WORKING the counter at Woodruff’s Cafe and Pie Shop in Monroe, Va., Steve McCann began reciting the day’s dozen selections: “We have coconut custard, lemon chess, buttermilk, blueberry buttermilk...” In the back, owner Angela Scott rolled out dough, and her husband, Larry, turned apples on a hand-cranked peeler. One of Ms. Scott’s sisters, Darnelle Winston, poured coffees as a rush descended on the handful of gingham-covered tables.
The customers included students from nearby colleges as well as elders who parked themselves at tables with their knitting. There were travelers, too, coming off Skyline Drive, the highway that runs through nearby Shenandoah National Park, in search of pie they’d heard would be worth the detour.
As always, Mary Fannie Woodruff, age 102—Ms. Scott’s mother and “Mama” to everyone—was at her table, holding court. “I’m getting old, but I know one thing,” she said. “The Lord, he’s been taking care of me. I don’t want for anything. I have food, a good little place to stay, and I have company to talk to me.”
Ms. Woodruff’s late husband, James Earl Woodruff, built the place himself 67 years ago. The couple and their five children lived upstairs, and Ms. Woodruff ran it as a general store with a filling station and post office for three decades.
She might not tell you how tough it was, as a black woman, running a business in the Jim Crow South, but her daughter will. “They had white and black customers, but they still had to be in their place,” said Ms. Scott. “Bricks were thrown through the windows. My sisters integrated the elementary school, and my parents lost customers.”
The day I visited, a neighbor, David Pundt, had brought his son Zack, 14, and daughter, Grace, 9, to Woodruff’s for the season’s first strawberry milkshakes. “My wife used to come here as a girl,” he said. “One of my favorite stories of hers is that families having a difficult time were like, ‘As long as I can make it to Woodruff’s, I’ll be OK.’ They were very generous to the community.”
Eventually, supermarkets moved in, competing with little stores like Woodruff’s. In 1982, the grocery closed. Sixteen years later, Ms. Scott, a restaurant manager, felt she had to revive the business.
There was a proud history to consider. Her paternal great-grandfather, Wyatt Woodruff, was the county’s first black business owner. Formerly enslaved, he bought the land on which Woodruff’s sits with the pension he earned fighting in the 15th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. His blacksmith’s shop became a landmark for travelers, who would camp out back.
At first, Ms. Scott sold organic and specialty foods, with a sandwich counter and desserts cribbed from cookbooks. Pies happened to be the item that took off. “They were so popular, I started baking more,” she said.
Her crust is Crisco-based. There’s no cream of tartar in her fluffy meringue, no Jell-O in her fillings, just plenty of sugar and fruit, much of it grown right down the road. She tops Morris Orchard’s blueberries with a spiced crumble. Her strawberry icebox pie barely has time to set before diners demand slices.
They typically sell 25 pies on a weekday and 50 on a Saturday. Still, Ms. Scott credits her success to her mother’s constant presence. “People say, ‘Don’t change it.’ It’s like they’re sitting in their grandma’s kitchen,” she said. “After I retire, I’ll be sitting in there like Mama, I know it. I’ll be telling everyone what to do and making sure the customers are waited on properly.”
ACTIVE TIME: ½ hour TOTAL TIME: 1 hour MAKES: 4 crusts
4 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1⅓ cup vegetable shortening, such as Crisco, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ cup cold water
1. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut in Crisco and butter until mixture looks uniform and crumbly, about 10 minutes.
2. Mix egg and vinegar with ½ cup cold water. Sprinkle egg mixture into flour a few tablespoons at a time, kneading as you go, until mixture can be formed into a smooth ball that does not crack when pressed.
3. Cut ball into four pieces, flatten each piece, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill at least ½ hour or overnight.
ACTIVE TIME: ½ hour TOTAL TIME: 1½ hours MAKES: 1 pie
4 cups blueberries
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup instant tapioca
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 pinches of salt
½ cup flour
⅓ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons frozen butter
1. In a large bowl, mix blueberries, sugar, tapioca, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Let stand until berries start to soften and release their juice, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Grate butter into flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter in until mixture is coarse and crumbly. (Makes about 2 cups.)
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 disk of dough between sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to a 10-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, trim excess dough and crimp edges.
4. Turn berry filling out into pie crust. Top generously with crumble. (Reserve any remaining crumble for another use.) Bake until pie is brown on top and bubbling within, about 1 hour.
ACTIVE TIME: ½ hour TOTAL TIME: 2 hours MAKES: 1 pie
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1½ cups water
3 eggs, separated
Juice and finely grated zest of 3 lemons
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place 1 disk of dough between sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to a 10-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, trim excess and crimp edges. Prick bottom of crust several times with a fork. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and decrease heat to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, dissolve sugar and cornstarch in 1½ cups water. Add yolks and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in juice, zest and butter, remove from heat and pour into pre-baked pie shell.
3. Use an electric mixer to beat egg whites with confectioner’s sugar on high until soft peaks form, about 10 minutes. Fold meringue out onto warm filling, spreading to edge of crust.
4. Bake pie until meringue is golden brown at peaks, about 10 minutes. Let cool at room temperature until no longer steaming. Chill completely, at least 1 hour.
The secret ingredient in this super-fruity, chilled pie is Sprite. Angela Scott adapted it from a rendition served at Virginia’s Lendy’s Big Boy drive-ins in the 1950s.
ACTIVE TIME: 35 minutes TOTAL TIME: 1¾ hours MAKES: 1 pie
3 cups sliced strawberries, divided, plus 1 strawberry cut into fan shape for garnish
1 (12-ounce) can Sprite
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoons almond extract
Pinch of salt
Pint heavy whipping cream
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place 1 disk of dough between sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to a 10-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, trim excess and crimp edges. Prick bottom of crust several times with a fork. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook 2 cups strawberries with Sprite until strawberries start to soften, about 5 minutes. Mash strawberries. Add sugar and cornstarch, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add butter, almond extract and salt. Cook until thickened again, about 5 minutes
3. Remove filling from heat, and cool slightly. Line bottom of prebaked pie crust with remaining strawberries. Pour filling over top. Cool pie at room temperature until no longer steaming, about 10 minutes. Chill 1 hour.
4. In a chilled bowl, beat cream together with confectioner’s sugar until cream forms soft peaks, about 10 minutes. Spread whipped cream over pie, and top with fanned strawberry.
