Boston Cream Pie

Boston Cream Pie is neither Boston's invention nor a pie. It was created in 1856 by an Armenian-French chef named M. Sanzian at the Parker House Hotel, and it's a cake through and through. The name stuck because nineteenth-century American bakers used the same tins for pies and cakes, and 'pie' simply meant 'round thing from the oven.'

This dessert became so beloved that Massachusetts declared it the official state dessert in 1996, beating out the Toll House cookie and Indian pudding. Walk into any proper New England bakery and you'll find it in the case, that distinctive chocolate glaze identifying it from across the room.

The construction is straightforward: two rounds of tender butter cake, a thick layer of vanilla pastry cream, and a dark chocolate ganache poured over the top until it drips down the sides in lazy rivulets. Each component matters. The cake must be sturdy enough to hold the cream yet tender enough to yield to a fork. The pastry cream needs body without being gluey. The ganache should set to a shine but never harden into a shell.

I've taught this recipe to students who arrived convinced pastry cream was beyond them. It isn't. It requires attention and a good whisk, nothing more. By the time you've made it twice, you'll wonder why you ever bought pudding from a box.