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Boston Cream Cupcakes

If you like Boston Cream Pie, you’ll flip over these yummy Boston Cream Cupcakes! Tender, moist, and filled with golden custard.

Boston Cream Cupcakes 4

While standing idly in long checkout lines of grocery stores, I’m usually torn between thumbing through either the Food Network glossy or People mag. Decisions, decisions.

Yet. The other day, a kiosk of die cast cars near the checkout lanes instantly nabbed my attention. I gazed long at the 5-inch metal fire engines and yellow school busses.

I’m not normally mushy over die cast cars; I fully prefer chocolate cookies over toy wheels 😉

But I got silly nostalgic over all those tiny trucks, because our home overflowed with loads of them not too long ago.

Boston Cream Cupcakes 1

At certain points in our Littles’ toddler years, there was standing room only in the family room. Their colorful Hot Wheels were regularly strewn across the floor, courtesy of imaginary car crashes.

Never thought I’d one day miss the bright green, paint-chipped Hot Wheel pickup truck that a certain pair of chubby little hands clung to everywhere he wobbled.

And now he’s 12.

As in, Twelve.

Boston Cream Cupcakes chocolate

On his 12th birthday this month, our not-so-little Little knew exactly what kind of cake he wanted to blow candles off of.

Boston Cream Pie. Which isn’t really a pie at all, but who cares about such trivial matters when it tastes that dreamy.

I happily obliged that request, and made these cute individual sized Boston Cream Cupcakes for the birthday boy, candles and all.

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These Boston Cream Cupcakes are ridiculously irresistible, guaranteed. The cake portion is golden, buttery, and tenderly moist.

The topping is none other than a beautifully rich chocolate ganache, drizzled as generously as you wish. It sets upon cooling, transforming into a rich, fudgy layer on top.

One bite and you’ll sink your teeth into the magnificent golden custard within.

Like so ↓↓↓

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Not only did Birthday Boy inhale these cupcakes in a heartbeat, but apparently nobody else could keep their hands off these baby cakes either. The entire batch of cupcakes vanished by the next morning.

Hot Wheels may come and go, but these cupcakes are for keeps.

Enjoy.

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Cupcakes with Chocolate Toppings!

Boston Cream Cupcakes

5 from 2 ratings
If you like Boston Cream Pie, you'll flip over these yummy Boston Cream Cupcakes! Tender, moist, and filled with creamy custard.
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 19 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 19 minutes
Servings: 12
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

For the Pastry Cream:

For the Cupcakes:

For the Chocolate Glaze:

Instructions

  • Make the Pastry Cream: Heat the heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the cornstarch and whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 15 seconds.
  • When the cream reaches a full simmer, slowly whisk it into the yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it's a thick pudding consistency, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract until the butter is completely melted. Transfer the pastry cream to a small bowl and press plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
  • Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on medium-low speed. Add the butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the eggs, gently mixing until incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla extract; to avoid splatter, blend on low and then increase to medium, mixing until light and fluffy and no lumps remain, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through. Batter will be almost a bit "foamy" to the touch.
  • Fill the muffin cups three-quarters full and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 19-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Make the Glaze: Combine the heavy cream, corn syrup, chocolate and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Set the glaze aside to cool and thicken at room temperature at least 1 hour (I let mine sit longer to thicken to a frosting consistency. Chill in fridge a bit, if needed.)
  • Assemble the Cupcakes: Using a paring knife, cut into the center of the cupcake at a 45-degree angle about ⅛-inch from the edge and cut all the way around. Remove the cone and cut away all but the top ¼ inch, leaving a small disk of cake.
  • Fill the inside of each cupcake with room-temp pastry cream and top with the disk of cake. Spread the chocolate glaze over top of each cupcake, covering the top completely. Refrigerate the cupcakes until the glaze is set, about 10 minutes. Serve at room temp.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 585kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 174mg | Sodium: 266mg | Potassium: 215mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 1174IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Method: Bake

Source: Chew Out Loud, adapted from Cooks Illustrated Cookbook

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Recipe Rating




29 comments

    • pam hufhma

    Is it custard or creme filling?

      • chewoutloud

      It’s more of a custard filling 🙂

    • Lindsay Sanford

    Do these have to be refrigerated (if they last longer than a day) because of the custard?

