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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Cooking / Mmmmmm….Pie! — Cake Edition

Mmmmmm….Pie! — Cake Edition

by | 180 Comments

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My poor kiddo has a cold and allergies that have left her with a sore throat. She came over for dinner and requested mac-and-cheese (creamy rather than baked) and a Boston cream pie for dessert.

These are both somewhat labor intensive dishes, but what the hell — anything for the kid. Here’s what the Boston cream pie looked like before it was hacked up and eaten:

boston-cream-pie-dec-2016

I think I overdid it on the ganache a bit, but then again, maybe too much chocolate simply isn’t possible. I used the same recipe I’ve used for years from a Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book that I acquired at a yard sale as a teen. I believe the ganache is usually thicker, but maybe it’s the humidity.

After dinner, we watched a terrible movie about an alien abduction on Netflix. I don’t remember the name, but it was set in the 1970s and featured James Garner as an irascible detective. It’s allegedly based on a true story. The entire population of the small town depicted in the movie appeared badly in need of anger management classes — even the moms, nurses and waitresses were snarly.

Anyhoo, open thread!

Reader Interactions

180Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    Ganache needs to be room temperature or warmer and the cake (or whatever it is you’re ganaching) has to be cold, like just out of the fridge cold. Otherwise it won’t set up right.

  4. 4.

    JGabriel

    Betty Cracker @ Top:

    After dinner, we watched a terrible movie about an alien abduction on Netflix. … The entire population of the small town depicted in the movie appeared badly in need of anger management classes — even the moms, nurses and waitresses were snarly.

    Trump voters explained.

  6. 6.

    Ramalama

    That dessert looks delectable.

    I went to the Parker House in Boston and had their Boston Cream Pie. Disappointing. Maybe too much hoo-ha build-up.

  10. 10.

    Morzer

    The entire population of the small town depicted in the movie appeared badly in need of anger management classes — even the moms, nurses and waitresses were snarly.

    Trumpton: 2016 (the director’s cut)

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer

    I’ve had the same thing as your kiddo, since Thanksgiving. Sneezes nonstop first day, followed by drips and coughs and stuffiness and headaches and sore throat and laryngitis and croaking. Mercifully, no fever or chills, so just a head cold, not flu. It is the physical manifestation of my three-week-old mental and emotional malaise.

    ETA: Creamy mac-and-cheese followed by Boston cream pie would go about 95% of the way toward curing me. Might I interest you in adopting a single white woman two decades your senior?

  14. 14.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Adam L Silverman: Once went to a reasonably expensive restaurant where the dessert was presented as something or other with ganache. But we were sitting at the counter, the kitchen was fairly open, and we could see the Hershey’s syrup bottle coming down from the shelf.

  15. 15.

    JGabriel

    Omnes Omnibus:

    Fire in the Sky?

    From Wikipedia:

    Despite mixed critical reviews upon release, Fire in the Sky has gone on to be described as a cult favorite among science fiction fans, with many praising the alien encounter scene as being among the most realistic, believable and well-executed abduction portrayals in the history of film.

    Realistic alien abduction?

    How would they know?

  17. 17.

    gogol's wife

    We tried to watch Monuments Men last night on TV. We gave up when the violence started. But I liked a lot of things about it. It was like Clooney was trying to make a Spencer Tracy-Van Johnson film but wasn’t quite sure how to do it. But I appreciated the effort.

  18. 18.

    Morzer

    @Baud:

    Perhaps we need a free-market approach here. Pay the kid to be “sick” and smuggle out copious quantities of ganache from the Cracker Premium Ganache Reserve.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    @Morzer:

    Perhaps we need a free-market approach here. Pay the kid to be “sick” and smuggle out copious quantities of ganache from the Cracker Premium Ganache Reserve.

    Maybe we can give her some tax breaks to entice her.

  28. 28.

    JGabriel

    @Baud:

    There’s only one. And he [Ganesh] has the normal number of arms.

