Boston Cream Puff Pastry

Hello friends! Today I am going to show you how to make this delicious Boston Cream Puff Pastry dessert. I love Boston Cream so I got inspired to make a pastry version of it using store-bought puff pastry.

To make this Boston Cream Puff Pastry, I baked puff pastry, then filled it with pastry cream, and topped with chocolate glaze.

I love making simple puff pastry desserts, that are effortless but look and taste amazing.

Puff pastry is super crispy when baked, which is one of the reasons why I love it so much. And puff pastry is super versatile, the possibilities of easy puff pastry desserts you can make are endless, and you can even make savory appetizers as well.

Making these puff pastry treats has never been easier.

First we start making the pastry cream, because it does need to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before using. Making pastry cream is easy and it’s an awesome recipe to have under your sleeve.

Infusing the milk

The number one step is to infuse and heat up the milk. I am using real vanilla bean seeds. But you don’t have to. You can skip adding the vanilla bean seeds to the milk, and just heat up the milk instead so you can temper the eggs in the next step.

If you leave out the vanilla bean seeds, you will add vanilla extract once the pastry cream is done cooking.

Pro tip: Add the vanilla pod to the milk infusion, cover the pan and let it infuse with the vanilla bean seeds and pod for at least 30 minutes. This will enhance the vanilla taste and aroma of the cream. Also have in mind that if you do take this step, you will have to re-heat the milk again before moving on to the next step.

Tempering the eggs

On the next step, we mix together the egg yolks, with sugar, and cornstarch. It’s important to note that you can substitute the cornstarch for all-purpose flour if you wish. Use the double amount of flour if doing so.

Whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until the mixture is light in color and falling off the whisk in a ribbon.

Then slowly add the hot milk to the yolk mixture. Only add a little bit at a time. This process is called tempering the eggs, and it’s done slowly because if you add all the milk at once you risk cooking the yolks and making scrambled egg.

Once all the milk has been added to the yolks, return the mixture to the saucepan.

Cooking the custard

Place the pan over medium heat, and cook the custard stirring non-stop. Don’t stop stirring and don’t keep the heat super high, otherwise the custard will burn and stick to the pan.

First the custard will be very thin, then it will start to look curdled and lumpy, continue mixing with the spatula until it becomes smooth and thick.

Once the custard is thick like pudding, pour it onto a plate or bowl. Cover the custard with plastic wrap directly on the surface, which will prevent a skin from forming on the custard.

The custard should chill in the fridge for 2 hours before using.

In the meantime, you can bake the puff pastry.

I used store-bought puff pastry to make this Boston Cream pastry.

Baking the puff pastry

Cut rectangles out of the puff pastry. My rectangles measured 3.25″x5.25″. You can literally make any shape you want. You could even cut circles out of the dough using a round cookie cutter.

Place the pieces of dough in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush each with egg wash, but be careful not to drench the dough.

Bake at 425 Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Once the pastries bake, let them cool down. While the pastries are cooling down, make the chocolate sauce.

Making the Chocolate Sauce

To make the chocolate sauce, you are basically going to make a ganache, but with corn syrup added. The corn syrup is going to add a beautiful shine to your glaze. You can substitute the corn syrup for invert sugar, or honey instead.

First mix the corn syrup with the heavy cream, and heat it up in the microwave or in a small saucepan until hot.

I used chopped Lindt dark chocolate for this recipe, you can use whatever chocolate you want. You can even use chocolate chips if desired.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and mix to combine.

Then let the chocolate sauce cool down for about 10 minutes before pouring over the pastries.

Assemble the Boston Cream Puff Pastry

Slice the pastry in half like a sandwich.

Place the pastry cream in a piping bag and pipe in the bottom half of the pastry. Top with the other pastry.

Then top with the chocolate glaze. I found it easier to place the glaze in a piping bag, it made the glaze look much nicer on top of the pastry.

How to store puff pastry desserts

You can eat the pastry immediately. But the pastry will stay fine in the fridge for a couple of days.

We kept some in the fridge and they stayed fresh and crispy still even the next day. We let it come to room temperature slightly so the pastry would soften up a bit before eating.

