Boston Cream Strata

Oops.  Someone went overboard in the baking aisle this week.

While I'm trying to eat healthy and yadda-yadda-yadda, I cannot explain how I bought twice the intended amount of almost all the ingredients for Nanaimo Bars.  I'm sure I could whip up another batch if I wanted to, but that seems like it would be the opposite of healthy, responsible eating.

Instead, I figured I'd make something an immeasurably tiny bit healthier.  Maybe.

And before you put on your cranky pants, I want to assure you that making authentic Boston Cream Pie with authentic Boston Cream is on my definite To-Do list.  So, if you are taken aback by the relative ease of this dessert because of the pudding mix, you are welcome to substitute in the real deal.  But if you wake up some days tired and groggy, like I do, and you're too lazy to change out of your pajamas, like I am, but you're craving something gooey and chocolatey, like I was, this recipe is a definite winner.

A good friend of mine has made this cake a couple times now, but it's always been a hit.  The Hubbs has specifically requested it at several social gatherings, including last week's Super Bowl.

As fate would have it, many ingredients I bought this week fit in perfectly with this Boston Cream Strata.  I'd take credit for indulging in another sweet-tooth fantasy, but I'm thinking that Destiny clearly wanted me to make this, or else I wouldn't have had all the ingredients so readily available.

I blame Destiny.



Boston Cream Cake

2 boxes graham crackers
2 boxes instant French Vanilla pudding mix
1 16oz. tub of frozen whipped topping
3 - 3 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3 cups Confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp Espresso powder

Combine pudding and milk.  Whisk mixture about 2-3 minutes.  Gently fold in the whipped topping.  Chill in the refrigerator.

Line a 9x13 pan with one layer of graham crackers.  Spread 1/3 of pudding over the top.  Repeat this layering two more times.  Finish with one more layer of graham cracker on the top.

In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together.  Once melted pour over the Confectioner's sugar.  Add the espresso powder and stir until everything is well-combined.  Pour the chocolate over the top layer of graham crackers.

Allow the chocolate to set in the refrigerator before serving.  You want the graham crackers to soften and the chocolate to cut cleanly into squares.



Listening to:   Theory of a Deadman - Bad Girlfriend