    You’d best tell that to Bing & Google, then. They both feature an inordinate number of images showing Ganesh with two legs and four (count’em, 4) arms.

  31. 31.

    amygdala

    maybe too much chocolate simply isn’t possible

    Truth.

    Finished my holiday shopping. Still have to do the cards and baking, the latter of which is a bit of a production, since it involves ten batches of cookies. But I won’t have to brave the crowds until a trip to the post office to get it all in the mail in a week and a half or so.

  39. 39.

    gogol's wife

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    We love Demelza. It had a satisfying ending this season. Elizabeth’s character doesn’t make any sense, though. She’s good, she’s bad, she’s good, she’s bad. And they didn’t give John Nettles much to do.

  45. 45.

    Mary G

    I went to the doctors and a lady in the elevator had on a T-shirt that said :Drinks Well with Others: which made me laugh.

  52. 52.

    Pogonip

    How do you make your creamy mac and cheese that it’s labor-intensive? My mom went to the opposite extreme for creamy–she used Velveeta.

    I never make it creamy now, as I like little chewy gobs of cheese. We only use Velveeta for parties–nacho dip.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    Saw the ganache and expected this would be an Adam post. The man knows his ganache.

    Looks delish. Hope CrackerDaughter is on the mend.

    At grocery store today, saw a magazine cover: “Trapped With a Madman.”

    It was about Kanye, though.

  58. 58.

    JGabriel

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I shall perform my victory dance.

    My own victory dance bears a remarkable resemblance to Al Gore doing the Macarena.

    (File Under: Jokes No One Under 40 Will Get)

  67. 67.

    raven

    It was invented in 1918 by Emil Frey of the Monroe Cheese Company in Monroe, New York. In 1923, The Velveeta Cheese Company was incorporated as a separate company, and was sold to Kraft Foods in 1927. The product was advertised at the time as a nutritious health food.[1] According to Kraft’s website, in the 1930s, Velveeta became the first cheese product to gain the American Medical Association’s seal of approval.[2]

  71. 71.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    Listening to Terry Gross talking to Eric Lipton of the NYT about Trumpy’s conflicts of interest. Apparently Usay or Qusay went hunting in Turkey. Why Turkey? They couldn’t find a place in the US to hunt??? Or was the Douchebag hunting some endangered animal??Jeezus I can’t stand hunting.

  73. 73.

    Pogonip

    @Omnes Omnibus: My mom baked macaroni and (real) cheese like that, but she didn’t like crumbs on it. Not till I got to school did I learn my early childhood had been tragically crumb-deprived.

  77. 77.

    Elizabelle

    Did you guys see the NY Times headline, up a few hours now:

    As Cabinet Prospect, Petraeus Has Backers, and a Blemish

    A blemish. As opposed to EMAILS, EMAILS, EMAILS.

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    Worth the slight extra effort is preparing a close enough to be indistinguishable pan of Horn & Hardart Automat mac & cheese. Baked and creamy, all in one.

    Secret to elevating any mac & cheese a cut above is to avoid elbow macaroni and use pasta with a thicker shell, such as rigatoni, penne riagti or even rotini, which will hold onto the sauce better and not become mushy during cooking or reheating.

  84. 84.

    Waynski

    @Iowa Old Lady: You’re right. It’s not cheese, but it melts like a dream and is not bad to make a mac n’ cheese with. Add some grilled chicken chunks w/a bit of garlic if you’re not a vegan. Great comfort dish.

  89. 89.

    Pogonip

    @raven: Right. If he aims at the red nose in the lead, the other 7 tiny reindeer will fly right into it.

    (Somewhere, my father is smiling.)

  92. 92.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    Just saw during the football game that Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be the host of The New Celebrity Apprentice. “My job is to terminate you one by one.” Ugh.

  95. 95.

    Pogonip

    @Omnes Omnibus: Very creative. Most women wear hats.

