Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Its name is 'pie' but actually it is cake. I love Boston cream pie for two reasons: chocolate and pastry cream. Well, that's two out of its three elements already :D The cake is a combination of 3 things: plain vanilla cake + pastry cream filling + chocolate topping.

As many other cupcakes, Boston Cream Pie is originally made as layer cakes. In this version, they are baked into little cuppies.

A twist in cupcake version: instead of spreading the cream between cake layers, core cupcakes and fill in the pastry cream. I followed the the recipe from Une Deux Senses, except the cream filling because it's hard for me to find instant French vanilla pudding mix. I used this universal pastry cream recipe from Raymond Blanc instead. Turn out that it tasted fabulous together!! As other sweets with pastry cream, these cupcakes are best to be served chilled. I'll definitely make it again :)

Pastry Cream / Crème Patisserie / Custard Cream

Pastry cream, aka. crème patisserie or custard cream, is bff to many desserts. Raymond Blanc, a highly respected French chef in Britain, once said "Pastry cream or crème patissière is to chefs what concrete is to builders."

With its satisfactory taste, sweet and creamy with pleasurable vanilla scent, the use of pastry cream is versatile. There are a numbers of desserts that are accompanied with pastry cream -- such as trifles, fruit tarts, Napoleons, cream pies, fruit crumbles, cream puffs (eclairs), or even cakes like Boston cream pie, etc.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I live in tropical area. Winter is the season for strawberries. So I made some strawberry cupcakes as a 'test bake' for the upcoming Valentine's Day. The recipes are from the renowned Beverly Hills cupcakes bakery "Sprinkles Cupcakes".