The cake that secretly wants to be a pie
Well it’s no big secret that the Boston Creme Pie is actually a cake
Simple Vanilla Cake with a quick stove top custard
Ganache Icing and that’s all you need!
The story I like the best is that originally this cake was baked in pie tins.
Apparently that was all they had in the Pennsylvania Dutch country back in the 1800’s
The Parker House Hotel claims fame to this cake as the first restaurant to actually sell it
And over one hundred years later this cake is still going strong!
Not sponsored by any product or company below
Notes for Success:
Cornstarch is a very difficult ingredient to measure consistently with a volume/spoons measure
So while I list both measures below I cannot stress enough how the grams measure with a scale is going to give you the best results.
Many times people have complained that their custard is like rubber and they don’t know why!
If you cannot get cake flour it’s no problem just use all purpose flour just take out 2 Tablespoons from the recipe below!
As you will see I am using an 8″ cake ring mold to build this cake but if you don’t have one or don’t want to buy one that’s no problem, you can use a springform pan with the bottom removed
For the clean look and ease of un-molding this cake is the acetate cake strips to line the inside of the mold
Boston Creme Pie
Ingredients
For the Cake Batter
- 1½ cup Plant Milk
- 1 Tbs Vinegar
- ½ cup Vegan Butter
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Cake Flour
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
For the Custard
- 2¼ cups Plant Milk 533ml
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar 150g
- 6 Tbs Cornstarch 48g
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract 10ml
- 1½ Tbs Vegan Butter 21g
- pinch turmeric *optional for color
For the Icing
- ½ Recipe Ganache
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F then grease & parchment line 2-8" cake pans
- Combine the vegetable oil with the melted vegan butter add the vanilla extract & set aside
- Combine the plant milk with the vinegar & let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. (Soy milk is the only plant milk that will thicken, but you can use another milk if you prefer)
- Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, including the sugar. Pour in the wet ingredients (this will be the plant milk mixture & the butter/oil mixture) whisk smooth for about 30 strokes to develop the batter
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans & bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes, then turn the open temperature down to 325°F to bake the rest of the way, approximately 10-15 minutes more When you gently press the centers they should be springy to the touch. Or do the toothpick test for moist crumbs.
- Cool in the pans until you can safely touch without burning yourself then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
- Meanwhile prepare the ganache icing recipe according to the instructions on that recipe post
- Once the cakes are cooled set up a ring mold with an acetate cake strip *see video for how to do that or the picture above
- Now prepare the custard: Combine all the ingredients except for the vanilla extract & the vegan butter in a medium sauce pot & cook over medium to high heat whisking constantly as you bring to a boil
- Once it starts to bubble let it boil on low heat for about 10 seconds. Remove from the heat & add the vegan butter & vanilla extract ~ stir until melted & smooth.
- Pour the custard directly over the one cake layer in the ring mold set up then place the other cake layer on top. Refrigerate until cold & set
- Unmold the cake & pour the ganache over top allowing some of it to drip down over the sides
Video
Notes
Yippee!! Gretchen I have been waiting for your Vegan Boston Creme pie recipe! I put my diet on hold for a bit so I can enjoy a few delicious vegan recipes.. I gotta spoil myself every now and then 🙂 Thank you for always sharing delicious recipes!!
I tried this recipe for my husband’s birthday and it came out great. I used a strip of parchment paper paper clipped together for keeping the custard in place, and it worked fine. I just removed it before serving.
awesome tip thanks Heidi!
Boa noite
Estou aprendendo muito com voce, estou encantada, nao tenho palavras para agradecer. Mas percebi que voce usa muita manteiga em suas receitas, e aqui onde moro nao tem para vender. Posso sustituir por oleo de coco ou creme de coco dependendo da receita. No mousse de chocolate, na cobertura de aquaflax, bolos, exemplo de algumas receitas. Desde ja agradeço.
Hi thanks, well it depends on the recipe you are making, some recipes require creaming method CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hey Gretchen can I use 150 of suger instead of 300
It will change the texture of the cake, sugar is not only in a recipe for sweetness, but it carried a lot of the other ingredients as well as makes a light and fluffy cake. So yes, of course you can do it, but your cake will NOT be like mine here. It will have a cornbread texture and be dry
I would not recommend taking out more than 1/4 cup total
Hi Gretchen!
I have your recipe book and am planning to make the Boston cream pie recipe from it. I noticed that the ingredients/ instructions are different here than in your book. I’m just wondering which I should follow for best results. Thank you!
Hi Hailee! thank you! Yes I was prohibited from using any recipes that were currently on my blog for the book. So while many of the recipes (like vanilla cake etc) will be repeats, the recipes are different.
I love this blog version as it is very simple to mix
Thank you! I didn’t see your reply in time so I made it following the book (since I’m used to going off your book) and it came out great! Though I’ll have to try this version next time so I can try both. Thanks so much! Your book is like a Bible to me!
Great!! let me know how you like them compared!! and thank you!