    My feeling is the perfect m & c is spiral grooved noodles, a little milk, a lot of shredded sharp Cheddar, maybe a little tuna and some peas. Bake till crusty on edges and soft and chewy in the middle.

  97. 97.

    CaseyL

    I could go for some mac’n’cheese. I made a quick and dirty version a couple of weeks ago, just melted some cheese on top of macaroni. Tasted just fine, but it wasn’t creamy.

    I went through an era of really liking Velveeta. In my defense, I was quite young. I don’t remember what I liked so much about it. Maybe the color.

  98. 98.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Davebo: I don’t believe I’ve ever made Chile con queso, but I loathe Velveeta or any so called “American cheese.” Cheeseburgers are gross.

    My brother makes fabulous mac and cheese. He uses a combination of cheddar and Gruyere. And there are crumbs.

  104. 104.

    Gravenstone

    @Davebo: I think that’s a prerequisite of college students everywhere. My mother would actually get offended if I didn’t schlep home a duffle bag full of laundry on weekend trips.

  108. 108.

    trollhattan

    Have never wanted to go to Florida before*, but am prepared to hop on a plane for the pie leftovers. Will bring wine, so quid quo pro plus capsule sculptures.

    *Did I mention California is fvcking cold right now?

  109. 109.

    Davebo

    @Pogonip:

    I love goat cheese! Just not melted on a tortilla chip.

    For me, the only acceptable use of Velveeta is Chile con queso and there really is no substitute.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    Early for holiday movies, however It Happened on Fifth Avenue just beginning on TCM.

    Cute and fun.

    Will be shown again closer to the actual holiday.

  113. 113.

    Pogonip

    I am glad the site is getting back to normal. All You-know-who All The Time was getting boring.

    Now we need a disaster story from Cole and some sweet Walter pix.

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Davebo: Not a fan of goat cheese or milk. Weird aftertaste. I do like roasted goat though – but not as much as lamb. Lamb is yummy.

  117. 117.

    Davebo

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Grilled some lamb chops the other night that were fabulous. My late wife’s mother would never eat lamb claiming it tastes like human which always left me wondering…..

  119. 119.

    BGinCHI

    @Omnes Omnibus: We pretty much just make burgers out of ground lamb now, instead of beef. So much more flavor. Add a little feta and mint and it’s perfect.

    Hey, any chance you have a sous vide rig? I just got one and it’s amazing.

  121. 121.

    schrodinger's cat

    @JGabriel: The number of arms are not important. He can have as many or as few arms as you like.

    Ganesha with many arms here
    Here he has two.
    Ganesha is the God of knowledge, he is always invoked first, because even if he may look comical, he is the smartest of them all, that makes him formidable.

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Corner Stone: I am being shunned because of the aftertaste of goat cheese? I did not see that one coming.

    @BGinCHI: Lamb burgers sound great. And I do not have a sous vide rig. I am pretty lo-fi on the personal cooking front – if someone else goes high tech, I’ll give tasting it a shot.

  126. 126.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman:

    For some alternate universe meaning of “cold” which means “have to wear long pants and a light windbreaker.”

    Heaven forfend!

  130. 130.

    Corner Stone

    @Omnes Omnibus: If you’re not having young maidens rubbing their roasted lamb chops all over your goat cheese and chervil smeared torso then I no longer want to hear any blathering from you while you cross country ski all day and drive your Saab downhill after.

  136. 136.

    trollhattan

    @efgoldman:
    Nuh-uh, shorts, flip-flops and down parka. While grillin’.

    Didn’t help it was 90 half of October so we didn’t transition to winter, it just showed up.

  137. 137.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @BGinCHI:

    I’ve been eyeballing that since it went on sale. Don’t know that I can justify it in the current cooking-for-one and not-much-entertaining environment.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    Don’t know that I can justify it in the current cooking-for-one and not-much-entertaining environment.

    That is one of my issues with anything new in the world of cookery.

