It’s the cake that secretly wants to be a pie
It’s no big secret that the Boston Creme Pie is actually a cake.
But the Parker House Hotel claims fame to this cake as the first restaurant to actually sell it.
The story I have (and 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 and over a hundred years later this cake is still going strong!
If you gravitate back to the classics you’ll never be disappointed!
You really can never go wrong with the classics and once they get veganized it’s a whole new (old) world that gets opened up!
Check out how easy it is to make this rustic, yet stunning and surely delicious cake.
Notes for Success:
As you will see I am using an 8″ cake ring mold to build this cake.
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
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!
This is from a heavy measure of cornstarch when using volume measuring spoon vs the 100% accurate scale measure in grams.
If you cannot get cake flour, it’s no problem, just use all purpose flour but take out 2 Tablespoons from the recipe below.
Click here for more information about Cake Flour!
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE!
For more classic cakes like this one click the links below!
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- Strawberry Fraisier Cake
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- Dobos Torte
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- Classic Coconut Cake
Dobos Torte~ The Original 7 Layer Cake
Vegan Boston Creme Pie
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- Cake Flour 2½ cups (300g) *see notes above
- Baking Powder 4 teaspoons
- Salt ½ teaspoon
- Vegan Butter 12 Tablespoons (170g)
- Granulated Sugar 1½ cups (300g)
- Plant Milk 1½ cups (355ml)
- White Vinegar 1 Tablespoon (15ml)
- Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
- Flax Meal 4 Tablespoons (32g)
- Hot Water 10 Tablespoons (150ml)
For the Custard:
- Plant Milk 2¼ cup (533ml)
- Granulated Sugar ¾ cup (150g)
- Cornstarch 6 Tablespoons (48g)
- Turmeric ¼ teaspoon *optional
- Vegan Butter 1½ Tablespoons (21g)
- Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
For the Chocolate Glaze:
- Semi Sweet Vegan Chocolate 4 ounces (113g)
- Plant Milk 5 Tablespoons (75ml)
Instructions
- First prepare the cake batter
- Combine the flax meal with the hot water and let stand to thicken
- Add the vinegar to the milk to sour then add the vanilla extract *soy milk is the only plant milk that will thicken from vinegar
- Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt
- Cream the vegan butter with the sugar until light and fluffy and this may take about 3-5 minutes on medium to high speed
- Add the flax paste to the creaming mixture while mixing on medium speed, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to incorporate evenly, whip on high for 30 seconds
- Add about 1/3 of the flour to the creamed mixture while mixing on low speed just until combined, then add half of the remaining soured milk
- Add another 1/3 of the flour and then the remaining sour milk
- Add the last amount of flour and mix just to combine evenly.
- Divide the batter between your 2 greased and parchment lined 8" cake pans and bake immediately in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 35-40 minutes or until they are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers.
- While cakes cool prepare the custard combine all the ingredients except for the vanilla extract and the vegan butter in a medium sauce pot over medium to high heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly to avoid scorching the bottom .
- Once it starts to bubble let it boil on low heat for about 20 seconds.
- Remove from the heat and add the vegan butter and vanilla extract and stir until melted and smooth.
- Prepare the cake layers with an acetate strip as shown in the video and then pour the custard over the bottom layer then place the top layer of cake and let cool in the refrigerator while you prepare the ganache glaze
- Combine the chocolate and plant milk together in a small sauce pot and stir constantly over low heat until melted and smooth
- Pour over the top of the cake
Notes
Boston creme pie must be kept refrigerated but can stay out at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week wrapped to keep it from drying
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!
I am glad you posted this. I’m about to make this cake (using Gretchen’s book’s version) and noticed that there is no egg replacement so I thought it was possibly a typo and came here to see if there were edits. I’m making this for Christmas this week and didn’t want to mess up. Also, the double-chocolate velvet bundt cake is outstanding! Made that for last year’s Christmas dinner.
Great! Thank you for checking here! The book has several typos (was a disappointment after publishing, not to mention lack of photos uggggh) BUT THANK YOU!!
Gretchen, is it possible to switch out the flax seed egg for applesauce?
The recipe looks amazing!
Im not a fan of using applesauce as an egg replacer. For a bit of the fat replacer, yes.. but I find it can produce a heavy gummy result and vegan cakes are already super moist. So while YES YOU CAN do it, I cannot guarantee the result will be as desirable as the way it is written here as you see my cake is light, fluffy and soooo good! LOL
I made this for my mom’s birthday (substituting apple sauce for the flaxseed because she can’t eat it) and it came in out awesomely! Planning on making it again for my anniversary!
Oh alright!! Thanks for the information about the applesauce being a success!! YAY!
Hi Gretchen! Could I use aquafaba instead of the flax seed? Thanks in advance!
Yes sure.
Thanks for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it. I was wondering if you’ve replaced vegan butter with either oil or vegetable shortening? i have all the other ingredients in my pantry but not much vegan butter, so am trying to save a trip to the grocery store. i’m being lazy. LOL!
It would be better to leave it out! The vegan butter adds body, richness and flavor! So to add shortening in place- BIG NO! LOL
Oil, yuck! Just leave it out and it will be great!