Boston Skyscaper for Father’s Day

Marc has a sweet tooth. Actually, I suspect it is more like a prehistoric fang although I see no evidence of it…well other than the constant intake of large hershey bars, twizzlers, whoppers, ice cream and anything with sugar in it that I create.  Luckily for him he is 6′6″ and works really hard to keep his weight hovering around a very muscular 200 lbs.  There are times that I do consider divorcing him to marry someone who has to diet, at least long enough to lose my own extra weight…

 Not really.

   I wanted to make him a special dessert for Father’s Day. In going through his favorites I remembered it had been some time since I had made a Boston Cream pie and I thought that might bejust the thing..but I wanted soemthing a little different….

  I made my favorite pound cake recipe in a loaf pan, sliced i into 4 layers horizontally, sprinkled the cake layers with coffee, put on a layer of chocolate, a layer of creme patisserie, and then repeated starting with a cake layer. I wanted to serve mine last night so I popped it in the freezer a few hours but I strongly suggest you allow it to chill and set up over night..I got one really good slice out of it for photography purposes (God is good, I was praying..) but the rest were messy..but delicious.

The cake is from a vintage cookbook, Cooking FOr American Homemakers, and I just love it. It is not as old as some I have but it is extensive and includes such delicacies as opossum and raccoon.. (yuck).

Thrifty Pound Cake

3 c cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 c unsalted butter

1 1/2 c sugar

1 tbs vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

3 eggs

1/2 c milk

sift dry ingredients together.  Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and add eggs one at a time beating until well incorporated. Add dry ingredients and milk alternating between the two and starting and ending with the flour .

Spoon into a greased oaf pan and bake 60 minutes at 350.  Cool thoroughly.

Creme Patisserie 

2 egg yolks

2 1/2 c half and half  ( I used goats milk..it has such a lot of cream)

1/4 c flour

pinch salt

3/4 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 TBS butter

mix everything except vanilla and butter in a microwave safe dish and microwave until thick, stirring every minute.  Remove from micowave and let cool slightly before adding the butter and vanilla  and stirring in….cover with greased wax paper and chill.

Chocolate

12 oz dark chocolate

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs light corn syrup

 Melt together in microwave..stir until smooth. Use warm.

To Assemble:

Place plastic wrap in loaf pan so it covers bottom and sides and there is enough on each side to totally wrap the cake when you are finished with the layers.Spray with cooking spray.

  Place the bottom layer in the lined pan and sprinkle with coffee, then smooth on a layer of chocolate and finally cover with part of the cream. carefully lay on a second layer and repeat until all layers are on. Cover the top layer with chocolate and sliced almonds..You will need to have someone hold up the sides ofthe plastic to support the top layer. Wrap the plastic tightly around the cake and chill over night.

  Using the plastic, pull out of the pan and slice carefully.