Lucky me has tickets to see The Decemberists tomorrow night in Boston. I’ll have had 11 days to completely absorb their new album, The King Is Dead, and my husband will have had 11 days to find at least one song from it that he can tolerate. This album has not knocked me over like The Hazards Of Love did, but it would be unfair to expect that level of creativity and musical genius with every release. I’m not going to judge The King Is Dead until I’ve seen some songs performed live. Sometimes that is all it takes to elevate a so so song to something that is suddenly my flavor of the day.

In honor of a trip to Beantown I thought Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes would be just the thing to make. These are really delicious. Just like The Decemberists.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 butter yellow cake mix
1 3-oz. box French vanilla instant pudding (vanilla is fine)
1 cup half and half
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup powdered sugar
24 maraschino cherries with stems

Chocolate Ganache:

3/4 cup heavy cream
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Prepare cupcakes from cake mix as directed on box.

2. Prepare the vanilla custard filling by combining the instant pudding mix with the half and half in a medium bowl.  In a stand mixer combine cream, vanilla and powdered sugar and whip at medium speed until soft peaks form.  Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until it is fully incorporated and smooth.  Place filling into a pastry bag fitted with a #21 star tip or an elongated tip like I used here. (I had a whole lot of filling left over)

3. When the cupcakes have cooled, place the tip of the pastry bag inside each cupcake and pipe in filling, being careful not to overfill.

4. When all the cupcakes have been filled, prepare the ganache.  Place cream in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Put the chopped chocolate into a large bowl. When the cream comes to the boil, remove it from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

5. Dip the tops of the cupcakes in the ganache.  Place glazed cupcakes on a cooling rack to dry.

6. Drain and pat dry maraschino cherries.  Before the ganache has set up place a cherry on top for garnish.

Makes 24 Cupcakes.

Adapted from What’s Cookin, Chicago?

Time to blast The Decemberists. If I had to name my favorite song on The King Is Dead after the catchy ‘Down By The Water’, it would have to be ‘Rise To Me’. The pedal steel is very reminiscent of that in The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned). Lyrically, I’m all over the my darling, my sweetheart, and my loves tucked into ‘Rise To Me’. There are also full bellies. They must have been tucking into some cupcakes.

The Decemberists-Rise To Me

Some Samantha Crain couldn’t hurt.

Samantha Crain-Devils In Boston

When we saw The Decemberists during their Hazards Of Love tour, my husband was in a coma for the first few songs. He first sat up when he heard the opening notes of The Wanting Comes In Waves and I am sure that was to make sure that I was not hyperventilating. How can they possibly play this song in concert without Shara Worden? How can they possibly not play it? Okay, Slow, deep breaths.

The Decemberists-The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid

Cheers!