      • chewoutloud

      Lindsay, they can keep at mild room temp for a day or two, but after that, you can chill them in an airtight container (or even freeze) – just bring back to room temp before serving 🙂

    • Marcy Tierney

    I’m in love with Boston Cream Pie/Cupcakes. However, my daughter is allergic to chocolate. How do I sub another flavor for the chocolate? Our family likes peaches, cherries and blueberries. Could I use jam and what amount?

      • chewoutloud

      Hi, Marcy! This recipe is intended for chocolate for the best Boston Cream Pie flavor results, but you can use any kind of fruity frosting if there are allergies. Replace the chocolate frosting with your favorite frosting. Feel free to use whatever amount your family loves. Enjoy and thanks for coming over today 🙂 Happy baking!

    • Ada knutelski

    I was going to try making this recipe but don’t understand the cutting the cup cake part. Do you waste a lot of the cupcake by cutting it? Also would be easier with video

      • chewoutloud

      Oh, Ada, great idea…would love to do a vid sometime of this one, esp. since it’s my boys’ fave cupcake in the whole wide world! 🙂 Some people would say you waste some of the cupcake by cutting it…but in our home, we don’t waste a thing 😉 I keep the cut-out cupcake parts and we polish it off while we wait for cupcakes to be ready 🙂 Hope you love these and thank you for coming over today!!

        • Connie

        Can I freeze the Boston Cream Cupcakes?

          • chewoutloud

          Connie, yes, you can freeze them in an airtight container for up to a few weeks 🙂

    • Aleigh

    I had lots of leftover batter. Is this only for 12 cupcakes? How would I know if I over whipped my batter?

      • chewoutloud

      Usually I just whisk until there are no more lumps and it’s smooth, but not past that. Try not to whip any air into the batter, so to speak. I do get a dozen cupcakes out of these, and I pretty much fill each cup almost all the way to the rim, about 3/4th’s full. Standard size, regular cupcake tin size. 🙂 Sounds like you hopefully were able to get a few more cupcakes out of the recipe than I did 🙂 Have a great summer, and thanks for being here today!

    • jackie davis

    I tried these today, but the filling didn’t work! Looked good till I added the butter. Would not blend at all!

    • Julie Winters

    Can I make these with a hand- held electric mixer, or my 30 yr old stand mixer, with the beaters? I don’t have a paddle attachment- I’m not sure if one is even available for this model.
    Sound yummy!!! Can’t wait to try them!!!

      • chewoutloud

      Yes, you can use the old stand mixer or hand-held; just whisk on a lower speed so the batter doesn’t get over-whisked 🙂 Enjoy, hope you love these, Julie! Thanks for coming over today and happy summer! 🙂

    • Wendy Mariano

    My 13yr old just made these 🙂 we probably need to try it again.. Our cupcakes were flakey, the boston cream seperated 🙁 but it looks so yummy!!

      • chewoutloud

      Definitely try it again, Wendy…they turn out super delicious 🙂 Thanks for coming over today! So impressed that your 13-year old is experimenting with baking 🙂

    • Joy

    these are totally going to happen at my house this weekend

      • chewoutloud

      Have fun and hope you guys love it, Joy! Happy baking and thanks for coming over today 🙂

    • Jaclyn

    Can I bake it with the custard in it?

      • chewoutloud

      Jaclyn, you’ll want to bake cupcakes separately first. If you put custard in it, it will melt/meld together with the batter and it won’t come out the way it should. We love eating the leftover custard with a spoon 😉 Enjoy!

    • Marj Go

    Hi, how can i bake this on a steamer. Our oven is broken 🙁

      • chewoutloud

      Hi, Marj! I’ve never tried steaming these, so I’m not quite sure. Hopefully your oven will get fixed before it’s too hot and you can give these yummy cupcakes a shot! 🙂 Thanks for coming over today 🙂

    • leila

    Very nice ideias!

    • Donna Philipson

    Thank you for your recipe’s x

    • Karly

    Your little guy knows his stuff! I stinking love BCP, and these cupcakes look amazing. Can’t wait to try them out!

      • chewoutloud

      Thanks for coming over, Karly! 🙂

    • Mary Osborne

    Holy moley Batman – those are some scrumpidelicious supercalifragilisticexpalidotious cupcakes! I’m thinking I down the entire 12-pack myself – along with a quart of milk – in a day! Whoo hoo. Gotta try this recipe!

      • chewoutloud

      Hee hee…Mary, I could TOTALLY down an entire 12 pack, right along with ya! 🙂

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