Easter

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend. I'll post more pictures (and what we six decided was the best quiche recipe ever) later, but for now, I wanted to leave you with the step by step pictures of my Boston Cream Pie - which was a big hit. I'm going to add in the recipes to this - because if you haven't made it, please give it a try.

Our Easter brunch was delicious! It was so fun to catch up with people, and to enjoy what is most likely our last leisurely meal with just adults. What with getting out the good china, and hand washing it again, I'm a little tired now, so I think I'm going to lie around for the rest of the day. I'll polish the silver and put it away nicely tomorrow.

The yellow cake. It's better than a boxed mix and just as easy - I promise! (All recipes are from the 1960 version of the McCall's Cookbook)

Two Egg Yellow Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

1/1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening (I used unsalted butter)

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8" cake pans.
2. In the bowl of the electric mixer, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add melted butter ( I melted mine since it doesn't beat in quite as well at room temperature as shortening), milk and vanilla. Mix at medium speed for 2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the bowl as needed.
4. Add eggs, beat two minutes longer.
5. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake 30-35 minutes or until surface "springs" back when gently pressed.
6. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool COMPLETELY before filling/frosting. (I like to bake the day before and then wrap well when cool to fill and frost the next day)
   

Here's the custard filling. I'm no expert on custard, but I think this is pretty delicious, and it really isn't hard.

Rich Vanilla-Cream Filling (HALF the quantity is perfect for filling this cake, but I think I like a little less custard than most people - so here's the full recipe and just be careful not to use it all on the cake!)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch (if you are halving the ingredients, 1/8 of a cup is approximately 2TBS)

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups milk (I think whole milk is best)

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In medium saucepan, combine sugar with cornstarch and salt.
2. Gradually add milk, over medium heat. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3. Add half of hot milk mixture to eggs and mix well (to avoid scrambled eggs). Gradually return to saucepan, stirring.
4. Over medium heat, bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add vanilla. Cool completely before using to fill cake. (You can tell when your custard is getting close, because it gets much thicker and if you drag a spoon along the bottom of the pot, the drag mark remains for a while.
   
   

Here's the chocolate frosting - it is really easy and very delicious.

Quick Fudge Frosting

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup soft butter (I would NOT substitute margarine for butter in this frosting)
3 cups sifted confectioners' or powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup hot cream or whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt chocolate over hot water or in microwave (I always add a little bit of butter or oil to chocolate before melting in microwave). Remove from heat, stir to ensure all melted and let cool a little.
2. In medium bowl (I used the kitchen machine) combine butter, salt, sugar, and 3 TBS of hot cream. Beat at medium speed until mixture is smooth.
3. Add chocolate and continue beating until frosting is thick enough to spread. Then mix in the vanilla.
4. If your frosting seems too thick, add a little more hot cream.
5. This makes enough to fill and frost two 8" layers. Traditionally, the sides of Boston Cream Pie are unfrosted, so I just pile all the frosting on top and don't quite use it all

Assembly - cake and custard.

Ta Da! The final product. It doesn't make a very large cake, so it's perfect if you are having 8-10 people (for 6 we had about 1/4 left over).