1920s Boston Cream Pie

1920s Boston Cream Pie

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I’m trying out old pie recipes at the moment. After strawberry, raspberry, orange and mock cream pie, I now made 1920s Boston cream pie. Even if it’s called pie, it’s rather a cake: Boston cream pie is a layer cake with custard filling.

The recipe for Boston cream pie was published in The P.E.O. Cook Book in 1922. The recipe is similar to the Boston cream pie recipes, published in the 1887 Whitehouse Cookbook and the 1921 Brewster Book Of Recipes. In the Victorian era and even in the 1920s, Boston cream pie was made without chocolate glaze on top, but if you want you can add the Edwardian chocolate glaze which you’ll find below.

Old-Fashioned Boston Cream Pie

1920s Boston Cream Pie
Cake
  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 2 cup sugar (I used just 1 cup)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup milk (I used soy milk)
  • 3 cups flour
  • 6 tsp baking powder
Filling
  • 1 cup sugar (I used just 1/2 cup)
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups milk (I used soy milk)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Old-Fashioned Boston Cream Pie Recipe

Preheat the oven to 356°F/ 180°C. ‘Cream butter and sugar and add well-beaten eggs, then alternately milk and dry ingredients well sifted. Bake in 2 layers [for 20 minutes] and put together with the following English Cream Filling, with whipped cream on top.

English Cream Filling: […] Mix dry ingredients and milk and yolks well beaten, cook in double boiler, stirring constantly until thick. Remove from fire and cool and fold in whites and flavor.’ (The P.E.O. Cook Book, 1922)

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Glaze Recipe

Edwardian Glace Au Chocolate

‘Place two ounces of grated chocolate in a saucepan with half teaspoon vanilla essence and keep at the oven door until melted; then add three ounces glazed sugar and the white of half an egg, place on the fire, mix with a small wooden spoon until just warm, remove, and immediately use as directed.’ (The International Cook Book, 1906) If the glaze is too thick, stir in some (soy) milk.

Boston Cream Pie Recipe

The 1920s Boston cream pie is so delicious! But the filling is too runny; next time I’ll use more flour or add one or two dissolved gelatin sheets. And even though I used just half the sugar, the cake is still very sweet.

19 thoughts on “1920s Boston Cream Pie

  1. I’m not a huge chocolate lover, but this looks super yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

  2. Your 1920s Boston Cream Pie will be fabulous, I can’t wait to try it! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and you have a great weekend!
    Come Back Soon
    Miz Helen

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