Try Boston cream pie pancakes, with homemade pastry cream, chocolate ganache, and fluffy pancakes for a decadent breakfast.
Megan from Country Cleaver is a relatively new friend of mine in the food blogging world but I am so happy we “met” each other on Twitter. Megan is awesome, her site is awesome, and I think we can all agree these pancakes are awesome. (And that I should stop saying “awesome.”)
Good morning, shining faces! I’m Megan and I can’t wait to share this delicious pancake recipe with you.
I like opposite days. Days where you throw caution to the wind, turning left on that road you haven’t traveled before, eat dessert first when all rationale dictates you eat your vegetables instead, and when “no” really means “yes”.
As in – yes, you should really eat a heaping stack of these pancakes. Especially because they’re practically dessert. And it’s even better when you can eat your dessert for breakfast.
And what better way to have your dessert for breakfast than by making Boston cream pie pancakes.
I can’t help but imagine a world where cakes and pancakes – two utterly divine creations in themselves – are combined to create a confection of epic proportions. We are naturally drawn to the mystical and healing properties of chocolate, and an ethereal fluffy pastry cream that is delicious enough to bathe in.
Why not combine the beauty of a Boston Cream Pie with classical breakfast fare? Why not, indeed?! I command you to make these. You won’t be disappointed!
Prepare the pastry cream the night before and chill it. Before preparing the pancakes, make the chocolate ganache.
To assemble, stack pancakes and layer with prepared pastry cream between each pancake. Pour chocolate ganache over the top and promptly devour. So delicious!
Boston Cream Pie Pancakes
Ingredients
Pastry Cream
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 whole vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (or 2 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract)
- 3 whole egg yolks, beaten
- 1 tablespoon butter
Chocolate Ganache
- 8 oz. chocolate
- 1 cup heavy cream
Pancakes
- 1 cup yellow cake mix
- 1 cup dry pancake mix
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
Pastry Cream
- Make up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate until 1 hour prior to use.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, half-and-half, and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Temper the eggs by whisking in ¼ cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk slowly.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
- Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, and press the plastic wrap on top of the pastry cream to make sure it doesn’t form a skin. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.
Ganache
- In small saucepan, heat heavy cream. Stir in chocolate and whisk until melted and the two are completely combined. Remove from heat and set aside.
Pancakes
- In large bowl, whisk together pancake mix and cake mix. Stir in milk, eggs and vanilla until the mixture is smooth.
- Heat a large griddle or large pan over medium high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour ⅓ cup of batter into pan or griddle and allow to cook until golden brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Gingerly flip pancake over and continue to cook until the other side has turned golden brown – about 1 ½ minutes. Remove from griddle/pan and allow to cool.
- To assemble: Stack pancakes and layer with prepared pastry cream between each pancake. Pour chocolate ganache over the top and promptly devour.
Notes
- If you prefer, make your own pancake mix. You can also use 2 cups of pancake mix and omit the cake mix.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I’ve made these every Christmas morning for 6 years and now making them for Mother’s Day breakfast and putting strawberries on top versus the chocolate ganache. My family fell in love with these Boston cream pie pancakes that first year and it would not be Christmas without them! Thank you for this recipe and for contributing to our family tradition!
Oh I love that SO much! Thank you for letting me know!
These cream pie pancakes are so Instagrammable and adorable! As you know I made it a short while ago and it was lovely! Thx for sharing!
So glad to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Awesomeness boston cream pie pancakes! These pancakes just look SO incredibly delicious and I am so craving a slice right now!
Perfect!
Hi, I would like to know what to use as a substitute to cake mix and pancake mix? like more natural ingredients?? can I just add real cake batter or pancake batter? thanks :)
I would love to fit this into a 9×13 to bring to a brunch.. any ideas? square pancakes?
Hmmm…maybe just layer them in a pan? Or you could do square pancakes but you’d need some kind of mold, or special talent. ;)
What type of chocolate would you use for the ganache?…semi-sweet, milk, dark, etc.
Also, were you able to come up with a substitute for the 1 cup of cake mix? I hate to only use part of a box and have to throw the rest away.
This recipe looks dreamy!!
Hi Dianna! Thanks for commenting. Megan from Country Cleaver is the brains behind this amazing recipe. I’ll let her know you have some questions and I can bet she’ll be here soon to answer them :)
Oh my these are divine!!!!
I’m going to have to make these real SOON :)
Hi, my mouth is watering for this recipe but I’m Italian and we don’t have pancake nor cake mixes here. Is there a way I can do without it? I mean, of course I can find some pancake recipe online, but what about substituing for the cake mix? And how could I be sure that, even making a cake mix from scratch, the two recipes (pancake/cake) would actually work out well together? Would it be too much to ask for a recipe “from scratch”?
Grazie mille
Emma
Hi Emma, I’m Megan the developer of this recipe. I’d be happy to figure out at completely “from scratch” recipe that will get your the tasty results without using any cake mix from a box. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions and we can communicate directly that way. It may take me a couple of weeks to get back to you – since I am getting married in a week and will be on my honeymoon – but please let me know how to reach you again with a customized recipe. :) Happy Baking! ~Megan
My e-mail address is wannabeacountrycleaver@yahoo.com
Hi Emma! Thanks for reading and commenting. I just wanted to leave a quick note here to make sure you noticed Megan’s response in case you didn’t elect to be notified of follow up comments.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks a lot to both of you for being so willing to share and for granting me the opportunity to find out more about other countries’ recipes.
I’d be happy to reciprocate by sharing some Italian recipes. I’m no professional chef at all but I’m fond of cooking, and in southern Italy, where I live, everything is made from scratch, so I’d be more than happy to answer question that you might have about Italian cooking.
Thanks again
Emma
Rachel, you and your guest bloggers are killing me with these awesome pancakes! I definitely should NOT be trying to catch up on my blog reader before I’ve had breakfast! I feel like I might starve to death unless I get some awesome pancakes right now! :)
Oh my heck. I have no words. I need this in my life.