I’m always looking for a good reason to bake up something sweet, but every year my friends at OXO come up with one of the best reasons. It’s time, once again, for their awesome campaign supporting Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Childhood Cancer Foundation. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and for every #OXOGoodCookies Bake a Difference blog post, OXO will be donating $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer to help fund research to develop new, improved treatments for pediatric cancer. My blog post is just a drop in the bucket, as OXO is committed to donating up to $100,000 during the month of September. That’s a pretty awesome drop, though, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
One of my favorite bakery treats is an old-fashioned, simple Boston Cream Pie. I had just been talking with my daughter, Avery, about how I needed to make one since it had been a while, when this opportunity popped up. So, I decided to give mini Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes a whirl. OXO was kind enough to provide me with the perfect tools to get the cupcake party started.
First, I needed to bake up my cupcakes.
I mixed together a pretty standard “cream the butter and sugar and eggs, and add in the flour mixture” kind of batter, laced with a hefty dose of vanilla and a dabble of sour cream for a little extra tang.
Instead of paper liners, I lined my Non-Stick 12 Cup Pro Muffin Pan from OXO with a set of their playful Silicone Baking Cups. Each baking cup has a fill line, so you can be sure your cupcakes and muffins will be consistently sized and perfect…which for a borderline OCD baker like myself, is a dream come true.
I am a huge fan of OXO’s nonstick Pro baking line, as their muffin tins and cookie sheets bake up evenly and consistently. There aren’t any hot spots and they don’t warp in the oven. They are top-notch quality and are used in my kitchen on a weekly basis for everything from baked goods to roasted veggies.
The cupcakes went into the oven for a bit, and while they baked, I got to work on my pastry cream. Bavarian Cream Pie filling needs to be creamy and rich, and this simple stove top pastry cream is the way to go. You need to keep on top of it though, so sadly, process pictures flew out the window. But…look at the end result.
Smooth and creamy, and delicious to boot.
Once I had finished the pastry cream, I pressed a bit of plastic wrap down onto the top of it as I let it cool, so a skin wouldn’t form on top of the custard.
By this time, the cupcakes were ready to come out of the oven.
They were perfectly puffed, and after a couple of minutes cooling in the tin, I easily removed them from the pan and let them cool on a baking rack in their colorful little cups.
Anyone who loves Boston Cream Pie as I do knows that the chocolate ganache on top of the cake needs to be just right. So, while the cakes and custard were cooling, I made a quick chocolate ganache. I placed a bag of semisweet chocolate chips in a bowl, along with a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup, and then I poured some steaming heavy whipping cream over the top of the chocolate.
I let that sit for just a couple of minutes, and then whisked my melted chocolate and cream together to create a thick, luscious, ganache. I popped the bowl into the fridge to chill for a bit, so it would be easier to pipe onto my finished cupcakes.
Once all of the pieces of the puzzle were cooled and ready, it was time to build some cupcakes.
“But how do you get the custard into the middle of the cupcake?” you ask. OXO’s Baker’s Decorating Tool not only easily pipes on frosting without the use of a messy pastry bag, but it also comes with a fill attachment that helped make the magic happen.
I filled the barrel with the cooled custard, inserted it into the cupcakes and filled them until I could just start to feel the sides of the cupcake expand. (If I didn’t have the tool, though, I could have sliced each cupcake in half and filled them just like a traditional Boston Cream Pie.)
Once each cupcake was filled, I cleaned out the barrel of the Decorating Tool, changed out the tip, and filled it with my cooled ganache. I easily piped a hefty chocolate hat onto each of the cupcakes to finish off my personalized pies.
When my kids came home from school that day, they were greeted by homemade cupcakes, and Mom scored some brownie (pie) points. Success!
Enjoy baking yourself? Check out ways you can help raise funds for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer through Good Cookie bake sales in your area! Who doesn’t love a good cookie for a good cause, right?
Huge thanks to OXO for letting me be a part of the campaign again this year. You guys make a world of difference!
Recipe Adapted from LifeLoveandSugar.com
