Leaves changing colors, geese flying south and sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers heading into harvest fields are sure signs fall has arrived. Whether for a snack in the field or as the grand finale of a delicious meal during the upcoming holidays, no dessert is more perfect than pie.
“After you’ve mastered the crust, making a pie is simple and fun,” said Maria Otto, owner and operator of Little Pastry Shop bakery in Bay City, Michigan. “It’s a comfort food that brings people together and creates common ground.”
Pies are a year-round favorite at Little Pastry Shop, according to Otto.
“Key lime, apple and cherry are our standard pies that we have available every day. Then we have our rotating pies, including banana, coconut and pumpkin cream,” she said. “Pumpkin and apple pies are most popular at Thanksgiving, and apple and chocolate peppermint pies are favorites at Christmas time. Apple pies are definitely the biggest seller throughout the year.”
Mouthwatering apple pies with golden, flaky crusts are a beloved American tradition. In a 2017 article for Smithsonian Magazine, Kat Eschner wrote that the firm association between America and pie started in 1924 when an advertisement in the Gettysburg Times promoted “New Lestz Suits that are as American as apple pie.” The expression was a hit. By World War II, the association was cemented, with American soldiers telling journalists that they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.” The expression “as American as mom and apple pie” was born and took a permanent place in the national lexicon, according to Eschner. (1)
Not Uniquely American
Although beloved in the U.S., pies are far from a uniquely American tradition, with a varied history dating back thousands of years.
Mehaffies Pies, a bakery that has served the Dayton, Ohio, area since 1930, shares that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all had their own version of pie. (2) Egyptians made pastries called “galettes,” with a crust consisting of ground oats, rye, wheat, or barley, and honey on the inside. Evidence of these pies can be found on the tomb walls of the Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled from 1304-1237 BC. (2)
According to the bakery’s blog, the ancient Greeks combined fat with a flour and water mixture to make a pastry-type dough that could be filled with fruit, and these delicacies got a shout out in the 5th century BC plays of Aristophanes. (2) The Romans, on the other hand, traditionally filled their version of pie with savory meats and fowl. They may have been the first to create a pie that included a top and bottom crust. They also developed a “crust” that served as a hard casing for meat preservation and was not intended for consumption. (2)
The word pie -- spelled “pye” -- first appeared in English in the early 14th century and quickly became commonplace. These medieval English “pyes” were most often filled with meat and spiced with pepper, currants or dates, according to Laura Mayer in an article for Time Magazine. In a post for Library of Congress blogs, Jennifer Harbster wrote that these “pyes” were a hit and in 1378, Richard II issued an ordinance controlling pie prices in London. (3) Harbster also noted the longstanding debates on the definition of pie, especially between the United Kingdom and the United States. She wrote that Americans use the word “pie” to describe an open or closed baked dish, while the British distinguish an open-faced pie as a “tart.” (3) The increased popularity of the sweet fruit pie or tart is often credited to the folks of 16th century England, as Elizabeth I was known to be particularly fond of cherry pie. (3)
Setting Sail For The New World
By the 17th century, sweet and savory pies set sail for the New World with the settlers and quickly became part of American culture. Mayer wrote that the colonists cooked many a pie. Because of their crusty tops, pies acted as a means to preserve food and were often used to keep the filling fresh during the winter months. As the colonies spread out, the pie’s role as a means to showcase local ingredients took hold and with it came a proliferation of sweet pies. (4)
Apple trees believed to have been brought over by Swedish, Dutch and British immigrants in the mid-1600s produced delicious pastries, as well as the pumpkin, which was native to North America. In the 1600s, early American settlers stewed pumpkins or filled the hollowed shell with milk, honey and spices. While pumpkin pie is now a clear favorite across the U.S., it is rarely served in other parts of the world. (5) As the country grew, so did the baker’s access to sweeteners such as maple syrup, cane sugar, molasses and honey. Amelia Simmon’s American Cookery (1796) is considered the first American cookbook and contains several pie recipes, according to Harbster. (3)
She wrote that the New England states went on to become known as the “pie belt,” as the popular pastries were household staples. As the country moved west, new ingredients and regional specialties appeared. The Northern states became known for pumpkin pies and the Midwest for its cream and cheese pies. The Upper Plains were inspired by Swedish tart berry pies, the Southwest produced nut pies from the native pecan and walnut trees, and the Pennsylvania Dutch gave us the shoofly pie. Further south, Florida’s claim to fame became the key lime pie, Kentucky celebrated the chess pie and below the Mason-Dixon line the sweet potato pie reigned king. (3) The variety and types of pies available today are overwhelming, Harbster said. Not only do we have the traditional savory meat pies and sweet dessert pies, but we also have pocket pies. These handheld pies are made by folding the dough over a filling and then baking, and are commonly known as pasties, turnovers, empanadas and calzones. (3)
Whether you’re a baker or a consumer (and the world needs both), no one can argue with the fact that real sugar is essential to delicious, quality baked treats. (5) With a little help from real sugar, making a perfect pie is a piece of cake. When it comes to producing a uniformly browned pie crust that is flaky and tender, it’s all about the glaze. When a glaze of sugar, milk, and egg yolks is brushed on top of the pie, the sugar will caramelize before the crust itself, giving the pie extra color and a beautiful, burnished look. Real sugar also impedes gluten development, resulting in a more tender pie crust that melts in your mouth.
More Than Just For The Crust
However, sugar doesn’t just stop at producing a delicious pie crust. It also produces the caramelized crunchy top layer the classic southern pecan pie is known for (7) and helps thicken a pie’s filling. Fruits contain pectin, a natural substance that thickens when cooked with sugar. This results in a perfectly cooked filling with a consistent texture. When it comes to taste, sugar provides more than sweetness in a pie. It also balances and enhances the flavor of fruits in fruit filling. (6)
Maria Otto is proud to use real sugar in her Bay City bakery.
“Bay City is where Michigan Sugar Company is headquartered. Local farmers I grew up with produce the sugar I use in my pies and my cherries come from Traverse City,” she said. “A cherry pie from my bakery is a ‘Michigan pie’ because it showcases the very best of our state. I keep it simple and don’t use unnecessary ingredients in my pies, and people can tell. Everything is made fresh from good, local ingredients.”
Pie has been a constant in Otto’s life since she first started selling the pastries in college.
“My mother first taught me to make pie when I was growing up in Kawkawlin, Michigan. I baked pies at home with her recipes and sold them at the golf course I worked at in college,” she said. “Selling pie paid for my college textbooks.”
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in marketing and logistics from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Otto went on to earn an MBA from Northwood University in Midland.
“While in college, I took entrepreneurship classes and pitched a business plan for a bakery that sold pie,” she said. “After I graduated, though, I took a job in the automotive industry where I worked with supply chains and did purchasing and marketing.”
Pursue Her First Love
After 10 years, Otto decided to leave her job and pursue her first love.
“I started baking and selling pies out of my home at first and then I opened the Little Pastry Shop storefront in downtown Bay City in May of 2023,” she said. “I had an idea to own a bakery 20 years ago. My experiences in the automotive industry taught me valuable skills for running my own business, and here I am selling pies again. Everything in life happens when it’s supposed to, and I feel like I’ve come full circle.”
Otto attributes the enduring popularity of pie to personal connection.
“My mother grew up in a family of 13 children and her best memories are of learning to make pie from her dad,” she said. “Mom then passed that knowledge to me and I use her recipes in my shop, along with my own. Now I make pies with my 13-year-old daughter, Clara. She will carry that with her for life and pass it on to her own kids.”
Sharing feelings of connection and nostalgia with customers is one of the most rewarding parts of running a bakery, according to Otto.
“We associate flavors with certain memories. Customers will taste a pie and get teary-eyed because it brings back memories of their loved ones and time spent with them,” she said. “Pies are special to me because they are the first thing I learned to make, and I'm very lucky to do this every day.”
Sources
(1) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-apple-pie-linked-america-180963157/
(2) https://mehaffiespies.com/a-brief-history-of-pie/
(3) https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2011/11/pie%E2%80%A2ology-a-full-filling-story/
(4) https://time.com/3958057/history-of-pie/
(5) https://www.sugar.org/blog/happie-holidays/
(6) https://www.sugar.org/blog/sweet-sugar-traditions-brings-magic-to-the-holiday-season/
(7) https://www.sugar.org/blog/mlk-pecan-pie/