Boston Cream Pie

Boston Cream Pie is a classic American dessert that’s really not a pie at all. It’s a sponge cake, layered with a custard center, and topped with a river of chocolate ganache. Its origins hail back to the late 1880s, when a French chef at Boston’s Parker House Hotel created it. Apparently, cakes used to be baked in pie tins back then, hence the name.  I was inspired to try a recipe from Ina Garten’s cookbook, “Modern Comfort Food,” but made a couple of changes. The first was cooking it in a springform pan and cutting it into the traditional two layers, not four as her recipe calls for. I also took a shortcut and didn’t make the pastry cream from scratch, substituting a box of instant vanilla pudding with some whipping cream added in. I took the photos the first time I made it during a big snowstorm, but I’ve made it again several times and it always disappears quicker than a melting snowflake.

I topped it with a little gold leaf just to gussy it up a little, but the taste is so good, it really doesn’t need any help. Please use all the liquid called for in the soak. It may seems like a lot, but the cakes just absorb it all and the flavor it adds is crucial.

Boston Cream Pie

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• FOR THE SOAK:
• 1/3 Cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange flavored liqueur
• FOR THE PASTRY CREAM:
• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Butter a 8 or 9 inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, buttering that too.
3. Sprinkle flour over the pan, then tap out the excess.
4. For the cake, scald the milk and butter in a small pan over medium heat.
5. Off the heat, add the vanilla and orange zest.
6. Cover the pan and set aside.
7. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
8. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium high speed for 4 minutes, until thick and light yellow and the mixture falls back on itself in a ribbon.
9. By hand first whisk in the warm milk mixture and then slowly whisk in the flour mixture.
10. DO NOT OVERMIX.
11. Pour the batter evenly into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
12. Let the cake cool in the pan, then release the sides and place on a baking rack.
13. Cool to room temperature.
14. FOR THE SOAK
15. Combine the orange juice and sugar in a small pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.
16. Off the heat, add the orange liqueur and set aside.
17. FOR THE PASTRY CREAM:
18. Follow the directions on the pudding box, but instead of using 2 cups milk, mix the powder with 1 1/2 cups milk.
19. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form, then fold into the pastry cream.
20. FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
21. Combine the havy cream, chocolate, corn syrup, vanilla and coffee in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally with a spoon, just until the chocolates melt.
22. Remove from the heat and set aside for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is thick enough to fall back on itself in a ribbon.
23. TO ASSEMBLE:
24. Cut the cake in half horizontally.
25. Put the bottom layer back in the springform pan.
26. Brush half of the orange liqueur soak over the cake.
27. Spread the pastry cream over the cake.
28. Place the second layer over the pastry cream and brush with the rest of the orange liqueur soak.
29. Pour the chocolate ganache on the cake, allowing it to drip down over the sides of the cake.
30. Place in the refrigerator to firm everything, then serve.
31. Spread the pastry cream

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Individual Chicken Pot Pies

One of my favorite comfort foods to make is a plain old roast chicken, and it provides enough leftovers for a couple of other meals and bones for soup stock too. I usually use the leftover meat for sandwiches, or in a rice and vegetable casserole. But it was high time I made chicken pot pie, a meal my husband loves, but one I hadn’t made in decades. Homemade chicken pot pie is head and shoulders above anything you can buy from the store, not only because you can add more meat than most commercially prepared pot pies include, but also because you can choose what vegetables you want, and the amount of sauce used to bind everything together. Here I’ve used the classic combinations of carrots, celery and peas, eliminating the potato but adding leeks and shallot. You can choose to add or delete whatever vegetables you want — artichoke hearts, broccoli, mushrooms – whatever you like or what’s on hand.

I sautéed the leeks, shallot and celery first, and parboiled the carrots just a little. They’ll cook more in the pie, so you don’t want them to be completely cooked through initially.

Add them in a bowl to the chicken with the carrots. I used small peas straight from the freezer. No need to cook first. Season everything well with salt, pepper and add parsley and/or thyme.

Next, add the béchamel sauce – made by cooking a bit of flour in butter, and adding milk and chicken stock. If you want, feel free to add some grated parmesan, gruyere or other cheese of your liking. I didn’t and we didn’t miss the cheese or heavy cream that some recipes call for. If you want more sauce, increase the quantities in the béchamel, but I don’t like a gloppy pot pie, so I prefer to go easy on the sauce and make just enough béchamel to bind everything together.

Stir everything together until all is lightly coated with the sauce.

I eliminated a bottom crust (it never bakes as crispy as I’d like). I also used individual buttered casseroles, but you can put yours in a pie plate if you like. Top with a small pat of butter. If you want to use a traditional pie plate, double this recipe to get a nice, full pot pie.

