My father, brother and I just finished devouring four different barbecued animals at Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Q in Mason. Terrific stuff, all of it, but Cooper’s only sells pre-packaged desserts, so we had a moral obligation to drive elsewhere to get our sugar fix. Thankfully, Fredericksburg was only 45 minutes away, and virtually every other storefront seemed to house a bakery. We selected Fredericksburg Pie Company, a relative newcomer in the Fredericksburg bakery wars because it’s “all about pies.” Since we’re all pie lovers, it was an intriguing proposition.
Open just one-and-a-half years, this pie cottage is part of a movement by the city to cultivate Uptown Fredericksburg, located just west of the main tourist strip. Featured in the April 2006 issue of Texas Monthly as a new hot spot, we were surprised to discover the Pie Company had already changed hands. Only three weeks ago, the original owners sold the shop to Charlotte and Bill Freeborn. Thankfully, we were happy to discover the pies were still excellent.
The front room of the yellow-walled café houses a multi-tiered glass-sided refrigerator, for the cream and meringue pies.
Fruit and nut pies rest on a multi-tiered rack and on the kitchen counter.
There was a blackboard touting the “Daily Pie Selection.” We were most excited about the “Bourbon Orange Pecan,” but in a tornado of confusion, it never made it to our table.
We took our pie plates into the next room, which was open-air and lined with framed paintings, including a trio of clowns, two women at a bar, and flowers. There was also a bookshelf featuring Cold Mountain, The Secret Life of Bees, and Life of Pi, among others.
Even though we just engulfed over four pounds of barbecued meat, we still managed to split four slices of pie: cherry (since it was on the logo); coconut cream; German chocolate; and the Saturday only special, peanut butter cup. Our three cream pies each featured a thin top layer of whipped cream.
The peanut butter cup featured thick strata of peanut butter cream and chocolate cream. It was substantial but sensational.
German chocolate blended chocolate cream, shredded coconut strands and chopped walnuts. It was a little rich, but solid.
The coconut cream slice was amazing, a moist crust carrying a profoundly coconut-y yellow cream.
My least favorite slice was the one that decorated the Fredericksburg Pie Company’s logo: cherry. It featured a respectable latticed crust, but the cherries were a little too tart for me.
The pie crusts were all moist and held together well under the weight of the prodigious toppings. Charlotte arrives early to form the crusts. Bob and Doris are an older couple that arrive and fill the crusts, then Charlotte bakes the pies in time for opening.
The Fredericksburg Pie Company Mission Statement is “to serve pie that is as good as or better than our mothers and grandmothers made and to serve it in an interesting atmosphere that fosters community.” Interesting atmosphere? Check. Better than my mother and grandmother made? Incomplete, since my mother and grandmother never baked a pie. And I don’t know that the pies were powerful enough to “foster community,” but they was mighty fine.
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