3 Heavenly Regional Pies — and their Fascinating Stories
Everyone knows the saying, “As American as apple pie.” And while apple pie is iconically American, the nation has more than just its pomaceous pie to offer eaters. To celebrate our newest title, Cook’s Country Eats Local, we’ve compiled the historic backstories of three scrumptious pies from around the USA (and don’t worry—one’s an apple pie).
MARLBOROUGH APPLE PIE
The Pie: Marlborough Pie, the lesser-known open-faced New England pie, combines the comforting apple-and-spice flavors of traditional apple pie with sweet custard.
The Story: Pre–Civil War bakers turned out these pies as a tasty way to use up the bruised, aging apples from their root cellars.
The Cook’s Country Tribute: Looking to mimic the same bracing tang straight from the supermarket, we worked with a mix of Granny Smiths (for tart flavor that doesn’t quit) and Fuji, Gala, or Golden Delicious (for contrasting sweetness). We grated our apples, then sautéed them in butter to draw out moisture and concentrate the apple flavor. Prebaking the pie crust further guaranteed a flaky, crisp shell. Lemon zest contributed enough tang to the filling without becoming bitter, and sherry, cinnamon, and mace rounded out the pie’s rich spiced flavor. Baking the pie at a gentle 325 degrees kept the filling from curdling, resulting in a creamy, sweetly boozy apple pie.
THOROUGHBRED PIE
The Pie: The chocolate-walnut-bourbon pie is traditionally served at Kentucky Derby parties.
The Story: The original recipe for Derby Pie is the closely guarded secret of the Kern family of Prospect, Kentucky.
The Cook’s Country Tribute: After tasting the real thing, we were jockeying to re-create this top-secret pie at home. We kept the filling’s sweetness in check with a combination of brown and white sugars and used cornstarch for thickening. Browned butter added depth, and a hit of bourbon gave the filling a nutty, boozy flavor that paired well with the toasted walnuts. Parbaking the shell ensured a crisp crust under the filling, but the warm crust was an opportunity to sprinkle the bottom with chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks, which melted so we could spread them into an even layer. We knew we had a Triple Crown winner—a sweet, deeply nutty filling baked in a golden crust with an intense jolt of chocolate in every bite.
BLACK-BOTTOM PIE
The Pie: Restaurant critic Duncan Hines (yes, that Duncan Hines) had his first slice of black-bottom pie at an Oklahoma diner, and his rave review of that decadent trifecta of chocolate custard, rum chiffon, and whipped cream immediately put this luscious pie on the map.
The Story: Hines crisscrossed the country as a traveling salesman during the early 20th century. Displeased by many of the restaurants he visited, Hines began compiling a list of acceptable establishments. After receiving a positive response to his list of recommended restaurants in 1935, Hines began critiquing restaurants full time, leaving “recommended by Duncan Hines” plaques along the way. Several books and cookbooks followed, but it was Hines’s decision to license his name for packaged foods, including box cake mixes, that guaranteed his fame for generations to come.
Why This Recipe Works: Most black-bottom pie recipes take hours to make and leave a mountain of bowls in the sink—but we wanted to eliminate all the fuss. A chocolate cookie crust came together easily; we ground chocolate cookies in the food processor, added butter, and pressed the crumbs into a pie plate. We made a large batch of custard and whisked chopped semisweet chocolate into half of it for the chocolate layer. The rum chiffon required stability, and a mixture of gelatin, rum, and water got us on track. Once set and whisked into the rest of the custard, it emerged from the refrigerator with a perfectly wobbly texture. For even more structure, we made a frosting of sugar, egg white, water, and cream of tartar and folded it into the rum custard. It was easy to see why Duncan Hines was impressed with this pie: lush chocolate and rum layers topped with a cloud of sweetened whipped cream.
For 150 regional recipes like this, be sure to pick up a copy of Cook’s Country Eats Local.
SERVES 8 TO 10
To prevent the filling from overflowing the crust, add the final ½ cup of the rum layer after the filling has set for 20 minutes.
CRUST
32 chocolate cookies, broken into rough pieces (about 2 ½ cups)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
FILLING
2/3 cup (4 2/3 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups half-and-half
4 teaspoons cornstarch
4 large egg yolks plus 1 large white
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
3 tablespoons golden or light rum
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ½ cups heavy cream, chilled
1. FOR THE CRUST: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Process cookies in food processor to fine crumbs, about 45 seconds. Add butter and pulse until combined, about 8 pulses. Press crumbs into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Bake until set, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.
2. FOR THE FILLING: Whisk 1/3 cup sugar, half-and-half, cornstarch, and egg yolks together in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to boil, about 8 minutes.
3. Divide hot custard evenly between 2 bowls. Whisk chocolate into custard in 1 bowl until smooth, then pour into cooled pie crust; refrigerate. Whisk rum, 1 tablespoon water, and gelatin together in third bowl and let sit for 5 minutes; stir into bowl with plain custard and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until mixture is wobbly but not set, about 20 minutes.
4. Combine 1/3 cup sugar, egg white, remaining 1 tablespoon water, and cream of tartar in large heatproof bowl set over medium saucepan filled with ½ inch of barely simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water). With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg white mixture to soft peaks, about 2 minutes; remove bowl from heat and beat egg white mixture until very thick and glossy and cooled to room temperature, about 3 minutes.
5. Whisk cooled egg white mixture into chilled rum custard until smooth. Pour all but ½ cup rum custard into chocolate custard-filled pie crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, then top with remaining rum custard. Refrigerate until completely set, 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
6. To serve, whip cream and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar together with electric mixer on medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Spread whipped cream over top of pie. Serve.
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