A May West is a round dessert cake with creme filling. It was created in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and continues to be particularly popular in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. It is currently made by Vachon Inc., a division of

Canada Bread Canada Bread Company, Ltd. is a Canadian producer and distributor of packaged fresh bread and bakery products. The company operates 17 bakeries and employs over 4,800 employees across Canada. Purchased by Grupo Bimbo (BIMBOA:Mexico) on May 23, 2 ...

. It was originally called a "Mae West", after the eponymous

movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

, but the spelling was changed in the 1980s. The cake was invented by René Brousseau, patissier at Vaillancourt Inc., a

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

bakery. As of 1932, May West cakes were made by Stuart Ltd, run by the wealthy Montreal-based Allard family; they were bought out in 1979 by their longtime competitor, Vachon Inc. Vachon continued to market them under the Stuart brand, before retiring the Stuart brand and rebranding the line to reflect a consolidated Vachon lineup. The original creme filling was custard, but was replaced by a

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to b ...

-based vanilla creme close in taste and texture to the filling found in

Twinkies A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc. (), having been formerly owned by privat ...

References

External links

Vachon Cake Products
Brand name snack foods Canadian snack foods Cultural depictions of Mae West {{food-product-stub

See also

References

External links