Boston Cream Pie Began at School and Tremont

The Omni Parker House at the corner of School and Tremont Streets has been serving the same dessert for about 170 years, and it is not a pie. It is two layers of sponge cake with custard between them and a coat of chocolate on top. The hotel's first chef, the Frenchman Augustine Francois Anezin, is usually credited with creating it around the time the Parker House opened in 1855. Custard cakes were common then; the chocolate glaze was the new part. It was called a pie because cake and pie tins were often the same pans, and the words were used loosely. It appeared on the menu as chocolate cream pie before the name Boston cream pie stuck. In 1996, after a campaign by a Norton High School civics class, Massachusetts made it the official state dessert. The same kitchen is also credited with the soft Parker House roll.