Let me preface this by saying that this Boston Cream Pie was perhaps the most demanding yet gratifying thing I’ve ever baked. Demanding in the sense that it took two people meticulously reading directions (how anyone could make this without help is a mystery)  to finish it and gratifying because when I was finished, when I had put my blood, sweat and tears into it – ok maybe not blood and tears, but there might have been some sweat mixed in with the batter, when I put this magnificent piece of baked good on display, it looked like it had come out of the kitchen of Julia Child, or Nigella Lawson or Paula Deen, except with not nearly enough butter as she would have liked. In short, it was without a doubt amazing.

You see those two sponge cakes above? They have enough spring in them to send you to the moon and back. Getting them that way was the most difficult task in the entire process. It wasn’t just a matter of mixing dry and wet ingredients together, oh no, it was a whole other ball game. Egg yolk and whites were separated, both beaten with sugar, until the whites became more or less like meringue and the yolks turned into a yellow gooey paste. Then, the whites were folded in the yolk mixture ever so gently, while the cake flour and other dry ingredients followed. But that’s not all. Milk and butter, heated and kept warm were poured down the side of the batter and folded in as well. A few daunting tasks later, and I had the most fluffy, light and airy pieces of cake I had ever seen.

Once I had crossed the sponge cake hurdle, I was ready to call it a night. My feet were aching, my hair was frazzled and frankly, I was afraid of making custard, the delicious filling that accompanies a Boston cream pie. But I decided to keep on keeping on. It’s a good thing I did, because I could have missed potentially the most amazing moment in all the years I’ve been baking: having  a simple combination of egg yolks and heavy whipping cream turn from liquid to semi-solid right in front of your eyes.

Assembling was easy. The custard went on smoothly, but the next hurdle I had to cross was making the chocolate ganache. This particular recipe had an interesting way of melting chocolate, one which I loved. The trick was to heat up the heavy whipping cream first and then pour  on the chocolate in a separate container. Boiling cream melting chocolate – what a genius idea. It made the glaze very smooth. After the ganache had cooled down, I realized the cake looked a bit empty, so I looked around the kitchen for a bit until I discovered some sliced almonds. What a life saver they were, because they instantly transformed this Boston Cream Pie from ordinary to extraordinary.

Despite the hard work, I had an amazing time and there are quite a few details I’m missing from this post, but making this dessert, in between a full-time job and freelance work just about knocked me out of my socks.

Recipe from JoyofBaking