My father, Stephen Broussard, was a self-proclaimed “pie master.” Early Saturday mornings, he’d tie on his apron that read “Skinny People Make Bad Cooks,” throw on his toque (yes, he actually wore the iconic chef’s hat while cooking at home), blast his favorite jazz albums on the stereo, and bake a quiche. He felt that making quiches made him seem cultured.
For him, quiche was like oui oui fancy.
My dad passed away in 2009. At his funeral, my cousin Stefanie said, “We should start a foundation.”
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I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “And why?”
“In memory of Uncle Steve. We should bake pies and teach kids how to bake pies. It
can be a family thing.”
The last thing I wanted to think about was pies or quiches.
Three years following his death, my tank was empty. I wasn’t sure what my next move was going to be, but I definitely needed time to rethink and recuperate.
I flew to San Francisco to visit my cousins Justin and Shamieka. One day, Shamieka and I stumbled upon a bakery called Mission Pie. My skin began to tingle, and I felt a slight chill when we walked in the doors. I was supposed to be here.
I sat down and surveyed the place. It was small, cute, cozy, and reminded me of a few spots back home in Chicago. I noticed that there were a lot of teenagers working behind the counter. While we waited for our order, my cousin quipped, “I love this place. They hire a lot of displaced teens who are living in shelters.” My head felt light, and my ears started to ring.
I flashed back to the basement of Holy Family Catholic Church and heard an echo of Stefanie’s voice: “We should bake pies.”
My dad’s spirit had been trying to tell me all along, and now I heard him loud and clear. I went back to the house, and I told my cousin Justin, “I think I’m going to start a bakery.”
Once I returned to Chicago, I got my proper paperwork and licensing in place, I found a shared kitchen to work out of, and I applied to participate in a few spring markets. I didn’t have everything figured out, but I did have $7,000 and a willingness to go slow and steady. I also had a purpose.
I was not only celebrating my dad’s love of pies but also reflecting on his life. He was a man who grew up with food insecurity and he was also a criminal defense attorney. So, in building the bakery, I integrated a social mission element to fight against food insecurities and give people second chances.
I started the company eight years ago and, ever since, Justice of the Pies has been known not only for our delicious sweet and savory pies, quiches, and tarts but also for how we positively impact the lives of others.
In addition to helping people and continuing my dad’s legacy of doing good, what I love most about serving pie is seeing the reactions on people’s faces when they eat it. Customers have begged for my salted caramel peach pie recipe for years. In the past, no one had made that pie but me...but now, you can make it, too.
The Best Mango & Coconut Macaroon Tart
The flavor of a mango reminds me of a pineapple, an orange, and a peach all rolled into one. When ripe, a mango is extremely sweet; and since it is a tropical fruit, it of course pairs well with another tropical ingredient: coconut. So I take the two and combine them into this bright and slightly chewy tart that has coconut in the crust and filling, and mango in the crust and laid across the finished pie, too. The macaroon crust browns so nicely at the edges, and its crispness makes it an ideal tart base, especially filled with a creamy coconut custard that is topped with fresh mango slices.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL recipe
The Best Salted Caramel Peach Pie
My mom (and my namesake), Dr. Camille Billingslea, specializes in family medicine. As I was growing up, she worked long shifts at the hospital, which meant that takeout was usually our best friend. When my mom did cook, she’d make leftover-friendly meals that we could easily reheat if she wasn’t home, like spaghetti, tacos, or beans and rice.
Though she wasn’t much of a baker and rarely made desserts from scratch, there was one dessert that she mastered, one that she learned from her own mother: peach cobbler.
If I found cans of peaches on the kitchen countertop, I knew a peach cobbler was in my near future. Mom would crank open the large cans, drain them, and tip the peaches into a huge pot. Butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar all went into the pot, which she always did “by eye,” which we also call “cooking by vibration,” adding ingredients to the dish until the ancestors whispered in your ear to ease up.
A dessert traditionally attributed to the Deep South, cobblers are not meant to be pretty. The ingredients are literally cobbled together into a deep dish and often served warm and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
In creating the salted caramel peach pie, I wanted to retain all the buttery, aromatic spices found in my mom’s peach cobbler while adding oatmeal and flour to the filling to create a spongy, cakelike texture and give it a prepossessing appearance—no top crust required (making this a great starter pie to make). When my mom made a peach cobbler, there were never any leftovers—the dessert disappeared as quickly as it was pulled from the oven. The same always happens with this peach pie, too.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL recipe
The Best Sweet Potato Praline Pie
Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite ingredients to cook with since their versatility can be applied to sweet or savory dishes.
This pie is a nod to my paternal family’s Louisiana roots. Pralines are a fudge-like confection with a creamy consistency that were originally brought to Louisiana by French settlers. They’re typically made from evaporated milk, sugar, butter, and pecans—the same ingredients I use to make the custard filling. While I do love sweet potatoes, I must admit that the praline sauce is my favorite part of this pie. The creaminess combines with the saccharinity of the sweet potato custard and the buttery nuttiness of the pecans for a stunningly delicious pie. The pie keeps very well in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freeze for two months and defrost in the fridge.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL recipe
Maya-Camille Broussard is the chef owner of the bakery Justice of the Pies in Chicago and star of the Netflix show Bake Squad. Justice of the Pies cookbook is available now.
Reprinted from Justice of the Pies, Copyright © 2022 by Maya-Camille Broussard. Photographs copyright © 2022 by Dan Goldberg. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.
