A pie is a thing of wonder. When you offer people a slice, their eyes get wide and they often say, “Really?” as if they don’t deserve the glistening fruit-filled wedge atop hand-rolled, golden pastry.
Then they share a story.
A serving of pie seems to contain more than just crust and filling. It holds memories — of baking with Mom, a favorite diner, a particularly transcendent pie moment.
For Nancy Herring, it’s simple: Pie is part of her identity.
“Oh, French apple, grasshopper, chocolate bar, lemon meringue, strawberry chiffon, banana cream, coconut cream, black bottom, blueberry sour cream,” she ticks them off on both hands. “I’ve probably made more than 10,000 pumpkin pies.”
As one of the pie-baking crew at Mercy Farm, a Christian missionary training center (some called it a commune) north of Fort Collins in the 1970s and early ’80s, Herring learned to make them all, and she still carries the recipes in her head.
She agreed to share (and bake) a couple for us, strapping on a green apron softened by three decades of use. Across the chest is a patch embroidered with “Mercy Farm.”
She reached into the fridge in her modest Adams County home and pulled out a chilled blueberry pie topped with sour cream, placing it on the dining room table next to the high-domed French apple pie cooling on the embroidered tablecloth.
“The pies that I make are about as close as you can get (to the old Mercy Farm pies),” she says. Herring isn’t sure if the pies saved any souls, but “it certainly brought in revenue.”
Until 1985, Mercy Farm Pie Shoppes operated in downtown Denver, the old Northglenn Mall, on Main Street in Longmont and in Cheyenne. (The Christian Ministry Fellowship donated the property to the Denver Rescue Mission, which now calls it Harvest Farm, a rehab program for homeless men.) More than 100 members of the Wellington fellowship baked 350 pies daily, using local eggs and dairy products in the rich fillings.
“We bought eggs by the dozen — some pies had four to seven egg yolks,” says Herring. “Our whipped cream was 40 percent butterfat (most is 32 percent or less) and it stood up on its own. You could make mountains and swirls on the pies.”
The recipes came from Mercy Farm founder James Wilson’s mother, known as Granny Wilson to the members. The religious youth may not have been allowed to smoke, drink or date, but they certainly ate well.
“There were 225 of us, and we grew most of our own food,” Herring recalls. “Chickens, pigs, dairy — we had big pitchers of cream to put in our coffee.”
Food tastes different today, she says, and despite her baking ability, her husband of 36 years, Mitch, can still get into his “hippie clothes.”
Her three daughters have not carried on the pie-baking tradition, probably because their mom is happy to make pies for them. But Herring says her eldest, Keturah, now 30, who was born when the Herrings lived on the farm, would help. “We would put an apron and a hair net on her, and she would follow me around,” says Herring.
She has plenty of pie knowledge to pass on, though.
On mixing the dough: One cup flour to 1/3 cup shortening. You can use a pastry cutter or your hands. I just slide it back and forth between my palms.”
On rolling dough: “The less you play with it, the better.”
On the best pie apple: Jonathan.
How to cut a meringue: “You get a tall glass of hot water and a roll of paper towels. The knife has to be sharp, not serrated. Get it wet — don’t dry it off — and very slowly float that knife through the meringue. Wipe it off and dip it back in the water.”
On pie appreciation: “If you run across a good one, anyone can become a pie lover.”
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com
Whipping up a good meringue
Meringue isn’t hard to make, but it’s easy to mess up. We have proof!
Our first meringue, lower left, came out grainy-looking and dry in texture (although it still tasted good). It went from glossy to fluffy to pitiful in a matter of minutes. We beat the whites on too high a speed and for a tad too long.
The top meringue used the same recipe (4 eggs, cream of tartar, vanilla, sugar and a pinch of salt), but we beat it on medium for a slightly shorter time. Keep these meringue tips in mind:
Eggs separate better when cold, but let egg whites come to room temperature before whipping.
Be sure there’s no yolk in the whites. If a little gets in, remove it with the edge of the shell, not your fingers. (The oil from your skin will keep them from fluffing up.)
Use a deep bowl — stainless steel, copper or glass.
Add sugar very gradually after the whites have begun to form into soft peaks.
Gently dollop the meringue onto a warm filling, making sure to seal the meringue to the crust edges. Make peaks by dipping a spatula into the meringue and gently lifting and curling it.
Kristen Browning-Blas
Handy tools and crispy tips
Silpat mats are great for rolling out dough. Look for them at kitchen and restaurant supply stores.
Crust protectors will keep the edges from burning while the pie gets nice and golden.
A pastry blender makes it easier to work the fat into the flour without overworking the flour, and food processors do an excellent job.
CRISPIER CRUST TIPS:
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and place it in the oven to preheat. Place your pie on the preheated sheet. The crust will be more crisp and the sheet will catch any overflowing filling.
Use a glass pie plate or a dull metal pie plate for making pies. The shiny metal pans keep the crust from browning properly. If using a glass pie plate, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
Make deep slits in the top crust of fruit pies. If you don’t, the filling will be soft and soggy. To prevent the crust from getting too dark, you can cover it with a strip of aluminum foil or a pie shield. Reduce the oven temperature if it gets too dark.
If pie has only a bottom crust, you can blind-bake (prebake before filling) the crust and then moisture- proof it by brushing it with a bit of egg white 2 or 3 minutes after it comes out of the oven.
Sprinkle with equal parts sugar and flour before adding filling to keep a filled crust from getting soggy.
