Boston Creme Pie...Pie

I never understood why Boston Creme Pie is called just that, 'Pie'. Is it because there's a filling sandwiched between two layers? But traditional pies use crust not sponge cake. So I decided to stop tearing my hair out and make it an actual pie. While still keeping the sponge cake, of course. 

(FYI, the recipe I'm using is a recipe from one of Richard Simmon's cook books, Sweetie Pie [here's a link if you want to get one for yourself]. Not only because it's my favorite dessert cookbook ever, but because he uses an ingredient that I've never seen used in any other recipe and makes this the best recipe in my opinion, *hint- it's orange extract*.) Also, Richard's ingredients are a little healthier than what I used. I'll make sure to list his ingredients but I'll put what I used in parenthesis next to it.

Ok let's get onto the pie. 

Ingredients:

Custard

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp all purpose flour

2 tbsp corn starch

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups low-fat (1%) milk (whole milk)

1 1/2 tbsp 70% buttermilk-vegetable oil spread (butter)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp pure orange extract

Cake

Nonstick vegetable-oil cooking spray

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp 70% buttermilk-vegetable oil spread (butter), at room temperature

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp pure orange extract

1 cup cake flour (all-purpose flour)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk 

2 large egg whites

Chocolate Glaze

2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup low-fat sweetened condensed milk (regular sweetened condensed milk)

2 tbsp water

Directions

To start off the custard, stir together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt until blended.

Add the egg and use a fork/whisk to mix until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until bubbles start to appear around the edges. Take the saucepan off the stovetop and gradually pour the flour/egg mixture while whisking to evenly incorporate the two. Return the mixture to the stovetop and whisk over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken. Reduce the heat to low and whisk for another 2 minutes. 

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter/vegetable oil spread, and vanilla and orange extracts. Let it cool a little and press waxed paper to the surface and refrigerate until cool and firm.

Get started on the cake by preheating the oven to  350℉ and coating a pie plate in non-stick spray. In an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter/vegetable oil spread together until blended.

Add egg yolk, vanilla and orange extracts and beat until smooth. 

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternatively beat the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the yolk mixture, starting and ending with the flour, until a smooth batter forms. 

In a clean mixer bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes on high speed. 

Fold half of the egg whites into the batter at a time to make it easier to incorporate them. Once fully incorporated, pour the batter into the greased pie plate. 

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden pick is inserted and comes out clean. 

Flip the cake out of the plate and onto a rack to cool completely. To create the pie shell, put the cake onto a cutting board top side down and start cutting a circle an inch from the edge, making sure to slant your knife so it follows the slant of the pie plate. Lift the circle away from the rest of the cake and place into the pie plate.

Slice a layer off the bottom of the cake, making sure not to make it too thin since it needs to hold up the custard. Try to aim for a half an inch of thickness. Fit the slice you just cut off in the circle already in the plate.

If there are gaps between the bottom and the sides, cut off thin strips of the remaining cake and put them around the sides, filling in any gaps. You can do whatever you want with the remaining cake. [I recommend eating it, especially when you're alone in the kitchen ;) ]

Set the "crust" to the side and start to make the chocolate glaze. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, water, and cocoa powder. Heat over medium-low heat and stir constantly until it bubbles and thickens, about 2 minutes. Cook and continue to stir for another minute. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. 

Get your custard out of the refrigerator and spoon into the middle of the "crust", smoothing it out with a spatula and creating a dome shape.

I piped my chocolate glaze onto the top since it was too thick to spread over the custard without disturbing it, if you want to cover the custard in a even layer of glaze and it's too thick, whisk in water, teaspoon by teaspoon until you've reached the desired consistency. Pour it over the custard.

My finished pie.

And there you have it. Boston Creme Pie...Pie-afied. 

Stay tuned since now that my first year of college and finals are over, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Enjoy!