A Retired Texas Teacher Opened A Pie Shop At 64—10 Years Later, People Drive Hours To Try Her Pecan Pie

It's early December, and after being serenaded by a group of carolers on historic Main Street in Grapevine, Texas—appropriately known as The Christmas Capital of Texas —I slip away from the chill and into the warmth of JudyPie for something sweet. After all, her pies have been the talk of the small town. The rich scents of butter and toasted nuts fill the air, and the vintage-style bakery is reminiscent of a Southern grandma's home. Owner Judy Balunda has created an old-fashioned pie shop filled with family photographs, childhood mementos, wooden tables draped in tablecloths that change seasonally, and bright, retro-hued walls.

Make no mistake: The main attraction of JudyPie is the glass cases filled with scratch-made pies, from whole pies to adorable mini ones and hand pies stuffed with fruit filling. As someone who manages to mess up a boxed-cake recipe, I'm immediately in awe of the pies' perfectly woven basket-weave crusts, as well as the decorative designs—from the pecan pie topped with a crust swath shaped like the state of Texas to adorable heart cutouts revealing bright-red cherry filling.

As I peruse the cases, mulling over which slice to surrender my day's caloric budget, the salesperson behind the counter encourages me to sample several varieties. She heralds their classic pecan pie—the award-winning pie that put the small bake shop on the proverbial map ten years ago—and the sweet-tart merlot cherry pie. The couple at the table next to me, surrounded by their own bevy of personal slices and whole pies, admits they just drove an hour to pick up the pies for their family holiday party.

"Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we sell countless pies, and the pecan pies make up more than half of those orders. People come from all over and wait in line for hours," owner Judy Balunda says. "We make sure that our ingredients are fresh, nothing is pre-made or store bought, and the pecans are baked to just the right crispness. And our pecan pie is not too sweet. I tell people with full confidence that you won't find any better."

Pie-In-The-Sky Dreams

The 74-year-old credits the coveted pecan pie—and JudyPie's decade-long success—to her late mother Rhoda's recipe. Growing up in Waco, Texas, they would pick pecans from her beloved aunt Sylvia's tree every Sunday during the fall. They'd spend hours tediously picking out the perfect pecans and then crack them with a tabletop hand-crank machine. "My job was to crack the pecans. My arm would always get so tired from cranking, and I'd ask my aunt if I could go in the backyard and look for more pecans instead," she recalls with a laugh. But the scent of her mom's baking pie would always draw her back in. "She wanted everything to be perfect. I remember her making the crust and the filling using Karo corn syrup. She'd cook the filling to a certain thickness in a double boiler, which I still have in my kitchen, and then pour it in the pie shell and bake it in the oven," she says. "The smells, the time together. Those childhood memories are so special. I still feel like they're watching and directing."

That cherished family pecan pie would eventually lead her to open JudyPie in September of 2016. When Balunda retired from teaching school in Grapevine after 26 years, she wanted something to fill her time, and started baking for her son. She was encouraged by family to open a pie shop, using her mom's classic pie recipes, and started with about five pies such as lemon meringue and chocolate cream. Word of mouth quickly spread and the pies became nationally ranked by publications. "The stone brick of JudyPie is the pecan pie," she says. "And our bakers have maintained the integrity of my mom's pies."

Pecan Pie Perfection

While Balunda keeps the family pecan pie recipe tightly guarded, she admits she did make a tweak to the crust with a "secret" ingredient. "My crust was 95 percent my mom's. But now it's better than hers, it's so flaky and fresh," she says. Her biggest complaint with most pecan pies: extreme sweetness. She recalls making a five-gallon tub of pecan filling one year, and when she tasted a spoonful, she found it too sweet and poured the whole batch out. "The baker at the time couldn't believe I did that and actually quit over the situation," she says. "But my tongue knows the right pecan pie. If you take a bite of ours, it melts in your mouth. And the filling is the right consistency, not too thick or too thin."

She also offers different pecan pie varieties, from one with chunks of chocolate to another one splashed with bourbon and even a version made with a molasses crust—a regular request from one of her longtime customers. "Pretty much whatever someone wants, we'll make it," Balunda says. Other top pie sellers include strawberry rhubarb and a Key lime pie that she says her Florida customers claim is better than ones they get at home.

And just as important as the taste, is how her pies make people feel. "I once had a man start crying because the pie reminded him of his late mother. Our pies remind people of family and memories made together," she says, adding: "We're an old-fashioned pie shop that will hopefully always be old-fashioned."

Read the original article on Southern Living