Love in every slice

Memories a common thread in pie competition won by Nina Shepard of Cooper City

The Sun Sentinel’s first pie competition solicited impressive and diverse entries — meringues, curds, custards, fresh fruit, chocolate, cheese and vegetable fillings topped paper-thin filo, graham cracker crumb, crushed cookie and flaky dough crusts.

But there was a common thread woven through the contestants’ recipes: memories of time in the kitchen with mothers and grandmothers, or baking for their own children. There was love in every slice.

Entries were whittled down to five finalists, and after a panel tasting on April 3, judges declared Nina Shepard, of Cooper City, the winner with her Why So Blueberry Lemon Pie.

Aside from bragging rights, Shepard received four tickets to the opening night of “Waitress,” running today through April 22 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, dinner at Marti’s Bistro and her winning recipe inserted into the “Waitress” cookbook sold during the show’s run. “Waitress” follows the life of Jenna, an expert pie baker and waitress in a small-town diner who has hopes and dreams of leaving her loveless marriage by winning a pie contest in a neighboring town. (For more information, go BrowardCenter.org.)

Shepard, who enjoys baking for friends and family celebrations, explained her inspiration when developing the recipe. “I love trying out recipes with new flavor combinations and I started making this mix of sweet and tart with a perfectly flaky crust for all occasions.” Shepard suggests her pie is best served warm with a scoop of ice cream. Any extra filling makes a great topping for pancakes, waffles or ice cream.

The four finalists each received two tickets to “Waitress.”

Michelle Auriana Simmons, of Aventura, impressed judges with her Mamanem Pie.

“Growing up in South Carolina with my mother hailing from Tennessee and my father born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, the tastes and aromas of delectable Southern desserts flood my memories,” she wrote in her entry. The pie is a mashup of favorites from those four states: coconut cake from South Carolina, banana pudding from Tennessee, Bananas Foster from Louisiana and mud pie from Mississippi. The pie’s name is an homage to her mama and “nem,” Southern slang for “them.”

When Lina Buitrago, of Fort Lauderdale, moved to the United States from Bogotá, Colombia, 17 years ago, she learned that apple pie was part of American culture. Buitrago has been perfecting her recipe ever since. Making the pie for her mother when she visits has become a family tradition. Her entry, My Favorite Spiced Apple Pie, stood out with its beautiful double crust and delicious cinnamon and nutmeg scented apple filling. Buitrago prefers golden delicious apples for their low moisture content and balance of sweet and tart. For a decadent treat, Buitrago suggests serving her pie warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

From December through April, Lyndsey Stiepleman, of Coconut Creek, will step into her back yard to pick fruit for her pie, My Shining Starfruit Pie. Stiepleman’s original entry is near and dear to her heart. “This pie is very special to my family. My mother and I bake this pie for family gatherings. We use the starfruits from our tree when they are in season and make everything from scratch. I grew up baking with my mother just like Jenna and we now listen to the ‘Waitress’ soundtrack when we bake.”

Starfruit are often used in salads or fruity cocktails but rarely in baking, which makes Stiepleman’s recipe perfect for anyone looking to expand their culinary repertoire.

It may be tempting to take a shortcut with Plum Good Gingersnap Pie, developed by Nikkie Friedman of Boca Raton. But it’s worth the extra effort to make her homemade gingersnaps used in the crust. Friedman fills her spiced cookie crust with a lovely magenta hued plum curd topped with whipped cream. It’s delicious and different, and Friedman explains why: “My inspiration for this original confection stemmed from the need to make something sweet and unique from the overabundance of fruit from my Costco haul. The thought of tossing out food makes me nuts, so I make up ways to use it. This was the happy result of one of those times.”

Friedman also notes that the cookies can be made a few days in advance to spread out the prep work.

Thank you to all the bakers who submitted recipes and congratulations to our finalists. You’re all winners, no matter how you slice it.

AMY BETH BENNETT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Nina Shepard received four tickets to the opening night of “Waitress,” now running at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, dinner at Marti’s Bistro and her winning recipe inserted into the “Waitress” cookbook sold during the show’s run.