High Altitude Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

High altitude Boston cream pie cupcakes, made with fluffy vanilla cupcakes that are filled with homemade vanilla bean custard. The cupcakes are frosted with chocolate buttercream, then finished with a little chocolate ganache drip. The combination of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting, creamy custard and chocolate ganache is too good to resist!

You might also love these high altitude cupcake recipes for coconut caramel cupcakes, chocolate hostess cupcakes, and chocolate chip cookie cupcakes.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Fluffy, Moist, Creamy, Chocolatey. There’s so many flavors and textures to love in these Boston cream pie cupcakes, and they all work together so well.

Easy to Make. You may not think these cupcakes seem easy, with four different elements to make. But each part is uncomplicated, and comes together quickly.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients in a Boston Cream Pie

A Boston cream pie isn’t even a pie at all, it’s a cake, usually vanilla or yellow cake, layered with custard. The finishing touch is a thick layer of chocolate ganache poured on top of the custard filled cake. So for my Boston cream pie cupcakes, you’ll be making vanilla cupcakes, vanilla custard, chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache, then putting them all together into one very delicious cupcake.

Vanilla Custard

• Whenever I make vanilla custard (pastry cream) for a pie filling, cupcake filling, or just to eat from a bowl with a spoon, I use this recipe for vanilla bean custard. It’s easy to scale up or down, depending on how much you need. I’ll make it thicker (with more corn starch) for pie fillings and a bit looser for other purposes. Sometimes I make it with just milk, and sometimes with milk and cream.
• It’s fantastic on its own, layered with cake and cream in a trifle, or spooned along side a warm fruit crumble. You can make the custard a day in advance, so it’s ready to fill your cupcakes as soon as you bake them.

Vanilla Cupcakes

• For the cupcakes, my easy vanilla cupcakes are perfect with the custard filling and chocolate buttercream. They’re soft, moist, light and fluffy, and great with any flavor frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream

• While most Boston cream pie cupcakes are dipped in ganache, I wanted some chocolate buttercream on mine, too. The chocolate buttercream is fluffy, rich, and not too sweet. This recipe makes a generous amount of frosting, which you can definitely cut in half if you like a little less.

Chocolate Drip

• And lastly, the ganache, a simple combination of chocolate and cream. The ganache dripping down the chocolate buttercream is so pretty, and sinfully yummy.

Instructions

Make the custard.

• In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar and corn starch. Whisk in the egg yolks, milk and vanilla bean paste.
• Over medium heat, whisk the custard constantly and bring it to a boil. It should take about 8-12 minutes of whisking before it begins to boil and thicken. Once this happens, continue to cook, whisking constantly, for 1 full minute, until the custard is very thick.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until smooth. Pour the custard through a mesh strainer to remove any bits of cooked egg. Take a piece of plastic wrap and press it right against the hot custard. Refrigerate the custard for several hours, until thoroughly chilled, before filling the cupcakes.

Bake the cupcakes.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan/s with 15 paper liners.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder, then whisk until everything is well distributed.
• Separately, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and whisk just until combined.

• Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling them no more than 2/3 – 3/4 full.
• Bake the cupcakes on the center oven rack for about 18 minutes, until the centers of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool the cupcakes in the pans for several minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling with the custard.
• Use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cooled cupcakes. Fit a piping bag with a medium round tip, and fill with the chilled vanilla custard. Pipe the custard into the cupcakes.

Frost with the buttercream.

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, meringue powder and salt. With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls to the butter, mixing just until combined. The buttercream will be clumpy at this point.
• Add the vanilla, and increase the speed to medium. Whip the buttercream for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy, adding the milk only as needed for desired consistency.
• Fit a piping bag with a large piping tip (I used tip 2D, but 1M is another favorite of mine), and fill with the buttercream. Pipe tall mounds of buttercream onto the filled cupcakes.

Finish with the chocolate ganache drip.

• In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine the cream and chopped chocolate. Warm the mixture gently, stirring constantly with a spatula, just until smooth and melted. Remove from the heat.
• While the ganache is warm, use a spoon to spoon it on top of the frosted cupcakes, letting it drip down the buttercream a little. The ganache will firm and set into a fudge-like consistency in about an hour.

Recipe Variation

Dip in Chocolate Ganache

If you want to forego the chocolate buttercream, and simply dip your cupcakes in ganache, use the recipe and process described in this post for chocolate hostess cupcakes. Be sure to seal the top of the cupcakes with a little piece of cake, after filling with custard and before dipping them in ganache.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

What piping tip did you use for the frosting?

I used piping tip 2D.

How should I store these cupcakes?

Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Can I use chocolate chips for the ganache?

When making ganache, I always recommend chopping up a bar of good quality chocolate, rather than using chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain ingredients that prevent them from melting as smoothly, and they make an inferior ganache, which doesn’t always thicken and set up correctly. I like to use Chocolove 55% Dark Chocolate when making ganache.

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