Boston Cream Pie Pancakes

For the pastry cream:

Make this up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate until 1 hour prior to use.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk, heavy cream/half-and-half, vanilla bean and vanilla caviar to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set the pan aside to infuse the mixture 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 egg mixture by whisking in 1/4 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 until melted.

With a mesh strainer over a medium bowl, press pastry cream through the strainer with a spatula to remove any curdled bits that may have formed and remove the vanilla bean. Let the strained pastry cream 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 in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. Whisk again before serving.

For the chocolate ganache:

In a small saucepan, heat heavy cream. Stir in chocolate and whisk until melted and the two are completely combined. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the pancakes:

In a 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 1/3 cup of batter into the pan or griddle and allow it to cook until golden brown on the bottom, 2-3 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. Repeat with the remaining batter.

To assemble:

Stack pancakes and layer with prepared pastry cream between each pancake. Pour chocolate ganache over the top and promptly devour.