Sunday Salutations and Boston Cream Pie

In the updates and news section, we wrote a story for one of our friend’s kids and she said she liked it so “squee!” Granted I use “kid” lightly, as the girl is in high school. Still, I was happy she enjoyed it. Hopefully, it is a good sign because we recently submitted that story to pro-rate call that got over 700 applicants.

Towards the end of December or beginning of January, I will do a recap of where we are this year and goals for next year. (Wait, we have goals for next year? -Tod) We had a light writing week for fiction this week, just so I could pull everything back together, which somehow turned into me reading a lot about nanoparticles, nano-hollows, microencapsulation methods, ajd polymer layering. I feel like my brain is either prepping for some bioengineering of nanotech or I might have another hard sci-fi story in me.

That was “Cat Math” which came out in Moggies Back in Space with Raconteur Press ( https://www.amazon.com/Moggies-Space-Raconteur-Press-Anthologies-ebook/dp/B0CLT91RV6 ) was our first hard science fiction – most of the science was from Tod that time.

I wanted to write up a recipe this week. My sister just had her birthday recently, so I made her a cake and since I don’t eat wheat (and she was cool with it), I revamped a recipe to be wheat-less. She specifically wanted her favorite, which is Boston Cream Pie. I adapted the recipe from ( https://glutenillusion.com/gluten-free-boston-cream-pie ) to be completely wheat-less and made a few other changes, such as using arrowroot instead of corn starch. I also reduced the sugar and changed the eggs a bit. However, because my sister wanted cream, and I didn’t want to mess it up I used cream and eggs in this one. It has been a while since I have used eggs. And since I was using eggs I went all out, so there are LOTS of dishes to clean with this recipe, because mixing eggs whites adds fluff. And dirty dishes.

What is the one food item you always ask for on your birthday? As a kid, mine used to be a special noodle dish at a local Thai restaurant. Now, it is probably something made with lamb, either French or Indian/Sindhi. My sister’s is Boston Cream Pie hence the recipe. Tod’s is Banana Creme Pie.

Wheat-Free Boston Cream Pie

Cake – Dry Ingredients
1 cup of rice flour
2/3 cup of tapioca flour
1/3 cup of coconut flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar

Cake – Wet Ingredients
3/4 cup avocado, or melted coconut oil
2 medium eggs room temperature
4 egg whites
1/ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

Pastry Cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon arrow root
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon ghee

Chocolate Ganache
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 ounces chocolate
1/4 cup of sugar

Cake Instructions

For a great Boston cream pie, you first want to make the two cakes layers. To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 C).

Grease the pans (line them with parchment paper as well if you are fancy).

In a mixing bowl sift together the 4 different types of flour and then the rest of the dry ingredients. If you want everything to be a little fluffier add a bit more baking powder/soda.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix 2 eggs until there are no clear whites or yolks, then mix in the sugar and oil. Mix until well combined, then add vanilla extract and whole milk. Mix until fully incorporated. (You do not include the extra egg whites yet.)

Before adding the flour, start whipping the egg whites in a third bowl. (See, I said a lot of dishes.) For this one, I strongly recommend an electric mixer just because of how long it takes. Whip until they are puffy, then add a 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and whisk a little more, so they stand up well.

While the egg whites are whipping, add the dry flour mixture slowly (1 cup at a time) to the wet mixture while mixing. Mix until fully incorporated. Check your egg whites occasionally, but they will probably be OK until the flour mixture is added.

When egg whites form stiff peaks, fold them into the flour mixture before pouring or scoping it into the pans. Make sure the batter is distributed evenly.

Bake for ~30 minutes. (You can check it by shaking it. If it slushes it hasn’t set. If has set, poke the center with a toothpick or butterknife and make sure it comes out clean.)

Let the cake layers cool completely at room temperature.

Make the pastry cream while the cake is baking.

Pastry Cream Instructions

For the pastry cream, in a medium saucepan, whisk the sugar, salt, starch, and egg yolks together. This should make a yellow paste. It is well mixed when you cannot see the yolk separately. Then add milk.

Now place the saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to low-medium. Keep an eye on the heat while continuing to whisk the mixture. It will take around 5-7 minutes of this for mixture to thicken. Then remove from heat.

Immediately pour this mixture through a sieve placed on top of a heat proof bowl. (Pyrex works well.) You should push the pastry cream through the sieve a little. It should be thick enough that it doesn’t all just flow through.

For a little added gloss add the ghee and mix it until smooth.

Then place plastic wrap on top. Set the cream in the fridge until completely cooled, and the bake is baked and has also cooled enough to combine.

Then start making the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Instructions

(At last, we come to the chocolate! Yay, baby.)

Here we take a block of unsweetened baker’s chocolate and dice it into little bits.

Then put cream and sugar in a small saucepan and heat it until it is almost simmering. Stir it a little. Then add chocolate. Let it melt for about 2 minutes on low, almost simmering. Then whisk until smooth.

Let this set at room temperature until the cake is cool enough to assemble.

Assembly Instructions… (Because I want them for next year)

I am not sure people need these but because I always forget and do it partly backwards.

Place one of the layer cakes upside down on a plate. (If you used parchment remove it!)

Add ganache onto the center of the cake and spread it out to the edges (This is the first layer and, yes, we are doing it differently from how you might expect.) You should have used about half of the ganache. If you use more than half, you will need to make even more.

Take the second layer of cake, remove the parchment, and mark an interior circle, making it like a donut. Cut the center out. Place the donut-like ring on top of the partially assembled cake that has the ganache. Fill the hole in the donut with pastry cream.

Then slice up the center cut out of the donut hole. Layer it on top of the cream center. Then cover this with the remaining ganache.

I suggest refrigerating or freezing it and serving it slightly cold.

Hope everyone had a good week and weekend. And realize that sometime a homemade cake is a show of love as much as or even more than bought presents.

~Anna