Remove
the bottom of the pan and the paper. Then flip the
cake right side up onto a second large plate.
13. Beat the remaining 3/4 cup of cream with 1 tsp
sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on
medium-high speed unti stiff peaks are formed.
14. Spread half the whipped cream gently over the
top of the mousse cake.*
15. Place the remaining whipped cream in a pastry
bag fitted with a decorative tip. Pipe rosettes of
whipped cream around the top edge of the cake.
16. Shave the dark chocolate over the top of the cake and refrigerate it for 8
hours.
17. Remove the cake from the refrigerator 1 hour
before serving.