Boston Cream Pie - just another winter project!

I finally got around to celebrating National Pie Day! I asked Brian what his favorite pie was and he said Boston Cream Pie. In my opinion, this is not really a pie at all . . . it's a cake, but I forged ahead nonetheless. After all the word "pie" is in the name!

I have never made Boston Cream Pie before so I started with an online recipe search (my poor neglected cook book collection!) I found a recipe that received good reviews and a warning to not cut corners and use a cake mix and pudding mix. I baked the cake, boiled the custard, and melted chocolate for the ganache.

I used plain white fondant and my new lobster and sloop molds (Christmas presents from a schooner guest - thank you Drea!) to make decorations.

The first lobster I tried to make didn't want to come out of the mold very easily so I sprinkled some powdered sugar in first and that did the trick.

I got out some food coloring and some paint brushes . . .

and was pretty happy with the results.

Then came the fun of assembling the pie.

I made the mistake of whisking the ganache instead of just using a wooden spoon. All those little dots are not lumps, they are air bubbles.

And then decorating the pie. I put the four top lobsters on first and realized too late that there was not going to be enough room for my sloop nor the other four lobsters. I adjusted my original plan and had the remaining lobsters bend over the edge and now I kind of I wish I had done that with all eight.

And then, of course, the best part of the whole process; eating it! Brian got the first piece.