Pie Social at Evangeline Cafe

On this delightfully sunny, Sunday afternoon, I attended my friend’s birthday and Pie Social at a cafe in south Austin called Evangeline Cafe. When my friend first told me about the pie social, I was a little skeptical. The vision in my head was of rows and rows of cream pies, pies filled with ready made filling or perhaps even a tub or two of Cool Whip, all the things that I will never consume.

But when she told me that it was also a fund raiser to benefit the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture, I figured I’d drag along Kate and head on down south for some pie eatin’. The point of the social was to bring two pies, sweet or savory: one pie for sharing and one pie for selling. Each pie was set at $20.00, and I happen to think that might be a little steep for my pies at this point.

I’ve only been baking pies this past year or so. I have mastered quiches and berry pies and I have yet to venture out into whipping clouds of meringue or glazing fruit tarts. I don’t consider myself a novice in pie-baking, but I have learned first hand the disasters of not blind baking the bottom crust, under flouring my filling and napping while baking.

Regardless of the pressure I had put on myself, I baked a new concoction of mine: cherry, blackberry in red wine pie. It sounds incredibly rich, but the red wine tangyness just compliments the sweetness of the cherries and berries so well. So, i baked three: one to test on friends at their lake house, one to sell, and one for everyone to *hopefully* eat.

Evangeline Cafe is quite the place. As soon as I walked in, I was reminded of my New Orleans roots: a small, generally poorly lit bar with patrons from all walks of life, Mardi Gras paraphernalia on the walls, and a Zydeco band blaring familiar songs.

I also noticed the rows of pies that were for sale and was amazed at how delicious and unique each of them were. Lemon, Key Lime, Pecan, Pear, Tomato Basil…almost every kind of tasty fruit, nut, cream and vegetable combination you could think of was waiting to be taken home and consumed.

And then there were more pies….tiny ones, big ones, deep dish ones, slightly overcooked crust ones, sweet smelling ones, savory ones…it was overwhelming frankly.

I shuffled my pie over to the sharing area and hoped that people would take a slice, approach me for the recipe and ask me if I had a food blog they could read every day. Well, I can dream can’t I? My friends liked my pie, but with so many others there, It got lost in between an apple and a cherry, two all-American favorites which were sure to go first.

However, if you have the time and the pie know-how, I highly suggest trying out my recipe for Cherry Blackberry Shiraz Pie. (you can use Merlot if you wish).

You will need:

• 2 Frozen Pie Crusts
• 2 cans of good blackberries and cherries
• Lemon
• Super fine sugar
• Flour
• Red Wine of choice

First, blind bake your bottom crust according to the directions. Next, drain one can of cherries and add the blackberries and about half a can of the syrup into a bowl. No more than 3/4 cup of sugar added. Add about a 1/2 cup of red wine. 1 cup of flour, juice of 1/2 lemon. Mix together and let set in fridge 30 min. Fill pre-baked pie shell with filling, top with other pie shell. Doesn’t have to be perfect! Bake at 400 for about 30 min. or until golden brown. Do not burn edges! Wrap tinfoil around the crust if need be.