This gluten-free Boston cream pie is so delicious even though it’s literally a cake and not a pie (haha). Classic Boston cream “pies” are composed of vanilla cake layers, sandwiched together with delicious pastry cream (basically the same as custard), and topped with chocolate ganache. I’m sure almost everyone is familiar with Boston cream donuts, so this cake won’t be too hard to imagine if you’ve never tried it. Since this cake is not completely covered in the chocolate ganache, it has a little almond flour to ensure the cake layers stay nice and moist. Pastry cream may sound like an intimidating, fancy, French filling but it is actually very simple to make! Overall this cake is moist, not-too sweet, custard-y, a little chocolate-y, and very delicious!
This post contains affiliate links to some of my very favorite ingredients. This way it is easy for you to find the ingredients I used at the best price I’ve found. If you click one and purchase anything from Amazon, I will receive a very small percentage of the sale, to support what I do here. Thank you!
Link to my favorite gluten-free flour blend is here.
Link to my favorite organic, flavorless coconut oil is here.
The 8 inch cake pans I use are linked here!
Gluten-Free Boston Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 2 cups (270 grams) Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour spooned and leveled, not scooped
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar
- ¾ cup canola, avocado, or melted coconut oil
- 3 large eggs room temperature if using coconut oil
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk of choice room temperature if using coconut oil
Pastry Cream:
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 tbsps corn, potato, or tapioca starch
- The seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean or 1 ½ tsps pure vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks save the whites for meringue, macarons, or other desserts
- 1 ⅓ cups whole milk
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Chocolate Ganache:
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
Instructions
- Grease two 8 inch cake pans and line the bottoms of each with a circle of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 C).
- In a medium-large bowl whisk the GF flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a separate large bowl using a hand/stand mixer, mix the sugar and oil together. Add all three eggs and mix on high for 2 minutes. Add half of the dry mixture and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and half of the milk and mix well. Add the rest of the dry mixture and mix until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add the rest of the milk and give the batter one last good mix. Evenly distribute the batter between the cake pans. Bake for 27-34 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool completely at room temperature. Make the pastry cream while cooling.
Pastry Cream:
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the sugar, salt, starch, vanilla seeds (don't add the vanilla yet if using extract), and egg yolks together until a smooth paste forms. Add the milk and whisk until completely smooth. Place the saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to medium-low. Heat the mixture while whisking constantly, until it just starts to thicken to a paste-y consistency (takes about 6 minutes). Immediately remove from the heat and pour it through a sieve placed on top of a heat proof bowl. Push all the pastry cream through the sieve. Add the butter and whisk until melted and smooth. Place plastic wrap on top so that it is touching the pastry cream. Set the cream in the fridge until completely cooled. Meanwhile make the ganache.
Chocolate Ganache:
- In a small saucepan, heat the cream until steamy and ever so slightly bubbly. Add the chocolate, let it sit for 2 minutes untouched, then whisk until smooth. Let the ganache sit at room temperature until the pastry cream and cake layers are completely cooled and ready to assemble.
Assembly:
- Remove the cooled pastry cream from the fridge and whisk very well until smooth and loosened up. Place one cooled cake layer upside down on a plate and remove the parchment circle. Spoon and spread the pastry cream on top. Place the 2nd cake layer (upside down) on top of the pastry cream layer and remove the parchment circle. Spoon a generous amount of ganache onto the center of the cake and spread it out to the edges, letting it drip off the sides a bit. Cover the cake with a large bowl until ready to serve (this prevents the cake from drying out). Slice, serve, and enjoy!
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