Boston Cream Pie

A while back, one of the older men Chris works with had a heart attack.  During recovery, I passed along the message with Chris that once he got out of the hospital I'd have a cake waiting for him.  Well... it's been quite a few months since this happened, and I still owe the man a cake!  Chris asked him a while back what his favorite was and his response was a Boston Cream Pie.  Being the noob that I am, I honestly had no idea what making  this delicious cake required.  I had several questions: could I used a cake mix? Is there any form of premade filling? And what about frosting?

After digging a little deeper, I discovered a few things.
1) Although it's "cheating", you can definitely use a cake mix. (good thing I've never been one to worry about cheating by using a cake mix ;) )

2) You can use vanilla pudding for the custard filling.  That being said, don't, especially when you're making a Boston Cream Pie for a man who's had a heart attack.... .....wait, what? O.o  I suppose if I was making this a lightened up version, I may have diverted from the recipe a little bit, but I wanted to make this authentic, so I left all the good-for-the-soul, not-for-the-body goodness in.

3) I can make custard from scratch!! Today was a proud day in the land of Kristina's baking. Does anyone remember McDonald's custard holiday pies?  Yes, the filling that goes into those, I know how to make it from scratch.  I know what I'll be making this year for holiday goodies!

4) I finally figured out how to thicken a runny frosting. I used flour, and the frosting still turned out pretty good.  Does anyone else have any tips with how to deal with runny frosting?

5) I also learned how to correctly grease/flour a cake pan. Who knew using butter instead of spray could make such a difference!

Ok, anyways, moving on to the gloriousness that is cake...

Warning: Since I wasn't making this with the intention of posting points, or well... eating it myself, I didn't calculate the points for the frosting or the cake.  

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 box of yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup of water
1/3 cup of vegetable oil 
 
Filling:
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup light cream

Frosting:
1 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup light cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar....
and then although the recipe I used didn't call for it, I used about a 1/4 cup of flour to get it to thicken up to the consistency I wanted it.

Directions:
Bake the cake according to directions on the box using 2, 9-inch circular pans. Once cakes are done, cool 15 minutes before removing from pans and transferring to cooling racks.  Let cool completely before putting the filling and frosting on.

To Make The Filling: Combine the 1/2 cup light cream with 1/4 cup of the milk and cook over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Immediately add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt, stirring until dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat. 

Note: My store doesn't carry "light cream".  I honestly had no idea what light cream was until I Googled it once I got home. However, I did have heavy whipping cream and 2% milk. In order to bring the fat content of the whipping cream down, I used 1/4 cup of 2% milk and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream to make the 1/2 cup of light cream I needed.  I don't know if this will work for every dish I ever make that calls for light cream, but for this instance, it did. 

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the milk with the cornstarch and whisk to remove lumps. Whisk in the 2 eggs. Add the hot cream mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Return to the mixture to the saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and is smooth (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and allow to cool to room temperature.

 

 
To Make The Chocolate Frosting: In a heavy saucepan over low heat, stir the chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons butter until they are completely melted. Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, add the 1/4 cup light cream in a thin steady stream. When mixture is smooth, stir in the confectioners' sugar and beat vigorously. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. 

This is where the frosting was still just a little too runny for me.  I added flour until I got the consistency I wanted. 

To assemble the cake, pour the custard on the bottom piece and spread leaving about an inch between the edge of the cake and the end of the frosting (see above picture).  I did this so when I put the top layer on the custard wouldn't go over the edge of the cake.  Put the second cake on top of the custard, and while pushing down lightly, move the top cake in small circles until the custard makes its way to the edge.  Pour the chocolate frosting on the top cake and spread to your heart's content