 The name "finger pie" for the dessert was due to stirring the pie during baking with one's finger; it was stirred this way to avoid breaking the crust.The European version is vaguely reminiscent of an American "transparent pie" (the name in the Midwestern and Southern United States for a version of pecan pie without the pecans), of English Canadian butter tarts, or of English treacle tart.The Indiana version of a sugar pie, known as "sugar cream pie", is believed to have originated with Quaker settlers who came from North Carolina in the early 19th century, and thereafter settled in east-central Indiana, particularly around the cities of New Castle, Portland, Richmond, and Winchester.