Washington pie is a cake (not a pie) found in

American cuisine American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, indigenous Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other cultures an ...

. The earliest known recipes date to the 1850s. It may be an antecedent of

Boston cream pie A Boston cream pie is a cake with a cream filling. The dessert acquired its name when cakes and pies were cooked in the same pans, and the words were used interchangeably. In the late 19th century, this type of cake was variously called a " ...

. The earlier Washington pie was a sandwich cake of two yellow

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

layers filled with jam and dusted with powdered sugar, later evolving into the better known chocolate-covered pastry cream filled version. Raspberry jam was a common choice, though any type of jelly could be used. Additional flavorings like

kirsch Kirschwasser (, ; , German for "cherry water") or kirsch is a clear, colorless brandy traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-colored cultivar of the sour cherry. It is now also made from other kinds of cherries. ...

rosewater Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to flavour ...

could be added. Some modern variations use a vanilla cream filling topped with cherry pie filling and whipped cream. The sugar can be sprinkled using a lace doily to create a decorative pattern. Slices of Washington pie were sold at stalls at the

Northern Liberty Market The Northern Liberty Market, later called Convention Hall Market and Center Market, was located on the east side of 5th Street NW, between K and L, in the present-day Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It operated from 1875 to ...

Mount Vernon Square Mount Vernon Square is a city square and neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The square is located where the following streets would otherwise intersect: Massachusetts Avenue NW, New York Avenue NW, K Street NW, and 8th ...

until the market was demolished on the orders of

Alexander Robey Shepherd Alexander Robey Shepherd (January 30, 1835 – September 12, 1902), was one of the most controversial and influential civic leaders in the history of Washington, D.C., and one of the most powerful big-city political bosses of the Gilded Age. He ...

in 1872. Another version, closer to a true pie, was made by soaking pieces of stale and leftover cake with cream, and adding raisins and spices and baking it in pastry crust, always in square pans. It's been described as a "nefarious fraud", but was served at elegant hotels and boarding houses in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

, more commonly than other pies, and it was also sold in quantity by bakers. This version eventually developed a poor reputation during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

when it started to be sold at coffee stands and other establishments around docks and railroad depots, because "certain bakers, in their efforts to produce great quantities of it, were not so very careful as to what it was composed of. Some bakers got to making it out of stale bread and the like". Washington pie was served at a

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

celebration in

Decatur, Nebraska Decatur is a village in Burt County, Nebraska, United States, adjacent to the upper Missouri River. The population was 481 at the 2010 census. This town is named after one of its incorporators, Stephen Decatur. It developed around a trading pos ...

in 1856. Washington pie was recommended as part of a menu for a Fourth of July party for young ladies in 1901, along with other desserts. According to a 1934 article published in the ''Detroit Free Press'', the cake layers could be made with cottage pudding instead of traditional sponge cake.Cottage Pudding Proves Equally at Home in an Apartment or Fine Mansion
''Detroit Free Press'', Detroit, Michigan. 13 Feb 1934, Page 10,

References

{{reflist American cakes Sponge cakes Layer cakes Independence Day (United States) foods Historical foods in American cuisine Foods with jam

See also

References