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That would include the Boston cream pie, as well as the simpler Washington pie, a split sponge cake with jam in the middle and powdered sugar on top that, in later years, was often filled with cream.

The general consensus is that the name is derived from the Washington pie plate, a straight-sided tin prevalent among 19th-century home cooks, in which both pies and cakes were baked.

“I would like a recipe for Washington pie, which is an old-time favorite of my husband,” she requested.

In honor of Presidents’ Day, I decided to make George Washington pie using one of the recipes that appeared in The Post back before Mrs. Fountaine made her query.

Almost from its inception, there was disagreement over what exactly Washington pie was and where it came from.