Boston cream pie pancakes

Way, way back when I first started this here blog, I talked about some of the first cakes I ever made—one of which was a Boston cream pie. This was also the first time I made my own birthday cake. We now remember it as the beginning of my long-lasting addiction to all things baking as well as my newfound cake snobbery. It’s not scratch-made, by hand, with loving care and local milk? Not going to let that peasantry grace my delicate palate.

My snobbery, however, did not apply to doughnuts. Hell naw. I still chowed down on a Boston cream doughnut as soon as I could get my hands on one after church on the first Sunday of the month—doughnut Sunday, I called it. Those days were holidays in my mind. That was back when I went to church, mind you, like a good little Catholic.

Blame it on the Grain Brain. source

It’s still my favorite doughnut flavor, of course (shall I veganize it? OMG yes). And I will always love a good slice of Boston cream pie. But what I don’t understand is why, exactly, it is called a pie and not a cake, because it is obviously composed of cake and that is just false advertising. Although now that I think of it, pastry cream and chocolate ganache in a pie crust sounds pretty fucking great.

IT EXISTS. source

As you can see, I am somewhat attached to the flavor of Boston cream pie—fuffy vanilla cake; rich pastry cream; and deep, dark chocolate ganache or icing. It’s a rather pedestrian combination of flavors, but somehow the end result is magical. More than the sum of its parts.

Or maybe that’s just the sugar talking.

So it was a no-brainer that I should whip up some Boston cream pie cake-inspired pancakes for breakfast the other day. Because frankly I have nothing better to do over vacation than cook pudding at 9:00 in the morning—other than going out and exploring the world and frolicking with friends and…oh, wait, that would require socializing.

Goddamn socializing.

The alternative is not too shabby, if I might say so myself. To recreate the flavors of a good old-fashioned Boston cream pie, I made some light and fluffy vanilla-flavored pancakes and topped them with a creamy vanilla pudding and sexy chocolate sauce. I mean, look at that chocolate drizzle, holy fuck. Breakfast food porn at its best.

Here’s the recipe.

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Boston cream pie pancakes

Makes one serving of pancakes, plus a bunch of extra toppings

Ingredients

Pancake batter

62 grams • white whole wheat flour • ½ cup

4 grams • baking powder • 1 scant teaspoon

1 gram • salt • 1/8 teaspoon

15 grams • brown sugar • 1 heaping tablespoon

61 grams • nondairy milk • ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons

3 grams • apple cider vinegar • ½ teaspoon

7 grams • coconut oil, melted • ½ tablespoon

4 grams • vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon

Handful of chocolate chips, optional

Chocolate syrup (adapted from Vegan in the Freezer)

75 grams • granulated sugar • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

27 grams • cocoa powder • 1/3 cup

1 gram • salt • 1/8 teaspoon

2 grams • vanilla extract • ¼ teaspoon

Vanilla filling (adapted from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan)

12 grams • cornstarch • 1 ½ tablespoons

305 grams • nondairy milk • 1 ¼ cups

67 grams • granulated sugar • 1/3 cup

13 grams • Earth Balance • 1 tablespoon

4 grams • vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon

Instructions

Start by making the chocolate syrup. Bring ½ cup water to a boil and add the sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Add cocoa powder and salt and simmer for three minutes, stirring consistently. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into a separate bowl and refrigerate while you make the filling.

In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup nondairy milk and cornstarch. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk remaining nondairy milk and sugar, heating until it begins to steam. Add cornstarch mixture at this point. Stirring occasionally, cook until mixture begins to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about four to five minutes. Turn down heat to very low and cook another three to four minutes, stirring occasionally until thick. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Refrigerate while you make pancakes.

To make pancakes, whisk together white whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add nondairy milk, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, and vanilla and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using. Fry on a preheated, buttered-up pan until golden brown. Stack high and smother that shit with vanilla cream and chocolate sauce. Coconut whipped cream optional.

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Okay, I lied. The coconut whipped cream is not optional, if you are Baby June and are officially addicted to the stuff. Not ashamed to admit I have accumulated enough of that watery coconut juice leftover at the bottom of a coconut milk can (after scraping off the cream) to make an entire batch of pudding, thank you very much. While I’m at it, may as well thank my iSi whipper again. That thing is a boss. 

This photo taken a split second before that dollop of whipped cream slid off.

These pancakes are perfect if you love loads of toppings and loads of flavor. And I’ve never met someone who was happy with just a stingy drop of maple syrup or just a pat of butter—unless they had particularly iron willpower, in which case I can only imagine what mental battles go on inside their heads as they drizzle a mere tablespoon of liquid gold upon their whole wheat protein pancakes. I can also only imagine how they would react if they saw this monstrosity of a pancake stack.

Because frankly, I have no nostalgia for moderation.

I WANT IT ALL source