Shaun Jenkins, owner of Soul Food Joint, grew up in a pie-loving household. The weekend before Thanksgiving, his mom would make about 40 pies, and folks would stop by to pick one up after church—free of charge.
Jenkins carries on that tradition by baking a bushel of his own favorite sweet potato Thanksgiving tarts every November. We asked a few other soul food chefs for their take on holiday pies, plus we polled our readers about their faves too.
Jeneatha Douglas, JBD Mobile Catering & Events: “My sweet potato—sweet potato pie, most definitely. I have to say I cheat with [a store-bought] crust, but everything else is all me.”
Dejua Douglas, Dejua’s Creations (as told by Jeneatha Douglas): “She does holiday cakes and pies, as well. I would say her favorite pie is a mean apple pie—and sometimes a cherry or peach.”
Angelic Jenkins, Angelic’s Kitchen: “My favorite is apple pie a la mode—those apple pie crumbs and vanilla ice cream, it’s a must-have. It brings happiness and laughter to the whole table.”
Ryan Hubbard, Red Hub Food Co.: “I’m going to go with our chocolate pecan bourbon pie. It’s got that essence of bourbon and uses a 60 percent dark chocolate.”
Shannon Campbell, Croby’s Urban Viddles: “Pecan. My nana made the best pecan pie.”