Brush the unbaked bottom crust with a well-beaten egg white before filling. This keeps the berries and other fruits from making the pie bottoms mushy.
Kristen Browning-Blas and
Taste test
Love pie but don’t love to bake? We tried more than a dozen pies and crusts from the bakery and the freezer case to see if any of them measure up against homemade. A couple came close. Calories, sodium, fat, and even serving size vary widely. See pie pictures at .
FROZEN PIES
Best in Class: Vermont Mystic Pie Co. Apple $9.9 9/2 pounds, 10 ounces. Two kinds of apples in filling, fully cooked with firm texture. Nice dome, but filling overflowed a little. Pronounced butter flavor in crust. Closest to homemade.
Per serving | 1/10 pie: 260 calories; 12g fat; 125mg sodium; 35g carbohydrates
Marie Callender’s Lattice Apple Pie
$7.4 9/2 pounds, 14 ounces
Our second-favorite, but highest in calories and everything else. Comes with a packet of coarse brown sugar crystals to sprinkle over golden, flaky crust. Apples cooked perfectly and filling was not too sweet or gooey.
Per serving | 1/10 pie: 330 calories; 18g fat; 160mg sodium; 42g carbohydrates
Vermont Mystic Pie Co. Blueberry with apples
$9.9 9/2 pounds, 10 ounces
Saltier more flavorful (than Sara Lee) crust, 100 percent butter and you can taste it. Good tartness, berries mushy. Top crumbled and broke along fault lines.
Per serving | 1/10 pie: 230 calories; 12g fat; 240mg sodium; 32g carbohydrates
Wholly Wholesome Truly Natural Apple
$6.9 9/1 pound, 10 ounces
Super sweet, bland filling. Whole wheat crust has almost a graham flavor, nice and crunchy. Took 10 minutes longer to brown than blueberry. Held shape well.
Per serving | 1/6 pie: 310 calories; 14g fat; 70mg sodium; 45g carbohydrates
Wholly Wholesome Truly Natural Blueberry $7.5 9/1 pound, 10 ounces
Clear blueberry flavor, but too sweet — needs some lemon or less sugar. Label says “wild blueberries.” Whole wheat crust nice and crunchy. Held shape, but filling overflowed a little.
Per serving | 1/6 pie: 310 calories; 14g fat; 70mg sodium; 45g carbohydrates
Sara Lee Oven Fresh Apple Pie
$5.4 9/2 pounds, 5 ounces
Salty crust, not very flaky. Sweet, firm apples.
Per serving | get size: 340 calories; 16g fat; 330mg sodium; 47g carbohydrates
Sara Lee Oven Fresh Blueberry Pie
$5.4 9/1 pound, 11 ounces
Flakier crust than the Sara Lee apple. Very sweet and thick filling.
Per serving | 1/6 pie: 350 calories; 16g fat; 350mg sodium; 50g carbohydrates
Mrs. Smith’s Traditional Recipes Apple $5.4 9/2 pounds, 5 ounces
Least favored. Leaden crust, hyper-sweet filling.
Per serving | 1/6 pie: 340 calories; 17g fat; 340mg sodium; 45g carbohydrates
BAKERY PIES
Best in Class: Whole Foods Market Bakehouse Cherry $5.99 | 5-inch pie
Crisp crust topped with sparkly, crunch coarse sugar. Very tart (in a good way) filling.
King Soopers Private Selection Premium Quality Apple $3.99 | half of a 9-inch pie
Greasy-tasting crust. Classic “bought” apple filling, a little thick, lots of cinnamon, chunks firm — not totally cooked.
King Soopers Private Selection Premium Quality Blueberry $3.99 | half of a 9-inch pie
Bland crust. Good blueberry flavor and not too thickened. Needs some lemon to brighten it, maybe a dash of salt, kind of flat.
Whole Foods Market Bakehouse All American Apple $5.99 | 5-inch pie
Golden crust with sugar sprinkle. Well-cooked but not mushy apple filling. Not too sweet.
STORE-BOUGHT CRUSTS
Best in Class: Wholly Wholesome Organic 9-inch Pie Shells (frozen) $3.99 for two
These pre-formed in-the-tin shells came closest to homemade — flaky but firm enough to hold up to a heavy fruit filling.
Per serving | 1/8 pie shell: 120 calories; 8g fat; 100mg sodium; 10g carbohydrates
Pillsbury 9-inch Pie Crusts (refrigerated) $2.99 for two
Easy to use, fooled several tasters, who thought they were homemade. Handy for lattice tops.
Per serving | 1/8 pie shell: 120 calories; 7g fat; 110mg sodium; 13g carbohydrates
Kroger Deep Dish 9-inch Pie Crusts (frozen) $2.89 for two
Rather bland taste. Refused to get brown in oven.
Per serving | 1/8 pie shell: 90 calories; 5g fat; 85mg sodium; 11g carbohydrates
Marie Callender’s Deep Dish Pie Shells (frozen) $2.79 for two
Distinctive zigzag crust design. Almost-white color but browned nicely. Saltier than others; good flavor.
Per serving | 1/8 pie shell: 140 calories; 10g fat; 100mg sodium; 11g carbohydrates
Kroger Pie Crusts (refrigerated)
$2.69 for two
Least-favorite. Flopped over rim even after chilling before baking.
Per serving | 1/8 pie shell: 110 calories; 7g fat; 140mg sodium; 13g carbohydrates