Here are some more pastry desserts you might like:

• Walnut Cardamom Pastries
• Cannoli
• Pistachio Cannoli

Boston Cream Puff Pastry

Camila Hurst

This delicious Boston Cream Puff Pastry is made of baked puff pastry filled with vanilla pastry cream, topped with a delicious chocolate glaze.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 6 pastries

Calories 320 kcal

Ingredients

  

Vanilla Pastry Cream

• 1 1/4 cup whole milk 283 grams
• 1 vanilla bean split and seeded or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 grams
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 large egg yolks

Pastry

• 1 sheet of prepared puff pastry thawed
• 1 egg

Chocolate Glaze

• 1/4 cup heavy cream (60 ml)
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup or honey
• 85 grams chopped chocolate (1/2 cup)

Instructions

 

Vanilla Pastry Cream

• It’s best to start by making the pastry cream, because it will take a couple hours in the fridge to become thick.
• Split the vanilla beans in half and remove the seeds. Place the seeds and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Once you see the first bubbles emerging, turn the heat off.
• Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl, until pale in color.
• Pour a bit of milk over the yolks while whisking. Do this slowly so you don’t cook the eggs. This process is called tempering the eggs, and you are supposed to add the milk slowly in order to not cook the eggs.
• Add another little bit and whisk. Do this until the milk has all been incorporated.
• Place the mixture back in the pan, over medium heat, stirring without stopping.
• Cook the custard for a few minutes until it becomes thick.
• When the custard starts thickening up, the mixture will look scrambled or lumpy. Just continue to stir and cook and it will come together and become smooth.
• When the custard is thick like pudding, remove from the heat.
• Place the custard in a bowl. If you didn’t add vanilla bean seeds, now it’s the time to add the vanilla extract to it. Stir to combine.
• Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard so it won’t form a skin as it cools down.
• Keep it refrigerated until ready to use, and I recommend refrigerating it for at least a couple of hours before using it.

Prepare the puff pastry

• Pre-heat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit.
• Make sure the puff pastry is thawed.
• Cut the pastry sheet in rectangles, my rectangles measured about 3.25”x5.25”. Essentially you could make this any shape you’d like. You could use round cutters to cut out circles, or cut squares of pastry.
• Place the rectangles on top of a baking sheet lined with silicone mat or parchment paper.
• Whisk the egg very well. Brush on top of the dough to cover its surface entirely, but don’t make it drenched.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes, until puffed up and golden.
• Remove from the oven and let it cool down, which should take about 10 or 15 minutes.
• While the pastries cool down make the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

• Mix the heavy cream with the corn syrup. Theoretically you don’t need the corn syrup, it’s only there to make the glaze shiny. Honey also works.
• Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in the microwave or in a small saucepan until it becomes super hot.
• Pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for just a minute.
• Stir with a spatula until the chocolate melts entirely.
• Let the glaze cool down for about 10 minutes or so, until no longer hot.

Assemble

• Slice the pastries in half like a sandwich.
• Place the pastry cream in a piping bag and pipe on the bottom half of the pastry.
• Top with the other half.
• Drizzle some of the chocolate glaze on top of the pastry. I found it easier and neater to put the chocolate glaze in a piping bag and snip the end with scissors and drizzle the glaze that way. I tried doing it with a spoon but it was a bit messy.

Storage

• You can eat the pastry immediately. But the pastry will stay fine in the fridge for a couple of days. We kept some in the fridge and they stayed fresh and crispy still even the next day.

Notes

Thaw puff pastry: Thawing puff pastry can be very easy. I often forget to get it out of the freezer to thaw it. It only takes about 40 minutes sitting on the counter to thaw, but if you are pressed for time, remove the puff pastry from the package, wrap it around paper towel, and place it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Turn the pastry over and microwave for another 15 seconds. The pastry should be cold still, but unfolding easily.

Egg wash alternative: you can mix the egg for the egg wash with a splash of milk, you can use just a yolk mixed with milk, you can even use just the white whisked by itself or milk.

Vanilla bean: you don’t have to use vanilla bean seeds from a vanilla pod. You can easily make this recipe using vanilla extract. To do so, simply skip adding the vanilla bean seeds to the milk when you are heating it up, and add the vanilla extract on step 10 of the pastry cream instructions.

Keyword pastry