  150. 150.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    ~65 degrees and rainy right now. Probably will drop down into the fifties tonight here up on the mountainside where the abode sits. Time to figure out where squirreled away the bedroom slippers.

  154. 154.

    Lizzy L

    @efgoldman:
    @NotMax:
    38 degrees at dawn this morning, when I took my morning walk. 44 degrees right now, and it’ll probably go lower. Last winter the lowest it got was 26, I think. My next door neighbors’ beautiful trellised chayote plant turned black overnight, he was very sad. It’s not Minnesota cold, but it’s not Florida, either.

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @efgoldman:

    Yep. Game is much better than I thought it would be. I’ve got it on because Hinterland turned out to be an episode I’ve seen.

  159. 159.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @fuckwit: What is Boston clam chowder? I am familiar with New England clam chowder. As opposed to the abomination that is Manhattan clam chowder.

  163. 163.

    Origuy

    Herb Caen, the late columnist for the SF Chronicle, once described Chico, CA, as a place where grocery stores put Velveeta in the gourmet foods section. Not really fair. He should have said Bakersfield.

  166. 166.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Davebo: Saabs that have a clean Carfax are likely to be damn near bulletproof. They are either damned near flawless or they are fuck up. If you bought one with no problems, then another 200,000 miles is possible. If you bought a problem one, god help you. Mine is lovely.

  169. 169.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Had an Audi for a time in the early 70s that fell squarely into the second category. People would occasionally ask what make and model it was, and would tell them “It’s an Audi Limona.”

    Beautiful, splendid drive for the approximately 10 days it ran like a champ before the next problem cropped up.

  170. 170.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @NotMax: My Saab has been bulletproof aside from minor things like the rear left lights giving out. (They are back-ordered.)

  173. 173.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman:

    What about Boston Clam Chowder? Is that just for the tourists too?

    No, that’s real – although a lot of the tourist places pour it out of a can.
    (Smaller places along the coast tend to make their own. Fine as long as it’s not that abomination piss with tomato juice in it.)

    That’s not chowder. It’s a perfectly good clam bisque. Though tomato juice sounds a little off; I’d recommend a high-end tomato sauce along with your heavy cream, milk, butter, clams, etc.

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    That is true. Velveeta is “processed cheese food” which is by definition not the same as cheese. Also, it is terrible. I do Mexican cheese by making a roux and then adding creme and cheeses to it, slowly, along with a little salsa, or minced jalapenos and sauteed onions.

    Eta fixs stuff.

    Not as easy as melting Velveeta, but more like actual, you know, food.

  175. 175.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    When I was in the nav, working on my ship’s overhaul at a yard on the Gulf Coast of MS over a hot summer, they brought around salt tabs and kool-aide like flavored water. We had to drink a quart every hour or so, and take a salt pill.

    And we never had to pee, because it was coming out our skins from working in high temps and high humidity. I sweat like a navvy to this day if I work hard on a hot day. Now that I’m old, semi-disabled, etc, I just don’t do that very much. Maybe if there was a forest fire in the ‘hood. I hope not to see that again.

    Fighting fire is really hard. Doing it in the woods away from fire fighting equipment like pumpers etc is harder.

    A cousin was a hot-shot fire fighting team member working for the Forest Service. Carried a 35-inch chainsaw into the deep woods. Once ran up a ridge fleeing a fire that was about to over-run them, melted her boots. Quite a woman, but quit the hot-shot team after that, a little too close for comfort as they say.

    Would do it to save local homes, if possible. What we saw in TN recently, though, unpossible, can’t fight that. Just run away. Take what you can gather in moments, and run.

  179. 179.

    pluky

    @Iowa Old Lady: For sure! I grew up thinking I hated cheese because my parents scope of choices was limited to Kraft American and Velveeta. Then in grad school one of my housemates shamed me into trying a bit of Havarti. Who knew what wonders exist!

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