Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

I went to Costco this week and came upon a magazine titled " Cupcakes, 150 sweet recipes". Needless to say I just had to have it. I came home and showed it to Dear Husband, who immediately  chose Boston Cream Pie Cupcake- you can take a man out of Boston but you can't take Boston out the man! So I very happily complied and made it as our weekend treat- it takes us several days to eat anything since it's just the two of us, we start to eat a dessert on Saturday and it pretty much lasts all week. 

The final product was good, but I think I overcooked the filling, it was too much like pudding, I will try and get it to be creamier next time. 

Vanilla Cupcakes- the base for the Boston Cream Pies

1/2 cup butter- at room temperature

1 egg- at room temperature

2 egg yolks- at room temperature

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Allow butter, egg, and egg yolks to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. If using vanilla bean, use small knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean; set seeds aside. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, beating on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape sides of the bowl. Add egg, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds ( or the 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract), and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat until combined. Alternately add flour mixture and whipping cream to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined ( batter will be thick). 

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups. 

4. Bake about 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

Boston Cream Pies

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/3 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 vanilla cupcakes

1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1/2 cup whipping cream

1. For vanilla cream, in a small bowl lightly beat egg yolks; set aside. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. 

2. Gradually ad about 1 cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return all of the mixture to the saucepan. Cook and stir until bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in vanilla. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. 

3. To assemble, using a serrated knife, cut each Vanilla Cupcake horizontally in half. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the vanilla cream onto the cut side of each cupcake bottom. Replace cupcake tops. Place cupcake on a wire rack set over waxed paper - or you can be lazy like me and set it straight on the serving platter- it gets a little messy but it works. 

4. For ganache, melt  chocolate chips and cream on a double boiler, over medium heat, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

5. Spoon ganache over cupcakes. Let stand just until chocolate is set. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Satisfying but not too sweet, cream needs to be cooked less in order to be creamier.

They were excellent with ice-cream.