Boston Cream Pie | Recipe with a History
How Boston cream pie — a French-inspired cake — became New England’s favorite pie. Well, sort of …
By Aimee Tucker|Jan 07 2015|
Boston Cream Pie photographed on location at <a href="http://www.twinelmfarm.com/">Twin Elm Farm</a>, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Photo Credit: Melissa DiPalmaWhen is a cake not a cake? The answer, of course, is when it’s a Boston cream pie. Described by The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink as “that much beloved half-cake, half-pie mutt,” this two-layer yellow cake, filled with thick pastry cream and topped with a glossy chocolate glaze, appears unmistakably all cake. So why “pie”? And where did this signature New England dessert come from?
Boston’s Parker House Hotel (now the Omni Parker House) is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of what today we call Boston cream pie, and its first chef, by the name of Sanzian, its creator. Starting with a rich butter sponge cake filled with a rum-infused pastry cream, he coated the sides with toasted sliced almonds and spread a layer of chocolate fondant on top, embellishing it with a delicate spiderweb of white fondant. At that time, pie and cake tins were often considered interchangeable, as were the words themselves. This lax approach to labeling is likely why Sanzian’s French-inspired concoction débuted as “Chocolate Cream Pie” in 1856, and why subsequent versions continued to be called pies rather than cakes.
With a few minor tweaks, the original recipe is still the one served in the famed Parker House dining room, but in kitchens across New England, a simpler adaptation emerged. It’s thought that home cooks, smitten with the gourmet Parker House cake but unable to re-create it, simply turned to a similar recipe and improvised. The most popular such confection of its time was “Washington pie,” a jam-filled layer cake topped with powdered sugar. By swapping pastry cream for jam and chocolate glaze for powdered sugar, the modern Boston cream pie was born.
Today this classic combination is a favorite not just in Massachusetts, where it became the official state dessert in 1996, but nationwide. Betty Crocker produced a boxed Boston cream pie mix for sale in grocery stores for more than 30 years, and Boston cream pie cupcakes, ice cream, and even doughnuts (another official Bay State favorite) are other popular variations.
Although it may be a challenge to explain how our curious cake-meets-pie originally came to be, enjoying a slice of it isn’t hard at all. As long as New Englanders’ beloved Boston cream pie remains on the menu, well, we’ll just keep trying.
Adventurous bakers may visit the Omni Parker House Web site for the original gourmet version, but our own Boston cream pie recipe relies on the familiar combination of golden cake, sweet pastry cream, and smooth chocolate glaze. We find that the small amount of gelatin in the pastry cream helps ensure impressive, stable results.
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Boston Cream Pie
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Boston Cream Pie | A Pie in Cake’s Clothing
This was my husband’s favorite cake. I still honor his memory on his birthday by making or buying it.
We all love it.
I have always LOVED this and would make it for my family. It became my oldest daughter’s favorite. Every birthday cake had to be this. We even brought one to her at college…5 hours away! To this day when she’s home I make it for her (and us!)
I have a lot of respect for Shirin Platt remarks very nice. P.S. I love Boston Cream Pie.
What happened to the ability to Send to Pinterest?
Hi Coralie,
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Mom used to make that for my birthday. Dad got a cake with marshmallows covered in chocolate and sister got strawberry shortcake
Another interesting article by Aimee Seavey. Boston Cream Pie is one my favorites. I love that maybe it is, or, maybe it isn’t – a pie.
Where is the “Print” button? Love this cake, want to make it today, but need to print it.
Hi Donna. If you visit the recipe page, it’ll give you an easy print option. https://newengland.com/today/food/boston-cream-pie-6/
Where is the Betty Crocker Boston Creme Pie Cake Mix? – It was the best and I cannot find it anywhere now.
Elizabeth, I googled Betty Crocker Boston Creme Pie and it came up! I am not sure if I can leave a link so I thought I’d just tell you. I had an old Betty Crocker recipe I had lost out of my book. A girl from Ebay was kind enough to email me a copy. You can bet I now have many of those copies scattered so as to not loose it again. That was from my first ever cookbook back in 1973! Hope you find which one you’re looking for. If not shoot me an email if it was in an older book I may have it. Angel Blessings, Kim
While visiting Prince Edward Island we came upon Seaweed Pie Cafe in Miminegash. Seaweed Pie must be a cousin to Boston Cream Pie as it is very similar. It is two layers of cake with a seaweed filling and dusted with powered sugar.
My mother used to make a fabulous Boston Cream Pie and never had a better one.
Had it at The Parker House..wonderful.
I remember my mom telling me ever so proudly that when she attended Girls High School in the 1940’s, she got to make a Boston Cream Pie for being on the Honor Roll…
Dear Yankee Magazine — As the House Historian of the Omni Parker House in Boston, I couldn’t help but notice that lovely as it always is to see stories about Boston Cream Pie, your article is out of date. In the past few years we have discovered that there never was a chef named Sanzian. Instead, the actual famous French chef at the Parker House was named Augustine Anezin, and he worked there from 1865 until his death in 1881. Based on those dates, the fact that Boston Cream Pie was invented there in 1856 is simply impossible! So we generally say it occurred during the period of Anezin’s reign … sometime after 1865!
If you want to know more, I’ll happily share more stories with you.
Best, Susan Wilson
Thanks. Very informative.
My mother was raised by Nun from Boston as were some of the other nuns where she was brought up. The treat they made for the girls was boston cream pie. Sr. Paraclete was like a grandmother to me and the biggest treat we ever got was Boston Cream Pie ala Sister Paraclete. I’m 87 years old & I still love that “pie” made in a pie tin.
Now residing in Southern California, but originally from Everett, MA, I have spread the glory of Boston Cream Pie to places far and wide, including my tour of duty the Vietnam War with the Air Force to France, Spain, Morocco, Libya and Germany. Although never in-country during the war, my tour and my baking Boston Cream Pie and serving it to the servicemen and women and locals was legendary. Sure made friends for our American military wherever I travelled.
Still love it today!
I live in SoCal now too, but I will always be from Watertown MA. I have a deep seeded love for Boston Cream Pie, nothing beats it.
Chaplain DOV Cohen – Boston Cream Pie Veteran
My grandmother used to make Boston Cream Pie. We lived in PA and when I turned 18 I moved to New England. Best “Pie” ever and there is absolutely nothing better than New England Seafood. And of course Sam Adams. Beer. Pie. Seafood. What more does one need???