“We will probably be completely booked up by next week on Friday,” Sharon Stevens, owner of Stevens Bakery and Orchard, said. “Once I reach a certain number, I just can’t do anymore.”
With the help of a commercial kitchen including five ovens, Stevens is able to bake 70 pies at a time toward the 3,000 pies she will make for Thanksgiving pre-orders.
Stevens and her team will begin making the pie crusts the week before. This week the team made apple streusel pie topping with 150 pounds of butter to prepare for Thanksgiving pre-orders, she said.
The bakery offers apple streusel, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, peach, rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb, custard, chocolate chip cookie, pecan, pumpkin, sugar cream, banana, buckeye, butterscotch, chocolate, coconut, lemon, and peanut butter pies. “No sugar added” pies are available.
RELATED: Stevens Bakery & Orchard serves up homemade pies
“Our best sellers are pumpkin, pecan, apple, and cherry pie,” Stevens said.
The bakery promotes that all of their pies are “made-from-scratch” without canned pie fillings or added preservatives.
“Our pies are a family tradition for a lot of families,” Stevens said. “It’s just not Thanksgiving for them if they don’t have a Stevens pie.”
Stevens Bakery is open all year for pre-ordered pies, to order call 937-788-2873.
Residents looking for a homemade pie from the Urbana-area have a few extra days to place their pre-orders.
The Airport Cafe, 1636 N. Main Street in Urbana, is accepting pre-orders until noon the day before Thanksgiving.
Owner Doug Hall said he has had between 75 and 170 Thanksgiving pie pre-orders, annually in previous years.
Apple, apple crumb, apricot, apricot crumb, banana, black raspberry, butterscotch, cherry, cherry crumb, chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, coconut, custard, lemon, peach, peach crumb, peanut butter, pecan, and pumpkin pies are available for pre-orders.
RELATED: Doug and Michele’s Airport Cafe, Urbana
The cream pies are sold in the cafe daily for dessert - coconut and butterscotch are two customer favorites, Hall said.
Hall and his wife took over the cafe, located at the Grimes Field Airport, 15 years ago and has been sharing his great-grandmother’s pie recipes ever since.
“It’s neat watching the airplanes come in and out - that’s just an added bonus,” Hall said. “Just being able to interact with the public, service the community and provide a nice restaurant for the town.”
The Airport Cafe is open 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, search for Airport Cafe on Facebook.
About the Author