Cakes That Are Called Pies

Appears in
Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook
Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook

By Nell B. Nichols

Published 1965

  • About

Baking cake batter in pastry was an Early American custom. And the dividing line between cakes and pies was very thin—Boston Cream Pie, for instance. (Washington Pie is similar but has jelly filling.) Most of these farm desserts originated in New England and Pennsylvania Dutch country kitchens, but the recipes traveled with pioneers seeking their fortunes in the fertile heartlands and on to the Pacific shores.

Many of the old recipes have been abandoned with changes in diet patterns. We are including a few examples of these desserts that still are popular—too delicious to give up. They are adapted to the kinds of meals served in country homes. See if you don’t agree that they’re worth preserving in our culture.