Ultimate Boston Cream Pie | Ganache Drip Cake Recipe
This Ultimate Boston Cream Pie is a luscious layered cake featuring tender yellow cake rounds filled with a creamy vanilla custard, frosted with rich vanilla and chocolate buttercream, and topped with a decadent dark chocolate ganache drip. Perfectly balanced flavors and textures make this classic dessert an impressive centerpiece for any special occasion.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours (including chilling and ganache setting time)
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
Yellow Cake
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla powder
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
Vanilla Custard
- 1 package (3.4 oz) Jell-O instant pudding mix, vanilla
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup whole milk, cold
- ½ tub (4 oz) Cool Whip, extra creamy, thawed
Vanilla & Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup salted butter, softened at room temperature
- ½ cup shortening, butter flavored, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla powder
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 3½ – 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- 4 oz Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 oz heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Prepare Yellow Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8″ cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and pure vanilla powder. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean. Cool cakes on wire racks, then refrigerate wrapped until assembly.
- Make Vanilla Custard: Whisk pudding mix and powdered sugar together. Add cold milk; whisk for 2 minutes. Fold in Cool Whip until smooth, no lumps remain. Refrigerate in an airtight container.
- Prepare Buttercream Frostings: Cream together butter, shortening, and almond extract. Add heavy cream and blend well. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla powder on low speed; mix 2-3 minutes. Reserve ¼ of vanilla buttercream for chocolate version. Adjust remaining vanilla buttercream to desired consistency; store airtight. Add cacao powder to reserved portion; mix with extra cream as needed to achieve chocolate buttercream consistency; store airtight.
- Make Dark Chocolate Ganache: Place chopped chocolate in bowl. Scald cream and pour over chocolate. Cover and let sit 2 minutes. Stir gently until smooth and shiny. Cover surface with plastic wrap; do not stir while setting. Cool and thicken overnight. Before use, gently stir to re-smooth ganache and warm slightly (5-10 sec) in microwave. Pour into squeeze bottle.
- Level and Assemble Cake: Level cake tops with a cake leveler. Spread a small amount of vanilla buttercream on cake board; place first cake layer on board on cake turntable. Pipe a border of vanilla buttercream at cake’s top edge using Wilton 2A tip. Pipe a swirl of vanilla custard inside buttercream border. Top with second cake layer.
- Crumb Coat: Apply vanilla buttercream thinly over entire cake. Smooth with pastry scraper. Refrigerate until chilled.
- Apply Ganache Drip: Remove cake from turntable to cake stand. Using squeeze bottle, apply ganache drops around top edge to create drips. Pour remaining ganache in center and spread to edges with offset spatula to join drips. Chill until ganache firms.
- Decorate with Buttercreams: Pipe chocolate buttercream swirls on top using Wilton 2D closed star tip. Pipe vanilla custard swirls between chocolate swirls using Wilton 1M open star tip. Refrigerate until serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Using room temperature ingredients ensures better batter consistency and cake texture.
- Cold milk for the custard helps achieve proper pudding set and smooth folding with Cool Whip.
- Chilling the cake throughout the process helps maintain clean layers and professional finish.
- Do not refrigerate ganache while setting to avoid condensation; it sets best at room temperature covered.
- Warm ganache slightly before applying for optimal drip consistency.
- Wilton piping tips mentioned provide uniform decorative swirls.
- You can substitute pure vanilla powder with vanilla extract if necessary, adjusting quantities accordingly.
Keywords: Boston Cream Pie, Yellow Cake, Vanilla Custard, Chocolate Ganache, Buttercream Frosting, Layer Cake, Classic Dessert
