Rating: 3.51 stars
97 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 22
  • 4 star values: 29
  • 3 star values: 27
  • 2 star values: 14
  • 1 star values: 5

Don't let the name fool you—this classic dessert is in fact a cake layered with custard and topped with chocolate glaze. We replaced the custard with our Vanilla Pudding in this Boston Cream Pie recipe.

Everyday Food, April 2006

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Read the full recipe after the video.

Recipe Summary

prep:
50 mins
total:
6 hrs
Servings:
8
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Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

Directions

Instructions Checklist
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan; set over very low heat.

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  • With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until thick, lightened in color, and mixture holds a trail for several seconds when beater is lifted, 4 to 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in dry ingredients just until incorporated.

  • Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add hot milk mixture to batter; mix just until smooth. Mix in vanilla; transfer batter to prepared pan, and smooth top.

  • Bake until golden and pulling away from sides of pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan; remove from pan, and transfer to a rack to cool, right side up.

  • Fill cake: For easy cleanup, place a piece of waxed paper under rack. With a serrated knife, split cooled cake horizontally (leave bottom half on rack). Spread bottom half with Vanilla Pudding to within 1/2 inch of edge; gently place top half of cake on pudding layer.

  • Make Chocolate Glaze: In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil. Remove from heat, and add chocolate; stir until smooth.

  • Set aside to cool to room temperature and to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes. When glaze has thickened, pour over filled cake. Using a small metal spatula, spread glaze to edges of cake, allowing it to drip down sides. Let glaze set, 15 to 20 minutes. Leftover cake can be refrigerated, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

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Reviews (13)

97 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 22
  • 4 star values: 29
  • 3 star values: 27
  • 2 star values: 14
  • 1 star values: 5
Rating: 4 stars
07/01/2017
I made it exactly as directed. Lots of divergence on the reviews here. I've done many years of restaurant, catering and home baking. Here are my thoughts: 1) Cake recipe is enough for the recipe. You don't need two cakes as others have said. 2) Cake bakes in 22 to 25 minutes, not the 35 to 40(!) as in recipe. This is especially true if you using dark-sided pan. Check with toothpick after 22 minutes and you should be good. 3) Filling/pudding recipe is not bland at all. Its a simple and very tasty pastry cream type filling and easy to make. It's perfectly suited to this pie (really a cake). You have to bring to a boil before lowering heat to low. 4) Glaze was enough for cake. Don't let it cool all the way or it will thicken. 5) Try to let it sit for a few hours at room temp before service. This allows the cream filling to soak a little into cake. This is a good, simple, tasty recipe and I strongly suggest you use my suggestions.
Rating: Unrated
03/18/2017
Hi there, any chance of this recipe having grams or ounces instead of cups, for us poor mortals in Europe who would love to make this cake??
Rating: 5 stars
04/10/2016
I loved this recipe. I had made another of MS's Boston Cream Pie yesterday which was a complete flop. It contained cake flour, 2 eggs, plus two egg yolks and very little butter. It was dense and undercooked and had to be thrown away. I found this video and recipe last night and was determined to have success since I had the pudding left from yesterday's flop. This cake was easy and turned out fantastically! I will make it again. The other recipe should be deleted from your website
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Rating: Unrated
08/09/2014
I had my suspicions, and I should have gone with my intuition. It didn't seem like enough ingredients to make a two-layered cake. It wasn't good at all. It was dry. The picture is of two cakes, because this cake was far too thin to divide in half. I didn't even bother with the pudding or icing--I threw it away. It was too much hassle for a simple cake like this, and I wasn't about to make another. I'm sure there are better recipes out there for this.
Rating: Unrated
06/04/2013
I think the dryness has to do with the flour-measuring technique. The spoon-and-level technique usually yields 4 - 4.25 ounces/cup. The dip-and-shake technique yields up to 6 ounces/cup.
Rating: Unrated
12/02/2012
it came out ... AMAZING so good that im supposto make the same one for Christmas, Easter, and my dads birthday !!!!! plus super easy even my 12 year old niece understood (she did it with me) : ) STRONGLY RECOMENDED FOR ANY OCCASSION
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Rating: Unrated
09/02/2012
The cake in the picture probably is two cakes, not one cut in half. It's much prettier that way. But with a single 9" pan cut in half, the layers are significantly thinner.
Rating: 5 stars
08/06/2011
This is a pretty tasty recipe. The cake comes out dense and golden brown, lovely. Mine was slightly crumbly upon slicing in half which was nice because it was just dry enough to absorb some moisture from the vanilla pudding but not so dry that you would think "ahh, dry cake!". The chocolate topping was extremely rich. Also I found that it was WAY better on DAY 2 after spending the night in the fridge.
Rating: Unrated
02/15/2011
i tried this cake but it was very dry and its surface cracked! can anyone tell me y it happened
Rating: Unrated
03/31/2010
I made this for my dad's birthday this year since he loves Boston cream pie. The cake was dry, the pudding had no flavor, and the ganach did'nt turn out. I would not reccomend making this recipe. Try another one.
Rating: Unrated
01/29/2010
It was very good. I let my cake stand over night which made it very dry. Also I had to double the chocolate glaze. Other then that everyone loved it! Thanks :)
Rating: Unrated
04/14/2008
This is a crowd pleaser! The pudding for me is just right. I've used it for other recipes like crema de fruta and fruit tarts in lieu of custard. Thnx Martha!
Rating: Unrated
04/04/2008
This is actually the recipe from Everyday Food, April 2006 - not Living as it says. I think they got them mixed up. This is pretty easy but the pudding centre is relatively bland-o. I'd like to try the other version with pastry cream. The family LOVED it.
Rating: Unrated
03/24/2008
I made this for Pi day. It was a great success people said it was the best hey ever had.Make sure to chop the chocolate well though because mine had some chunks that wouldn't melt. but other then that it was great. very easy too.