Life of Pies

Story Credit:

Eric Akis

Times Colonist readers made delicious suggestions on where to find fabulous dessert pies. After the votes were counted, those made by a baker/farmer on a small island across from the mural-filled town of Chemainus proved to be the sweetest of all.

“Without a doubt, the best pies on the Island (and beyond) are Marilyn Pegg’s from Howling Wolf Farm, Thetis Island. In particular, her blackberry pie is beyond compare,” emailed Sam Isaacs.

“My first experience (tasting them) was after a boating trip to Thetis Island a few years ago. My wife stumbled across Marilyn’s pie stand and we picked one up to take with us to our next boating stop. When the two of us opened up the pie and started to taste it, my wife asked me if I wanted to share it with others on the dock. After all, one pie for two people was a bit much! After my first bite, I said, “No.” Later that summer, after having had several pies flown in to where we live — in Richmond — I began to learn to share.”

Dozens of others found Pegg’s pies equally delicious.

“I vote for the blackberry pie from Howling Wolf Farm on Thetis Island. Normally, I am not a pie person, but this pie is amazing! Wonderful crust and juicy (but NOT runny) sweet berries,” says Anne M. Dobson-Mack.
A bakery/deli on the Saanich Peninsula finished second in the readers’ poll.

“The search for the ultimate pie is over! It is to be found at Brentwood Bay’s Breadstuffs Bakery. From blackberry apricot to rhubarb ginger to plum to lemon meringue to apple, they are all a gourmet’s delight. It is simply impossible to name one as the best, but rest assured that whatever pie you choose will be outstanding and memorable,” says Leslie Gentile.

A seaside café with great views off Cowichan Bay finished third in the voting.

“The Genoa Bay Café chocolate pecan pie was so good! The light but sweet taste was a perfect blend of the flaky, natural crust, milk chocolate buds and large whole pecans in a light syrup topped with real whipped cream for an oh-so-good treat,” says Helga Lambrecht, noting that the peach and sour cherry pie also tasted awesome.
Another café, this one in Sooke, finished a few votes behind the Genoa Bay Café.

“The pies are homemade, good portions and served with a smile,” succinctly emailed Gail Pierangeli about the pies at Mom’s Café.

Rounding out the top five was a farm dedicated to making pies filled with Saskatoon berries, which is what they grow.

“The best dessert pie I have purchased is from the Saskatoon Berry Farm in Cobble Hill. I like them so much as they are consistently juicy and so flavourful with the lightest and flakiest pastry. Not too thick, not too thin. Really, really excellent,” faxed Jude Coulter.

At right is a list of the top picks from readers and our tasting panel.

Eric Akis’s columns appear in the Life section Wednesdays and Sundays.
The author of the best-selling Everyone Can Cook (Whitecap Books) can be reached at ericakis@shaw.ca

THE READERS DECIDE

1. Howling Wolf Farm, 63 Pilkey Point Rd., Thetis Island
Pies are available at the farm; at the Thetis Island Summer Market at Telegraph Harbour Marina Saturday mornings; and at The Howling Wolf Gallery & Shoppe at 9844 Croft St., Chemainus. Special orders can also be made at 250-246-2650.
2. Breadstuffs Bakery and Deli, 1191 Verdier Ave., Brentwood Bay
3. Genoa Bay Café, 5100 Genoa Bay Rd., Duncan
4. Mom’s Café, 2036 Shields Rd., Sooke
5. Saskatoon Berry Farm, 1245 Fisher Rd., Cobble Hill

Notables: Cake’s Etc., Victoria; Bubby Rose’s Bakery, Victoria; Spinnakers Brewpub, Victoria; The Market on Yates, Victoria; Blue Fox Restaurant, Victoria; The Dutch Bakery, Victoria; Boland’s Bakery, Victoria ; Lunn’s Bakery, Sidney.

