Massachusetts Pie: The state dessert is the Boston cream pie – which isn’t actually a pie but a layered sponge cake filled with pastry cream and glazed with chocolate. So here we have a Boston Cream Pie Pie: a buttery crust filled with chocolate ganache and pastry cream, topped with cubes of pound cake and a chocolate drizzle. All your favorite parts of biting into a Boston cream pie doughnut or cake…finally in true pie form.
All-Butter Crust-Single
1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1-1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 cup ice
Stir the flour, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl with a flat bottom. Add the butter pieces on top of the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, toss the butter in the dry mixture so each cube is coated. Use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut or rub the butter into the mixture until it is in pieces a bit larger than peas (a few larger pieces are okay; be careful not to over-blend). You want to be able to make big butter chunks in your crust: It helps create a flaky effect, as well as adding delicious buttery hits of flavor.
In a separate large measuring cup or small bowl, combine the water, cider vinegar, and ice. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the ice water mixture over the flour mixture; do not add the ice, which is just there to keep your water cold. Using your hands in a circular motion, bring the mixture together until all the liquid is incorporated. Continue adding the ice water mixture, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time. Carefully mix until the dough comes together in a ball, with some dry bits remaining. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until it comes into one mass; you don’t want to overwork it.
Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight before using.
Wrapped tightly, the dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the fridge.
Boston Cream Pie Pie
Equipment
- Pastry brush
- Standard loaf pan, 8-1/2 by 4-1/2 inches wide, 2-1/2 inches deep
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
For crust:
- All-Butter Crust-Single (see above), rolled out, fit into a greased 10-inch pie pan, crimped, and fully blind baked
For pound cake topping:
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
FILLING:
For chocolate layer:
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or in chips
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For pastry cream:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Pound Cake Topping:
- Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven but do not preheat the oven. Grease the loaf pan with softened butter and coat with a light dusting of flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and salt; sift three more times. In the bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until pale, light, and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add half of the flour mixture. Add the cream and mix well, then add the remaining flour mixture. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until the mixture is pale yellow.
- Spoon the batter into the greased loaf pan and tap the pan against the counter to eliminate air bubbles. Place the pan in the cold oven, then turn the oven to 350°F. Bake the cake for 1 to 11/2 hours, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes. Unmold and cut the cake into 1/2-inch cubes. Cover and set aside until ready to assemble pie.
Make and Bake the Chocolate Layer:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. In a separate, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the cream, uncovered, for 30 seconds. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture for topping. To the remaining mixture, stir in the beaten egg, vanilla, and salt.
- Pour into the fully baked pie crust, place on a baking sheet, and bake on the center rack for 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the center still has a slight jiggle. Let cool for at least 15 minutes while you make the cream layer.
Make the Pastry Cream:
- Set up a double boiler: Place a heat-safe mixing bowl on top of a medium saucepan. In the saucepan, bring water—just enough so the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water—to a simmer.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. In the heat-safe mixing bowl, beat the milk and egg yolks together. Add the sugar mixture and cook over the simmering water in the double boiler, strring constantly, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the cream over the chcolate layer in the pie crust. Cover with plastic wrap touching the cream layer so that a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
Finish the Pie:
- Top the chilled pie with the cubed pound cake, melt the reserved chocolate, and drizzle on top. Best enjoyed by a fire with a cold Sam Adams beer in the other hand!
Notes
Recipe reprinted with permission from 50 Pies, 50 States by Stacey Mei Yan Fong (Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, 2023). Photography by Alanna Hale. Food Styling by Caitlin Haught Brown.