What is the official state dessert of Massachusetts?

The official state dessert of Massachusetts is Boston cream pie.

Despite its name, Boston cream pie is a cake rather than a pie. It consists of two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla custard and topped with chocolate glaze. The name reflects an earlier period when cakes and pies were often baked in similar pans and the terms were used less consistently than they are today.

The dessert is most commonly associated with the Parker House Hotel in Boston, where French chef Augustine François Anezin reportedly created an early version for the hotel’s opening in 1856. Historical accounts also connect it to older American custard-filled cakes, so the exact origin is not completely certain. Early versions could include rum syrup, custard-coated sides, almonds, and chocolate fondant.

Massachusetts officially designated Boston cream pie as its state dessert on December 12, 1996. It is separate from the Boston cream doughnut, which became the state’s official doughnut in 2003. That distinction explains why both desserts appear in Massachusetts food trivia, even though only one is the official state dessert.