Pies Over Pleas

Posted on June 29, 2018

When Brianna Abrams ’00 set up her bakeshop in Los Angeles, she named it Winston Pies, a nod to her childhood in Winston-Salem. The flavors also reflect her Tar Heel upbringing: Dixie Classic Cherry, Blue Ridge Blueberry and (named for her grandmother) Edna’s Lemon Meringue.

“I grew up baking,” Abrams said. “Everyone in the family bakes — it’s part of the family lore.” She traces this piesmithing tradition at least as far back as her great-great-grandmother. Over a slice of blueberry pie, she talked about how conversations with her two sisters still center on baked goods and how her favorite flavor has remained the same since she was a kid: “I love to eat cherry pie.”

Abrams turned baking into a business while she was practicing law. She had met her future husband, Dan, while both were law students at American University. A few years after graduation, they married and moved to his hometown of LA and got jobs at different firms. She sometimes sent pies to Dan’s firm, and eventually his colleagues began buying them.

Dan created a website for her in 2015 to start ButterCrust Pies, selling made-from-scratch baked goods, made in the couple’s kitchen and based on family recipes. “The last year, I did over 3,000 pies out of my house,” she said, “and I had two huge trials and thought, ‘This is crazy. It’s not going to work — time to choose.’ ”

Abrams credits her husband with encouraging her to choose pies over pleas, even as a key role in a headline-grabbing federal trial came her way. “That [trial] was where I would launch my [legal] career, but I still really wanted to be doing pies,” she said. “I told my husband in the middle of the trial, ‘Let’s look for a space.’ ”

She opened Winston Pies in September 2017, replacing ButterCrust. Since then the entrepreneur has worked longer hours than she had at the law firm but hasn’t “desired to be a practicing lawyer, not for a second.” And her two daughters, ages 7 and 4, are learning to carry on the family tradition, baking pies and muffins with mom at home and at the shop.

Los Angeles draws people from all over, and the baker often can tell customers’ origins from the flavors they order. “If we get a rhubarb pie request, they’re a Northeasterner. People asking for Crack Pie are from the Midwest; we call it Chess Pie in the South.”

Abrams has modified her menu to accommodate taste trends, including gluten-free options and superfood ingredients such as cardamom: “Those are not recipes I grew up with at all, but I’m more than happy to incorporate those into this tradition.”

The delicacies draw raves, such as this from a young native Angelino picking up several slices for her nearby office on Pi Day (March 14, or 3.14): “I love that Winston’s is here. It’s so non-LA. Everything else is all green-juicy.”

For all that variety, one of the most traditional flavors, apple, is the best-seller. What’s her favorite to make? “Any double crust,” Abrams said. “I like working with the dough and forming it. It’s very Zen for me.”

For Winston, that’s very LA.

— Robert D. Gray ’91

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Southern Peach Cobbler

6 cups fresh peaches

1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1½ cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup milk

1 tablespoon cinnamon mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar  (optional)

▶  Preheat oven to 375 F, butter a baking dish.

▶  Mix peaches with lemon juice, add ⅔ cup of sugar, lemon zest and almond extract.

▶  Bake for 10 minutes.

▶  While peaches bake, sift flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

▶  Cut in butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal.

▶  Combine beaten egg and milk into mixture.

▶  Remove peaches from oven. Quickly drop the dough in spoonfuls over the surface. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (optional).

▶  Bake 20 minutes or until dough is baked and golden.

▶  Serve warm with fresh whipped cream.

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