Have A Slice!

The dessert eaten at the first Christmas celebration in Louisville in 1778 was pumpkin pie, according to Kentucky Hospitality: A 200-Year Tradition. Since then, Kentuckians have made just about every kind of pie imaginable.

The first year Kentucky was settled, apple and peach seeds were planted, and they were a welcome addition to the wild fruits and berries. The blackberry, which now is the state fruit, grew wild.
Pies often had cornmeal crusts when there was no flour in the pioneer kitchen. Early fillings included mincemeat, pumpkin, and fruits. The state of the economy and the availability of ingredients is evident in the use of vinegar, butter, jam, cornmeal or sorghum as flavorings for pies. Dried apple pies — rounds of crust filled, folded in half, and fried to a crispy golden brown — are an old favorite with Kentuckians, according to Kentucky Hospitality.

Chess pie has long been made in Kentucky and throughout the South. The transparent custard that’s the foundation for chess pie is also the basis for pecan pie, chocolate chip pie, and buttermilk pie.
“Pecan pies are Southern but not particularly old,” Mark Sohn wrote in Appalachian Home Cooking. “Cooks have been making them for only about 60 years, and despite their relatively recent appearance, chefs from around the world consider pecan pie to be a typically Southern dessert.”

When chocolate chips are added to the mixture, it’s associated with the Kentucky Derby.

Here’s a chess pie recipe from Bluegrass Winners cookbook, from the Garden Club of Lexington.

The very best chess pie

1 stick butter, melted
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon flour
3 eggs
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell
Combine butter, sugar, flour, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla until well blended. Pour into pastry shell and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

This recipe for pecan pie is from What’s Cooking for the Holidays by Irene Hayes.

Pecan pie

1⁄2 cup butter, softened
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
Unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Combine butter, syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt. Blend thoroughly. Add eggs and beat only until blended. Fold in pecans. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees until top is browned and center is set, 40 to 45 minutes. If pie browns too fast, make a tent of aluminum foil to cover last 15 minutes of baking.

This buttermilk pie recipe is from The Best of the Best from Kentucky cookbook, edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley.

Buttermilk pie

3 cups sugar
6 tablespoons flour
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 sticks butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 9-inch pie shells, unbaked
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar, flour, eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into unbaked pie shells. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes.