Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

For no particular reason, I decided to make Boston Cream Pie cupcakes.  Yup, no reason at all.
I started off wanting to bake a cake, found a recipe for Boston Cream Pie Cake and then decided to make cupcakes instead.

My cookbook of choice today How To Be A Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking by Nigella Lawson.

Step 1: Bake the cupcakes

Victoria Sponge

Adapted slightly from How To Be A Domestic Goddess

225 g unsalted butter, very soft

225 g castor sugar

1t vanilla extract

4 large eggs

225g self-raising flour (I used all-purpose flour - oops)

3T whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease or line muffin pans with liners.

Cream butter and sugar, add the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour between each. (I forgot that part and added all of the flour at once.)  Fold in the rest of the flour, and when it's all incorporated, add the milk.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until they are beginning to come away at the edges, are springy to the touch on top and a cake-tester comes out clean.  Leave them in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely.

Step 2: Make the Creme Patissiere

Taken from Boston Cream Pie in How To Be A Domestic Goddess

125 ml milk

125 ml double cream (aka whipping cream - I used half-and-half because that's what I had)

1 vanilla pod or 1t vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

50 g castor sugar (approx. 1/4 c)

15 g plain flour (approx 1.5 T)

Warm the milk and cream in a saucepan along with the vanilla pod split lengthwise.  Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat, cover and let stand to infuse for 10 minutes.  If you're not using the pod (I didn't), add the vanilla extract later, when you've combined all the ingredients.  In a large bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar until creamy, and then beat in the flour.  With the point of a small, sharp knife, scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod into the milk, and add this warm milk to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth.  Pour back into the saucepan and stir or whisk gently over a low heat until the custard thickens.  Remove from the heat and let the custard cool by pouring it into a wide bowl and tearing off some greaseproof paper, wetting it, then covering the bowl with it.  (I used a piece of saran.)  This stops it forming a skin.  Don't put this in the fridge; something goes horribly wrong with the texture if you do, and you want utter, smooth voluptuousness here.

Step 3: Make the Ganache

Taken from Boston Cream Pie in How To Be A Domestic Goddess

I used half of this recipe for the cupcakes.  I'm sure the whole recipe would be a step up from decadent.

150 ml double cream (again, I used half-and-half)

1t vanilla extract

1t unsalted butter

150 g dark chocolate

Warm the cream, vanilla extract and butter with the chocolate, chopped into small pieces, and bring to the boil in a thick-bottomed saucepan (Nigella: I find a non-stick milk pan the best for this), by which time the chocolate should have melted.  Remove from the heat and whisk till smooth and thickened.  Let cool a little before using, but you want it still runny enough to ice with.

Step 4: Assemble the cupcakes

Cut each cupcake in half and place a heaping tablespoon of the creme patissiere on the bottom.  Gently place the top on back on.  Drizzle a spoonful of ganache on top of each one.

Enjoy!