Boston Cream Cupcakes are a dream combination - tender yellow cupcakes with a creamy pastry filling and topped with a chocolate glaze.
I wanted every component of this decadent dessert to be perfect, so it took me several weeks to test different recipes to come up with a winning combination.
The vanilla cupcakes are tender but also sturdy enough to hold a lot of filling. Of course, the pastry cream is velvety, smooth and the vanilla flavor is on point in this custard. I also wanted to use the chocolate glaze in two different ways - not only does the glaze cover the tops of the cupcakes, but you use the remaining half of the glaze to make a fluffy chocolate ganache that adds more chocolate flavor, more texture and makes the cupcakes more beautiful.
Each cupcake is loaded to the brim with the silky vanilla custard so that each bite is a luscious mouthful. If you're enjoying these Boston Cream Cupcakes with a hot cup of coffee, the chocolate just melts in your mouth. If you're looking for an impressive dessert to make, this is it!
Ingredients:
½ batch Pastry Cream
Cupcakes:
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Chocolate Glaze and Ganache:
8 oz semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips or chunks)
1 cup heavy cream
Instructions:
Make the Pastry Cream and cool completely in the refrigerator.
I have a detailed post on how to make the pastry cream, so you can follow all my recipe instructions and tips there. You only need half the batch of pastry cream for this recipe, but I always make the full batch because we can enjoy the rest of the pastry cream separately. It's SO good. It's a great treat for the whole family. Cover the pastry cream with parchment paper or plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream, so that a skin doesn't form on the surface.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 cupcake pans with 18 cupcake liners.
For the cupcakes, mix the eggs with a handheld mixer or in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, gradually adding the sugar, until pale yellow and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix to combine.
Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl with the batter and fold it in gently to combine.
Portion out the batter evenly among 18 cupcake liners. 
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake, comes out clean. Cool.
Insert the tip of a small knife at a 45-degree angle about ¼ - ⅛ inch from the edge of the cupcake and cut all the way around, removing a cone of each cupcake. 
Cut away all but the top ¼ inch of the cone, leaving only a small disk of cake. Feed the delicious cake remnants to your willing family members:).
Fill the cavity with pastry cream and top with the cake disc to cover the pastry cream.
Meanwhile, heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan or heat in the microwave until it starts to simmer.
Place the chocolate (you can use chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or cut up a bar of chocolate into small pieces) into a medium bowl. Pour in the hot, simmering heavy cream over the chocolate, and let it stand for about 7-10 minutes. Use a whisk to mix it all together until smooth.
Spoon the chocolate glaze over each cupcake, tilting the cupcake to let the glaze spread or spread the chocolate with a spoon over the whole surface of the cupcake. 
You can also dip the top of each cupcake in the bowl with the glaze. You can spread the chocolate glaze very neatly only over the surface of the cupcake, or let some of the glaze run over the sides of the cupcakes. I think it looks cute either way.
Place the remaining chocolate glaze into the refrigerator until it is completely chilled. 
Use a handheld electric mixer or a standing mixer to whip mixture at medium speed until fluffy and mousse-like and forms medium-stiff peaks, about 2 minutes.
Place the chocolate ganache frosting into a piping bag fitted with a pastry tip (I used a star tip) and pipe out the frosting on top of each cupcake.
Keep the cupcakes in the refrigerator, but for the best texture, bring them to room temperature before serving.
Boston Cream Cupcakes
Boston Cream Cupcakes are a dream combination - tender yellow cupcakes with a creamy pastry filling and topped with a chocolate glaze.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 18 cupcakes
- Category: Sweets
Ingredients
- ½ batch Pastry Cream
Cupcakes:
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Chocolate Glaze and Ganache:
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips or chunks)
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Make the Pastry Cream and cool completely in the refrigerator.
- I have a detailed post on how to make the pastry cream, so you can follow all my recipe instructions and tips there. You only need half the batch of pastry cream for this recipe, but I always make the full batch because we can enjoy the rest of the pastry cream separately. It's SO good. It's a great treat for the whole family.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 cupcake pans with 18 cupcake liners.
- For the cupcakes, mix the eggs with a handheld mixer or in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, gradually adding the sugar, until pale yellow and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl with the batter and fold it in gently to combine.
- Portion out the batter evenly among 18 cupcake liners. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake, comes out clean. Cool.
- Insert the tip of a small knife at a 45-degree angle about ⅛ inch from the edge of the cupcake and cut all the way around, removing a cone of each cupcake. Cut away all but the top ¼ inch of the cone, leaving only a small disk of cake. Feed the delicious cake remnants to your willing family members:).
- Fill the cavity with pastry cream and top with the cake disc to cover the pastry cream.
- Meanwhile, heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan or heat in the microwave until it starts to simmer.
- Place the chocolate (you can use chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or cut up a bar of chocolate into small pieces) into a medium bowl. Pour in the hot, simmering heavy cream over the chocolate, and let it stand for about 7-10 minutes. Use a whisk to mix it all together until smooth.
- Spoon the chocolate glaze over each cupcake, tilting the cupcake to let the glaze spread or spread the chocolate with a spoon over the whole surface of the cupcake. You can also dip the top of each cupcake in the bowl with the glaze. You can spread the chocolate glaze very neatly only over the surface of the cupcake, or let some of the glaze run over the sides of the cupcakes. I think it looks cute either way.
- Place the remaining chocolate glaze into the refrigerator until it is completely chilled. Use a handheld electric mixer or a standing mixer to whip mixture at medium speed until fluffy and mousse-like and forms medium-stiff peaks, about 2 minutes.
- Place the chocolate ganache frosting into a piping bag fitted with a pastry tip (I used a star tip) and pipe out the frosting on top of each cupcake.
- Keep the cupcakes in the refrigerator, but for the best texture, bring them to room temperature before serving.
Conceptwise these are great. The pastry cream is fantastic and the decoration of chocolate ganache and pipped whipped chocolate is also very good. Not digging the cake though. It’s a very technically difficult cake to make and while it is good when it is made right... personally... I don’t think it was any better then the cake recipe I already use on a regular basis, nor is it worth the extra chance that it will fail. That being said, I did really like these cupcakes and I think I will be adding them into my regular rotation.
I am glad you enjoyed the different components of the recipe, Marques. Thank you for sharing your input.
I did the cupcakes but are they suppose to be dense?!
They shouldn't be too dense, Anastasiya. They may be dense if you overmixed them when folding in the flour or if you didn't mix the eggs long enough.
What a lovely recipe! It looks as if you dusted the ganache on the cupcakes in the background with some cocoa powder or is it just the blurry image? Anyway I never thought of this before and it looks very impressive! Am going to try this. Really love your recipes and always look forward reading a new post. Thank you Olga, you are an inspiration!
No, I didn't dust them with cocoa; I think it's the blurrier background that makes it look that way.
I hope you enjoy the cupcakes, Aafke.
These cupcakes look amazing! I will definitely have to try these soon!
These cupcakes look amazing! I will try them for sure! Thanks for the recipe Olga!
Beautiful! I've always wanted to try a boston cream cupcake! Perfect opportunity!!!
I am so going to make this!
Wow! These look so pretty and delicious! I need to make them ASAP! Reminds me of the Boston Creme muffins from NY!
These look AMAZING!! Perfect for any party. Cannot wait to try them. Thank you for sharing.😍