Gluten Free Boston Cream Pie

This gluten free boston cream pie is one of my favorite desserts to make. It has a soft vanilla cake, a creamy custard filling, and a rich chocolate glaze on top.

If you have never had boston cream pie before, it is actually a cake and not a pie. It is a classic American dessert that has been around for a long time, and honestly, it is just as good without the gluten.

The cake itself is light and tender, and it comes together really quickly. You just mix everything in one bowl, bake it, and let it cool while you prepare the filling and the glaze.

The pastry cream in the middle is what really makes this special. It is thick, smooth, and tastes like vanilla pudding but better. Combined with that chocolate on top, every bite is perfect.

Best of all, nobody will be able to tell this is gluten free. It tastes just like the original, and it is a great option if you are baking for a group where not everyone eats gluten free.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It’s a Real Boston Cream Pie – This isn’t some sad imitation. It’s got the soft vanilla cake, the silky pastry cream filling, and that gorgeous chocolate glaze on top, just like the classic version but completely gluten free.

Nobody Will Know It’s Gluten Free – The 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour works so well in this cake that even your pickiest friends won’t be able to tell the difference. It comes out light, tender, and just like the original.

That Chocolate Glaze Is Unbelievably Easy – You literally just pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and butter, stir it up, and done. Three ingredients give you a glossy, rich chocolate topping that looks like it came from a professional bakery.

Only One Cake Layer to Bake – You just bake a single round cake and slice it in half horizontally. That means less time baking, less cleanup, and way less stress than dealing with multiple cake pans.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1 1/2 cups Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/3 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 2 large Eggs
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Pastry Cream

• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 3 tbsp Cornstarch
• 3 large Egg Yolks
• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Chocolate Glaze

• 4 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter

How to Make

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9-inch round cake pan lined with parchment. Beat gluten free flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and softened butter together. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Pour into the pan and bake 25 to 28 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

Step 2

Make the pastry cream by heating milk in a saucepan until it just begins to simmer. In a bowl, whisk sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks until pale. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking constantly.

Step 3

Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a pudding-like consistency, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla extract. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.

Step 4

For the chocolate glaze, heat heavy cream until it just begins to simmer. Pour over chopped chocolate and butter in a bowl. Let sit 2 minutes, then stir until smooth and glossy.

Step 5

Slice the cooled cake in half horizontally. Spread all of the chilled pastry cream onto the bottom half, then place the top layer back on. Pour the chocolate glaze over the top, letting it drip down the sides. Refrigerate 30 minutes before slicing.

Helpful Tips

Use Room Temperature Ingredients

Make sure your eggs, milk, and butter are all at room temperature before you start. Cold ingredients don’t blend together as smoothly, and with gluten free flour you really want everything to come together evenly so the cake has a nice, uniform texture.

The easiest way to do this is to pull everything out of the fridge about 30 to 45 minutes before you start baking. If you forgot, you can place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes and microwave the milk for just a few seconds to take the chill off.

Temper the Eggs Slowly

When you pour the hot milk into your egg yolk mixture for the pastry cream, you have to do it slowly and whisk the entire time. If you dump it all in at once, the heat will scramble the egg yolks and you’ll end up with lumpy cream that you can’t fix.

Start by pouring just a thin stream of hot milk in while whisking fast. Once you’ve added about half the milk and the egg mixture feels warm, you can pour a little faster. This process is called tempering, and it gradually brings the eggs up to temperature without cooking them.

Cool the Cake Completely Before Slicing

This cake needs to be fully cooled before you try to cut it in half horizontally. If it’s even a little warm, it will crumble and break apart when you slice through it, and gluten free cakes are already more delicate than regular ones.

Give it at least an hour on a wire rack, or even longer if your kitchen is warm. You can also pop it in the fridge for about 20 minutes after it cools on the counter to firm it up a bit more. A firmer cake is way easier to slice cleanly in half.

You Might Also Like

• Gluten Free Classic Vanilla Layer Cake
• Gluten Free Tres Leches Cake

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my pastry cream turn out lumpy?

This usually happens when the hot milk is added too quickly to the egg yolk mixture. The trick is to pour it in a slow, thin stream while whisking constantly so the eggs temper gradually and don’t scramble.

If you do end up with a few lumps, don’t worry. Just push the pastry cream through a fine mesh strainer before you chill it, and it will come out perfectly smooth.