A May West is a round dessert cake with creme filling. It was created in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and continues to be particularly popular in the province of
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. It is currently made by
Vachon Inc., a division of
Canada Bread. 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 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 whose names ...
, but the spelling was changed in the 1980s.
The cake was invented by René Brousseau,
pâtissier at Vaillancourt Inc., a
Quebec City
Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
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 crème filling was
custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...
, but was replaced by a
shortening
Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and is used to make crumbly pastry and other food products.
The idea of shortening dates back to at least the 18th century, well before the invention of modern, shelf-stable vegetable ...
-based vanilla creme close in taste and texture to the filling found in
Twinkies.
See also
*
References
External links
Vachon Cake Products
Brand name snack foods
Canadian snack foods
Cultural depictions of Mae West
{{food-product-stub