Sugar Cream Pie: The History of Indiana's Official State Pie

Sugar Cream Pie — sometimes called Hoosier Pie or "finger pie" — was designated Indiana's official state pie in 2009 after a long campaign by the Indiana Foodways Alliance and Wick's Pies in Winchester. It is one of only a handful of state-recognized pies in the United States, and the recipe is genuinely Indiana-native: a custard-style pie made without eggs, thickened on the stovetop, baked in a flaky crust, and finished with a cinnamon-caramelized top.

Where the recipe actually came from

The earliest documented Sugar Cream Pie recipes in Indiana date to the 1850s, when Quaker and Shaker communities settled across the central and eastern parts of the state — including the area that would become Whitley County. The pie was a "desperation pie" or "pantry pie": a dessert that could be assembled in late winter when fresh fruit, eggs, and even much-needed baking ingredients were scarce. All you needed was butter, cream or whole milk, sugar, flour, and cinnamon — staples a Hoosier farmhouse could keep through January.

The "finger pie" nickname comes from the original technique: the filling was stirred together with the cook's finger inside the unbaked crust, since whisking the cream and sugar with a utensil tended to splash over the rim. Modern versions stir on the stove first, but the name stuck.

How Sugar Cream Pie became a state symbol

In 2009, the Indiana General Assembly passed House Concurrent Resolution 14, formally recognizing Sugar Cream Pie as the state pie. The resolution cited the pie's 19th-century roots in Indiana's Quaker and Amish communities and named Wick's Pies (Winchester, IN) as the state's largest commercial producer — Wick's sells more than a million Sugar Cream Pies a year, and most of them ship from a building roughly two hours southeast of our kitchen.

The state pie is one of three official Indiana foods recognized by the legislature, alongside the state rifle (the Grouseland) and the state sandwich (the breaded pork tenderloin). It is the only baked good with that distinction.

How we bake Sugar Cream Pie at Birdie's

Our Sugar Cream Pie is the closest version we know to the 19th-century original, with two updates: we use heavy cream rather than milk for richness, and we toast the cinnamon-sugar topping under the broiler at the end for the caramelized crackle that defines the modern Hoosier pie experience.

Below is the working recipe we use in our Columbia City, Indiana kitchen. Yields one 9-inch pie, which serves eight.

Why the cornstarch and the broil step matter

Older recipes thickened the filling with flour, which can leave a slightly chalky finish. Cornstarch gives the same set with a glossier mouthfeel — it is the single change we made to the heritage recipe and the one we recommend to home bakers in northeast Indiana who find their custard "tastes pasty."

The broil at the end is what separates a great Sugar Cream Pie from a flat one. The cinnamon and sugar caramelize into a thin, crackly top — the texture you remember from a Wick's pie at a county fair, or a slice your grandmother served you at Thanksgiving in Larwill or South Whitley. Watch it closely; the line between caramelized and burnt is roughly thirty seconds.

Order from Birdie's

We bake Sugar Cream Pie year-round at $30 for a 9-inch pie that serves 8. It needs 48 hours notice and is picked up in Columbia City, IN, during our Friday–Sunday pickup window. If you have a Hoosier family member coming home for the holidays, this is the pie to put on the table — it is a piece of Indiana that is impossible to find outside the state.