Where to find Montana's Best Pies

Where to find great pies in Montana

When Pascale Le Draoulec set out on a road trip from San Francisco to New York, her quest was to explore her American roots. She did it by exploring pie.  Le Draoulec was raised in California by French parents in a home steeped in French cuisine and culture. But she was in college before she tasted her first piece of pie.

For her crosscountry trip, she decided that (aside from her trusty Volvo), pie would be the perfect vehicle for accessing people and stories small towns — and she found plenty of welcoming people ... and pies ... in Montana.

Pascale Le Draoulec wrote the book "American Pie: Slices of Life and Pie from America's Backroads."

"Pie making reflects the characteristics of America's frontier spirit," notes Le Draoulec, "ingenuity, resilience, tenacity, competition."  She found that the affection evoked by pie endeared her to the townsfolk in each place she passed through.

Loula's Cafe/Whitefish

Laura Hansen and Mary Lou Covey opened LouLa's Cafe in Whitefish in 2007.  LouLa's is located in the Masonic Temple building in downtown Whitefish.  It is airy and cozy at the same time - the warm-gold walls present local artwork, and there is a fireplace to warm the dining room and lend a homey affect.   As you approach the service counter at LouLa's, you are faced with a display case full of the same pies that made the former Spruce Park Café famous. Berry-peach pies, apple-praline, lemon meringue, and three kinds of chocolate cream, cherry, pecan.

The covered pies all have LouLa's trademark wide-latticed crust, sprinkled with crystalline sugar. Shortening is the essential ingredient for great crust, Laura says. "Whenever I go to Italy to visit my friends, I always bring flour and shortening, so I can make American pie.  There's nothing like it over there.  They just love it."

LouLa's colorful fruit pies are thickened with tapioca, and have a nice tart nature - ready to be complimented by ice cream or their homemade whipped cream.  The cream pies, such as chocolate-cappuccino, are rich, high and silky.  The apple-praline is a decadent version of a traditional apple pie, with pecan halves and dark sugar praline slathered over the top crust.  The crusts are thin, nicely crimped, and tender.  Pascale La Draoulec so loved the huckleberry-peach pie at the former Spruce Park Café, she wrote about it in her book, American Pie: Slices of life (and pie) from America's back roads. There is truly something special about pie that transcends cultural differences and culinary echelons. In her book, La Draoulec refers to the "sweet and sensible" aspect of pie. 

Lambkins of Lincoln

On road trips as a family we'd make the  journey from Alberton, Montana, to Great Falls, stopping Lincoln for food and fuel.

And pie.

This was the highlight of those trips, and today when venturing down Highway 200 through Lincoln, I have to stop for cherry pie at Lambkins. Always fresh, always delicious. 

— Dave Reese

Coffee Cup Cafe/Hamilton, Montana

The Coffee Cup Café has been on the corner of South First Street in Hamilton since the 1930s. Now on any given day there are at least 12 to 15 different kinds of pie in the case at Coffee Cup. Among the multitudes of fruit pies, there are sour cream lemon that is a big seller, and of course, in the Montana summer, huckleberry is king.  

Pie entails love and loyalty, both from the maker and the consumer:  Those who love to make pie are hard and fast about what makes the best crust, how they crimp or decorate the edges, how sweet or tart the fruit fillings.

Those who love to eat pie usually have a certain kind they are crazy for, one or two they always come back to. At Loula's in Whitefish, Mary Lou Covey's explanation of the halcyon affects of pie?  "American pie is comfort, grandma's house, nurturing, and memories," she said.

Bees have a genetic memory of where to go in the summer.  "People have the same thing with pie," said LouLa's Laura Hansen, offering a more scientific analogy to why we always come back to the comfort food of pie.

Bernice's Bakery/Missoula

Pies from Bernice's Bakery in Missoula

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Wherever you find pie in Montana, you aren't just eating today's dessert. You're eating the culinary manifestation of American culture, history, and ingenuity that has been passed on for 200 years.

Pie is, in every way, a true slice of life in Montana.

MONTANA'S BEST PIES: THE RECIPES

Nancy Garness' Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Garness, of the Coffee Cup Cafe in Hamilton, doesn't often use recipes, but she recorded this one just for us!

Crust:  Any double crust recipe you like.

Filling:  2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in chunks 2 1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch chunks 1 1/2 cups sugar 7 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons butter Dash of salt Dash of nutmeg

*Mix all ingredients together and save the butter. Lay bottom crust into 9 in. pie dish. Spoon filling into bottom crust and dot with the butter. Lay the top crust over the filling and crimp as desired. Cut 3 or 4 vent holes in the top crust. Bake for 1hr. 15 min. in a preheated 325 degree oven.

LouLa's Huckleberry/Peach Pie

Crust: We use the recipe on the can of Crisco. Lay bottom crust in a deep, 9 in. pie plate. Score it with a fork.

Filling: 3 cups fresh or frozen huckleberries 2 cups peeled, sliced peaches (fresh or frozen) 1 cups sugar 3 tablespoons tapioca

Make sure huckleberries are free of stems and leaves. In your favorite mixing bowl, gently toss the peaches, berries, and sugar together. 

Then gently mix in the tapioca. Pour filling into bottom crust. Cut the top crust into 4 wide strips, and lay them, criss-crossed, across the top. Crimp as desired, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 75 to 90 minutes. Top crust should be golden brown when finished.