When is a pie not a pie? When it is Boston cream pie, the official dessert of Massachusetts. Before you start crafting that hate comment, know that the chocolate chip cookie is the official state cookie, not our official dessert. Frankly, we’ll take either one over our official state bean, the navy bean. And yet, we’re known as Beantown, not Pietown, or Cookietown. Go figure. (We also have a state dinosaur — and a state cat.)
As a primer (pie-mer?), the classic Boston cream pie consists of two round layers of golden sponge cake, with a layer of pastry cream in the middle and a topping of chocolate ganache. “Boston cream pie is synonymous with Boston and New England,” says Gerry Tice, executive chef at Boston’s Omni Parker House hotel, where the dessert debuted more than 150 years ago. “We make a Boston cream pie-flavored martini and an ice cream,” he says, but that pie is the all-star — the hotel sells about 550 servings per week in its restaurants and gift shop.
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These days, iterations of Boston cream pie abound — there’s even a sub-category, the Boston cream doughnut, named the official doughnut of Boston in 2003. Which ones are worthy of the “official dessert” crown? We made it our mission to sample as many versions of Boston cream pie as possible, before revulsion set in. We only tested desserts that are available on a daily basis, no special-order situations. Our testers included Charlotte Ames, a foodie who worked for the Zagat restaurant survey (now owned by The Infatuation), and Steve Porter and Audrey Doyle, creators and cofounders of www.Washashores.life, a lifestyle website dedicated to restaurants and nightlife on Cape Cod. (Extra dessert-cred: Doyle has worked at an Italian bakery.) About 50 forkfuls of pastry cream and 10 trillion calories later, here’s what transpired in our blind taste test.
Boston cream cheesecake: Ritz Carlton Boston’s Artisan Bistro
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Can’t decide between Boston cream pie and cheesecake? Artisan Bistro serves a single-serving dome of velvety golden Boston cream cheesecake. Topped with chocolate-covered shortbread and a flower blossom, it’s a pretty dessert, but does it satisfy a craving for BCP? Sorry, no, our testers agreed, but it’s a darn good . . . cheesecake. “The filling is light and fluffy, almost mousseline,” Doyle said. “But if I wanted a hint of Boston cream pie, I’d be disappointed.” (www.ritzcarlton.com; $9 per slice.)
Boston cream cupcake: Modern Pastry
They say you eat with your eyes first. For sheer cuteness, it doesn’t get better than Modern Pastry in the North End — witness its delicious dupes of that childhood favorite, the Hostess chocolate cupcake. True to form, its Boston cream cupcakes are Instagram-perfect, the golden sponge peeking out from under a layer of shiny chocolate decorated with a white swirl. Our testers loved the rich pastry cream center and the fine crumb of the sponge, but deemed the ganache “a minor player” in this dessert. www.modernpastry.com; $5 each.
Boston cream pie slice: Bova’s Bakery
Recently used as a filming location for “The Instigators,” starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, this 24-hour bakery is famous for sweet treats like Italian cookies and cannoli. Rich and decadent, a slice of Bova’s Boston cream pie holds a nice surprise for chocolate lovers — a slick of chocolate is sandwiched between three layers of yellow sponge, along with the expected vanilla cream. The ganache was “the perfect thickness, and not too sweet,” Ames noted, but the pastry cream was a tad bland for her taste. The final verdict: Good, but not one of Bova’s greatest hits. www.bovasbakery.com; $6 per slice.
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Boston cream doughnut: Veggie Galaxy, Cambridge
This one isn’t a looker, but what a tasty option for those looking for some Boston cream joy minus the dairy component. How do they nail the flavor? According to Veggie Galaxy’s pastry chef Miranda Gray, “Our Boston Cream doughnut is a brioche doughnut filled with coconut-based vanilla bean pastry cream, topped with a Dutch cocoa glaze. A long fermentation and generous amounts of vegan butter make for rich and full-flavored brioche.” Our only quibble: We could use a bit more of that pastry cream. www.veggiegalaxy.com; $4.
Boston cream pie: Legal Harborside
Legal’s for dessert? Who knew? Their version is an orb of yellow cake with a light coating of chocolate ganache and a crunchy element: shards of almonds and toffee bits, plus a mound of whipped cream. This one gets a 10 for presentation, and it’s a solid bite of food when you load your fork with cake and pass it through the whipped cream and toffee shards. “The bittersweet chocolate is good, and doesn’t overpower the sponge,” our tester said, although the ganache got a bit mangled in our takeout container. Do they make this dessert onsite? They do not. “Mike’s Pastry makes this for us,” our server confided. www.legalseafoods.com; $11.
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Boston cream tart: Thinking Cup
At Thinking Cup, the Boston cream pie is a pie — a tart, actually, with a butter tart shell, vanilla bean pastry cream, and a top layer of Valrhona chocolate ganache (blended with heavy cream and butter). This triumph of dessert deliciousness, made in-house, is decorated with a swirl of vanilla whipped cream and chocolate curls. No sponge in this bad boy. That didn’t deter our testers, who scraped every last morsel off the plate. One panelist called it “satisfying but light — you get lots of flavor in each bite,” and the avowed chocoholic in the group appreciated the “slightly bitter bite” of the chocolate. Not a conventional BCP, to be sure, but definitely delicious. www.thinkingcup.com; $5.25.
Boston cream pie: Flour Bakery + Café
Is there a soul among us who hasn’t swooned at one of Flour Bakery’s diabolically indulgent baked goods? We visited the Clarendon Street location for a slice of their Boston cream pie, and felt like judges at a baking show as we admired the perfect layers of coffee syrup-soaked vanilla sponge and vanilla pastry cream: So even! And that fudge ganache: So smooth! But the star of this dish (to go all Bobby Flay on you) was . . . coffee. “The coffee syrup is strong, diminishing the Boston cream pie-ness of this dessert,” according to our tester. If you love a jolt of coffee with your cake, though, consider this one a two-fer. www.flourbakery.com; $6.30 per slice.
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The OG Boston cream pie: Parker’s Restaurant at the Omni Parker House Hotel
What’s the secret to a fabulous Boston cream pie? Perfect pastry cream, and plenty of it, says pastry supervisor Laura Figueroa: “It provides that punch of vanilla. It’s not a pudding, but it’s super-soft and keeps its shape.” Even their smallest pies have a whole scoop of pastry cream inside. Although you can get this BCP shipped via Goldbelly, it’s a slightly different recipe, she notes. Best to experience this one in all its glory at Parker’s Restaurant, where it’s served with fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream, atop a swirl of berry sauce. Happily, our leftovers survived the trip to our kitchen (including public transportation) in fine form, with the crushed almonds still clinging and the spiderweb design intact. Our testers were impressed. www.omniparkerhouse.com; $10 per serving.
. . . and a mystery contender
“So moist and light, not cloyingly sweet.” “Love the generous layer of ganache!” “Fantastic!” our testers said, in praise of a certain 8-inch Boston cream pie. Our last entry in the Boston cream pie taste-a-thon features two layers of delicate sponge and a thick middle of pastry cream, topped with gooey ganache and a maraschino cherry. Our panelists hooted when they learned of its provenance: Market Basket’s bakery counter (www.marketbasket.com; $10.99). A local wholesale bakery supplies them to the store, previously frozen, Market Basket told us via e-mail. So — if you need a quick BCP fix, there you go. Or you can bake it yourself. (The Parker House shares its recipe on its website.) But nothing beats going into a bakery and admiring the beauteous bounty of sweetness in the pastry case.
Diane Bair and Pamela Wright can be reached at bairwright@gmail.com