TASTING PANEL RESULTS

1. Ambrosio Markets & Deli, 1503 Wilmot Pl., Oak Bay. Also available at Ploughshare Market, 4649 West Saanich Rd., Saanichton.
2. Oldfield Orchard and Bakery, 6286 Oldfield Rd., Saanichton.
3. Big Rock Bakery with locations in Greater Victoria at 1286 McKenzie Ave. (beside Big Barn Market); 751 Vanalman Ave; and in Sidney at 101-2376 Bevan Ave.
4. Jenny’s Old-Country Fare Ltd. Pies available at several retail food locations around greater Victoria and at some farmers’ markets.

I don’t often buy pies, because the berry bushes and fruit trees in my backyard supply us with ingredients for making our own. When choosing pies for my tasting panel, I relied on recommendations from others who, for the most part, did not let me down.

Joining me to sample a total of nine pies from four establishments was Times Colonist restaurant reviewer Pam Grant and Joseph Blake, a TC and freelance writer who has written about his many tasty travels around the world.

Pies were rated on look, texture, taste and overall enjoyment. First up were those purchased from Ambrosio Markets & Deli in Oak Bay, which are also available at Ploughshare Market in Saanich.

When buying the large and delicious looking pies, the first thing I noticed was how much they weighed: two to three times as much as the other pies we sampled. The reason for this became apparent when we cut into the pies: They were packed with apples and blackberries.

“Beautiful! Rustic. The kind of pie you can’t say no to,” wrote Grant in her tasting notes.

“Nice texture on the crust, but not overly flaky,” said Blake, adding on his tasting notes: “More, give me more!”
We all agreed that the pies had the right balance of spice and sugar to complement, not overwhelm, the fine-flavoured fruit. The apples used were tart and firm enough to stand up in this deep pie, which would take some time to cook right through. Sweeter apples with a higher moisture content would collapse and shrink under such conditions.

We next sampled another apple-blackberry pie, this time from Jenny’s Old-country Fare Ltd., a small company that wholesales pies to several retail outlets and also sells them at local farmers’ markets.

We also tried Jenny’s rhubarb pie, which was well shaped with a crust that, Grant said, had good flavour but was dense, perhaps overworked. Grant gave the filling 10 out of 10, enjoying its earthy, rhubarb flavour.

I also found the crust a touch on the firm side, maybe better suited to a meat pie, and the filling a little too tart for my liking. Blake, on the other hand, enjoyed the sharper taste of the filling.

We all agreed the apple-blackberry pie, which had a large amount of its juice boiled over the top crust, had the most unusual filling we have ever tried.

“Good, slightly tart taste, but where are the apples?” said Grant of the filling, which looked like a gelled purée of fruit.

Two pies from Oldfield Orchard in Saanich were filled with home-grown fruits.

“I just love the lattice top; it always whets my appetite to see the colourful fruit in the pie,” said Blake, looking at the strawberry-rhubarb and blackberry-apple pies.

The crust on both pies was very tender, and we all found the strawberries in the strawberry-rhubarb pie incredibly delicious. But, unfortunately, even though cut very small, the rhubarb was not cooked, and was almost crunchy.
The blackberry-apple pie was a different story, though, and we later concluded it was one of the best pies we tried during the tasting.

“How many pies do we have left to try?” asked Blake, when first tasting it. “I definitely have to finish this one!”
Blake did finish that slice of pie, but still had enough room left to sample the apple, apple-cranberry and bumbleberry offerings — home-style looking pies — from Big Rock Bakery, which has three locations in Greater Victoria.

“Looks like the kind of pie your grandmother would make,” said Grant, adding that this was the kind of pie you could take somewhere and pass it off as your own.

I found the rather thin crust tasted the best of all the pies we had tried. The fillings were nicely flavoured, but less boldly flavoured than the others.

The other tasters agreed, and Blake succinctly summed how we all felt in his tasting notes: “One of my favourites — good no-nonsense pies!”

After the tasting plates were tidied up, next came the challenge of declaring a winner. The pies from Ambrosio Markets & Deli just edge out Oldfield Orchard and Big Rock Bakery. They were a pleasure to look at, and, most importantly, a pleasure to eat.

Howling Wolf Farm

Marilyn Pegg serves up a freshly baked pie as sons Davis and Benji relax on the front porch of her stand at Howling Wolf Farm on Thetis Island.
Deddeda Stemler/Times