This wraps up our Semifinalists’ pie stories for the Makes-Me-Wanna SHOUT! Pie Baking Challenge. If you loved the stories, you’ll love the pies. Saturday, March 27, the pies and bakers featured in this week’s blog posts will be at Martha’s Table. Tickets for the Semifinals event are available on Eventbrite. [$15 of the $20 ticket price will be donated to Martha’s Table.] You and the judges will have the opportunity to taste and vote for your favorites. Five pies will go to the final round and one will win the grand prize.
Today’s pie stories are from the Chocolate Pie group: Cece Cooper (P-Chocobana Pie), Angela Johnson (Chocolate Chess Pie), Patricia Volpe (Mint Chocolate Custard Pie), and Maureen Severin (German Chocolate Pie). Bon Appetit!
P-CHOCOBANA PIE
Cece Cooper
Unemployed
Stafford, VA
I have been baking ever since I was able to hold a spoon. I have many great memories of helping my mom make chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pie when I was young. Over the years my love for baking has never stopped growing. Today not a week goes by without me toiling away in the kitchen, trying out a new recipe or mixing up an old favorite.
When I saw this contest posted on my favorite website (Yelp.com) I just had to enter. Over the course of three days I worked on this recipe until I felt I had it just right. If there is one thing I love the most about this pie, it’s that its not so heavy or sweet. So much today desserts leave you feeling like an explosion has just taken place in your stomach. I don’t really appreciate that feeling, so I tend to make desserts that aren’t so heavy. This pie is no exception, and I feel that anyone would be able to enjoy a piece even after a filling meal.
CHOCOLATE CHESS PIE
Angela Johnson
Associate Director & Wellness Coordinator
Arlington, VA
“Real women don’t bake from boxes.” That’s what my Grandma Flora drilled into my head from our very first baking lesson. I was 8 years old. The project of the day was chocolate chess pie – a southern favorite. Throughout the years, I ventured into many other made from scratch “Grandma Flora classics”. But amidst the pound cakes, strawberry cobblers, and homemade icing, the simplicity of chocolate chess pie remained my favorite. Maybe it was her odd way of measuring ingredients (an eggshell of milk). Perhaps it was the crunchy top that formed on the pie, effortlessly, like magic. In most cases, Grandma Flora stuck by her made from scratch rule, with the only exception being pie crust. In all Grandma Flora’s 90 years, homemade pie crust is the only thing that eludes her.
In 2011, I married my best friend. While I brought a love of all things sweet to our marriage, he brought expertise in the savory. When I learned that he was a master of homemade pie crust, I knew our marriage was truly meant to be. Like my baking lessons with Grandma Flora twenty years ago, my husband taught me to make and appreciate pie crust, further confirming that real baked goods don’t come from a box. After twenty years, I was finally able to pair the perfect sweet chocolate chess pie filling with the perfect savory crust – a marriage of sorts, and it surely didn’t come from a box!
MINT CHOCOLATE CUSTARD PIE
Patricia Volpe
Student
Arlington, VA
When I started high school I had decided to go to school to be either a nurse or a preschool teacher. As I was exploring my options I found that my passion was in baking. My senior year of High School two of my classmates and i entered a competition at a local Vocational High School that competed against ours in Skills USA, this pie is one of the three components we made. Our team came in last place but we learned what we did wrong and I have since then adjusted the recipe and components. I am proud to say that my pie crust recipe is one that has been handed down in my family since my great grandmother.
GERMAN CHOCOLATE PIE
Maureen Severin
Homemaker
Crofton, MD
I remember when I was little “helping” my mom make pies around the holidays. She would let me measure the ingredients and make “pie cookies” by sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on top of pie scraps and baking them. The first pie I made by myself was a lemon meringue pie. However, I managed to ruin it by placing the finished pie on the stove that I didn’t know was turned on. The glass pie pan shattered and my pie was dangerously inedible. Lesson learned!
For this pie, my inspiration started with one of my favorite cake flavors, german chocolate cake. Who doesn’t love rich, smooth milk chocolate and sticky sweet, tender coconut? Enrobed in caramel filling topped with crunchy pecans, this pie is decadence in a bite. I love this pie because it looks and tastes impressive but it is easy to make. Its also a unique flavor, a great departure from your everyday apple or pumpkin pie. I’d say its rich enough for just one slice, but I find myself sneaking stealthily back to the kitchen to sneak another piece every time I make it. When I bring this pie to dinner, I rarely bring home any leftovers, and we all know the ultimate compliment to a pie baker is an empty pie plate. That, and maybe volunteering to do the dishes!