Did someone say CAKE?!

You all know how I feel about cake...actually about any dessert that has a chocolate frosting is a favorite in my book and this cake was no exception to the rule. It was pretty delicious, not too sweet which is kind of nice when you're feeling like something on the "lighter" side. For some reason when it's hot outside, people tend to not want anything super rich, you know?! THis dessert was perfect because it was just the right amount of frosting vs. cake (good ratio). :-)

Anyways my sweet friend Courtney from Cake by Courtney sent me this book and I have about every page dog eared because I want to make EVERY.SINGLE.RECIPE!

So this was my first cake attempt using the Boston Cream Pie recipe out of Tessa Huff's Layered book; except I tweaked it just a tinge according to what I know my taste buds prefer (this usually results in doubling the frosting and adding more salt, I know, just the super healthy tweaks **enter guilty face**)

So here is the recipe with a few alterations (and seriously people, go buy this book...if anything else, you can make one cake a year for a special occasion and it would be worth it!) My Boston Cream Pie didn't turn out NEARLY as beautiful as hers, but I mean ya live and learn right?!

***all these pics were taken with my iphone while I was baking...not the best, but I wanted to show you a few steps...in case you weren't sure if what was happening was what SHOULD be happening...like for example, I've never made custard from scratch before, so I didn't know if I was doing it right (super clumpy at first) but then it gets smooth so just rest assured! 

^^^ The custard...first time using a REAL vanilla bean and oh my gosh...game changer! ^^^

 ^^^I took the cake to a little get together, to see one of my besties that was visiting from San Diego...gosh how I miss her. 

^^^ I need to figure out how to get rid of those powdered sugar clumps...but either way, 

it still tasted good^^^

BOSTON CREAM CAKE 

(Tessa calls it a pie, but I call it a cake...)

...also, the things in red is my twist to her recipe not bc I feel like I could make a better cake but just because I know what I like, and some changes were simply because I had to improvise.

VANILLA PASTRY CREAM:

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 cups whole milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks (I used 4 b/c I ran out of eggs)

6 TBS cornstarch

2 TBS unsalted butter, diced (I used salted)

BUTTERMILK CAKE

nonstick cooking spray

3 cups cake flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt (I used almost 1 tsp)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp. (I used salted)

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (I didn't have any of this, so I just used pure vanilla extract)

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

SILKY CHOCOLATE ICING

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 TBS light corn syrup

1 cup chopped semi sweet chocolate 

1/8 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

vanilla pastry cream: 

1. in medium saucepan, heat vanilla bean pod and seeds and milk together over medium low heat. Bring slowly to simmer, while constantly stirring so it doesn't burn. Remove from heat and discard pod.

2. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, egg yolks and cornstarch in a bowl.

3. Temper the milk into the egg mixture, by adding little bits of the milk to the egg mixture. Put all back in saucepan and cook over low heat. Continually whisk until it's thick and starts to bubble...mine was a little chunky at first but the faster you stir the clumps disappear. Transfer to a bowl and lay plastic rap directly on top of it so it doesn't get a skin layer on top...(I didn't do this and regretted it). Then put in fridge at least 2 hours (I did it for about six) 

buttermilk cake:

1. preheat oven to 350. grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans and set aside. (I used 9 inch)

2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. set aside.

3. beat butter for about 2-3 minutes (if you have a mixer, use the paddle attachment). Then add sugar, until butter is nice and fluffy. scrape down sides of bowl.

4. turn mixer on low and add vanilla, eggs and yolks, one at a time. stop mixer and scrape sides.

5. turn mixer on low and add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk (ending with flour). mix until well combined.

6. divide batter in half for each pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Let cool on wire rack before removing from pan. 

assembling cake:

once pastry cream is cooled and thickened, whisk to loosen. You could transfer to a pastry bag but I attempted that and it kind of was a disaster...so I just used a cake knife. Once cakes cooled, level them (cut the tops evenly so so it all lays flat). Place the bottom layer on stand, then the pastry cream on top and then lay the second layer (top side down) on top of the pastry cream.

chocolate icing:

place cream, syrup, and chocolate in saucepan over low heat until milk starts to steam. Remove from heat and stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in vanilla and salt then whisk in the powdered sugar...frost the JUSt the top of the cake immediately. It'll drizzle down the sides and your mouth will start to water and thats when you know your job is done! :-)