Having her pie and eating it too

4/26/2011

Phyllis Szymanek and her husband, Andy, celebrate after Phyllis won the $5,000 prize at the American Pie Council Crisco National Pie Championship.

It never gets old.

Two years ago, Holland resident Phyllis Szymanek won the best-in-show award at a national pie championship. This month, she won it again.

Every year, the American Pie Council Crisco National Pie Championship pits some 300 of the country’s best amateur and professional pie-bakers in a massive bake-off in Orlando, Fla. After winning the top amateur award in 2009 with her Category 5 Peanut Butter Pie, she came back this year for a second helping, and then some.

Ms. Szymanek’s Royal Macadamia and Raspberry Pie won the overall best-in-show award after first taking the top spot in its category, pies made with cream cheese.

But she didn’t stop there. As the icing on the cake, she also won a first place in the peanut-butter pie category for her Double Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie, and a second place in the citrus category for her Kumquat Tropical Delight Pie, which also has coconut and pineapple.

The judges did not stop with her when giving out laurels to local bakers. Grace Thatcher of Delta, Ohio, also came away with two second-place awards, for cherry streusel and pecan pie.

But Ms. Szymanek was the day’s big winner, bringing her a significant amount of money, including $5,000 for the best-in-show award, plus a large gift basket from Crisco and a new stove from Sears.

It is her second new stove in two years; she also received one for winning best-in-show in 2009. But two stoves is not one stove too many. For health reasons, she and her husband live in Riverside, Fla., during the winter months. The first stove went to their Florida home; this new one will come up to the Toledo area.

Now 66 and a great-grandmother, she is enjoying far greater success at baking pies than when she first began making them at 18 or 19.

“They were the worst pies I ever made in my life. You could hit them with a hammer and they wouldn’t break,” she said on the phone from her Florida home.

“But I kept practicing. I don’t know why, but I always wanted to bake good pies.”

Ms. Szymanek has a couple of secrets to her success. To make her crusts flaky, she uses ice-cold water and cold butter-flavored Crisco and Pillsbury Flour e_SEmD a notable departure from her mother, who “always swore by Gold Medal.”

She tries to use the freshest fruit for her fruit pies, whatever is in season. Last summer, she began making a raspberry pie, which became the genesis of her award-winner. It was good, but it wasn’t quite special enough.

“I said I wanted to add something different, so I started putting the macadamia nuts in the crust and on top. Everybody loves it, and it’s so good,” she said.

Now that she has won the top award twice in three years, Ms. Szymanek has given some thought to quitting and not entering the contest anymore. But then she thinks about how much fun she has.

“I look so forward to doing it every year,” she said.

It never gets old.

Contact Daniel Neman at dneman@theblade.com or 419-724-6155.

 

RECIPES

Royal Macadamia Raspberry Pie

1 1/2 cups Pillsbury All-Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Crisco

3 tablespoons butter, chilled

3-4 tablespoons ice water

2 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts (for crust)

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/4 cup water

Pinch of salt

1 (3-ounce) box Raspberry Jell-O

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

8 ounces Cool Whip

3 cups raspberries

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (for filling)

In a mixing bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in Crisco and butter until crumbly. Add 3-4 tablespoons ice water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms into a ball. Chill for one hour. Roll out on floured surface to fit a 9-inch pie dish. Lightly press 2 tablespoons macadamia nuts into pie crust. Place in pie dish and bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown. Set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, 1 1/4 cups water, and salt over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Boil until thick and clear. Remove from heat and add Jell-O, mix well. Set aside and cool for 15 to 20 minutes

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl and beat on low speed until creamy. Add powdered sugar until mixed well. Add lemon juice. Fold in half of the Cool Whip. Spread half the cream cheese mixture into bottom of cooled pie crust. Spread half the raspberries over cream cheese. Pour half of the glaze over raspberries. Refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Then add remaining cream cheese over raspberries; top with remaining raspberries and then the rest of the glaze. Chill for about an hour. Place remaining Cool Whip in a pastry bag with a star tip to garnish top of pie making three circles around outer edge of pie. Sprinkle with nuts.

Source: American Pie Council, by Phyllis Szymanek

 

Double Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie

1 1/3 cups Pillsbury All-Purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup Crisco, chilled

1/4 cup cold butter

3-4 tablespoons cold water

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, divided

1 (8-ounce) packet cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

12 ounces whipped topping, divided

6 tablespoons blackberry spread, divided and chilled

1/3 cup hot fudge topping (warmed in microwave on high for about 15 seconds.)

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

4 -5 .5-ounce Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chilled and chopped

Mix flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in Crisco and 1/4 cup butter. With pastry cutter, cut into pea size. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until it forms into ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 to 2 hours or overnight. Roll out on floured surface one inch larger than 9-inch pie pan. Place into pie pan and flute edges. Prick bottom and sides of pie crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Layer No. 1: In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup peanut butter, using a fork. Set aside.

Layer No. 2: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, mix until combined. Add 1 cup peanut butter and vanilla. Mix well. Fold in 2 cups whipped topping.

Place half of Layer No. 1 into bottom of cooled pie crust. Spread 3 tablespoons blackberry fruit spread over 2/3 of Layer No. 1, using a fork and starting in the center of the pie. Top with half of Layer No. 2. Then repeat. Chill about 2 hours. Spread hot fudge topping all over the top of the pie. Freeze for 5 minutes. Place remaining whipped topping in a 1-quart size re-sealable bag. Cut small hole off of one corner. Garnish around edge of pie. Top with nuts and peanut butter cups.

Source: American Pie Council, by Phyllis Szymanek