I used purchased pie crusts to cut down on the work, but of course, homemade is always best. This crust from Trader Joe’s however, is really good, even though it can easily break while you’re opening from the cellophane, even after it’s thawed completely from the freezer. If that happens, just press the pieces together. Lay your casseroles over the crust, and cut a pattern that’s slightly larger than your casserole, to allow for crimping the edges.Place the dough over the casseroles, tuck the edges under and crimp using your thumb and forefinger, then prick some holes on the top and brush with beaten egg.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown all over. If they seem to be browning too quickly, cover them with foil.

I had some some leftover chicken skin from the roast chicken, so I crisped it up a bit further in the oven, and added that to the top of my husband’s pie.

Dig in and enjoy some leftover goodness. You don’t even have to roast a chicken and wait for leftovers if you’re not up for it. Buy a rotisserie chicken from the store instead and get a head start.

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Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• Your favorite purchased or homemade pie pastry (I used Trader Joe’s)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sliced leeks
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup celery, minced
• 1 cup carrots, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cut into chunks
• minced parsley (or thyme)
• salt, pepper to taste
• 2 pats of butter
• FOR THE BECHAMEL SAUCE:
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 beaten egg, to swish over the top of pastry

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Saute the leeks, shallot and celery in the 2 tablespoons of butter until everything is wilted.
3. Place the cooked vegetables in a bowl.
4. Boil the carrot pieces but don’t cook completely through.
5. Drain and add to the other vegetables in the bowl.
6. Add the chicken pieces and the parsley to the vegetables and season everything well with salt and pepper.
7. Make the béchamel sauce by melted the butter, adding the flour and stirring with a whisk, then adding the chicken stock and whisking thoroughly.
8. Add the milk and whisk until perfectly smooth.
9. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables and mix thoroughly.
10. Into two buttered casseroles, place the chicken and vegetables mixture.
11. Top with a pat of butter.
12. Cut pieces of the pastry slighly larger than the casserole you’re using.
13. Arrange the pastry on top, turning under the edges and crimping them.
14. Using a fork, prick the top to allow steam to escape.
15. Brush the top with beaten egg and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

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Cannoli Ciambella Bundt Cake

If you’re looking for a delicious cake that only improves as the days go by, look no further. This recipe, from Rosella Rago’s Cooking With Nonna website, is moist and packed with flavor — and it tastes even better a day or two after it’s baked. That’s because it contains ricotta, orange peel, chocolate chips and pistachios. How’s that for a winning combination? Feel free to substitute almonds if pistachios are not your thing, but they are classic flavors in a traditional cannolo and I love them all.

I made a couple of small tweaks to Rossella’s recipe and you can choose to follow them or leave the recipe exactly as she wrote it. In her recipe she says to put the pistachios in a food processor and process until fine. I found that the pistachios will turn to a paste if you’re not careful, so I added part of the flour to the food processor while processing the nuts. This way, you can be assured they’ll grind to a powdery consistency, just like the flour. For the glaze, I added orange juice to the confectioner’s sugar instead of milk, to give it a light orange flavor. I also didn’t have any candied orange peel (a situation I hope to remedy soon), so I used orange peel shavings to decorate the top, along with some of the mini chocolate chips and chopped pistachios. This is a recipe I’m sure will become a regular in my household.

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Cannoli Ciambella Bundt Cake

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• For the Cake:
• 3/4 cup pistachios, crushed
• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups whole ricotta
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• For the glaze and toppings:
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice or whole milk
• Candied orange peels, orange zest, mini chocolate chips and extra pistachios for decorating

Instructions

1. To make the cake:
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Spray a Bundt pan with baking spray, or butter and dust with flour.
4. Set aside.
5. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
6. Set aside.
7. If using whole pistachios, add the pistachios to the bowl of a food processor and process until fine, about 30 seconds.
8. (I added some of the flour mixture to the pistachios in the food processor. It helps avoid getting a pistachio paste and encourages a texture more like the fine texture of flour.)
9. Set aside.
10. In another mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, orange zest and vanilla extract.
11. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
12. Beat in the ricotta until fully combined.
13. Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully combined.
14. Beat in the dry ingredients until just absorbed.
15. Do not over mix.
16. Fold in the chocolate chips and ground up pistachios.
17. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
18. Cool completely before glazing.
19. To make the glaze and decorate:
20. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners sugar and orange juice, or milk until smooth.
21. The glaze will be thick.
22. Pour the glaze over the cake and top with candied cherries, orange slices (or orange zest) and crushed pistachios.

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