Every year on Oct. 23, dessert lovers celebrate National Boston Cream Pie Day, honoring one of America’s most recognizable desserts. Despite its name, Boston cream pie is actually a cake: two layers of sponge cake around a vanilla custard, topped with a glossy chocolate frosting or ganache.
The dessert traces its origins to Boston’s historic Parker House Hotel, now the Omni Parker House, where French chef Augustine François Anezin and the hotel’s baking staff are credited with creating it in the mid-19th century, shortly after the hotel opened. Initially called “Parker House Chocolate Cream Pie,” it soon became a signature dessert. (It was named a pie because back in the 19th century, cakes and pies were often baked in similar pans, so the terms were sometimes used interchangeably.) The Omni Parker House continues to serve its original version and even ships the pie nationwide.
Boston cream pie was designated the official state dessert of Massachusetts in 1996. Its relative, the Boston cream doughnut, became the state’s official doughnut in 2003.
Whether enjoyed as a traditional cake or as inspiration for other desserts, Boston cream pie remains a delicious symbol of New England’s culinary heritage.