Congratulations to the Winners!

49 pies were entered, over 125 people came. Pie was eaten, and if you were a judge, that would be 49 bites of pie. At least. And there were winners! Congratulations go out to....

Best Crème Pie
Michael Baden for Strawberry Balsamic Pie

Best Custard Pie
Michael Arnovitz for Summer Grapefruit Pie
Michael included some notes with his entries, and about this winning entry said: A Southern American pie typically made with cornstarch and “Jell-O” products. I decided instead to swap out the Key Limes in my Key Lime pie recipe and use grapefruit instead. Crust is graham crackers, sugar and butter. Filling is condensed sweetened milk, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, grapefruit zest, eggs. Topping of heavy cream (whipped).

Best Pumpkin Pie
Melva Carlson
Melva was the lone entry in this category, but according to the judges, this was a dang good pie.

Best Nut Pie
Michael Arnovitz for Musician’s Pie
Based on a traditional Catalonian (Spanish) recipe. Back in the day, Catalonian musician’s were often paid with dried fruits and nuts. This pie’s filling is made from dried dates, apricots and figs. The topping is a combination of cashews, pine nuts and almonds. Pastry is flour, sugar, salt, butter and vanilla. Filling was dried figs, dates & apricots, butter, peach nectar, brown sugar. The topping was almonds, pine nuts, cashews, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, cream.

Best Fruit Pie
Laurita Carleton for Peach Blackberry Pie

Best Local Pie
Laurita Carleton for Peach Melba Cheesecake Pie

Best Mash-Up Pie
Zoe Richter for S’mores Pie

Best Faux Pie
Kathleen McDade for Dr. Pepper Pie

Savory Pie
Tricia Butler for Tomato Pie
This was the sneaker category: we didn’t plan for it, but we had quite a few people bring some great entries so voila! This category winner may not have received a ribbon, but they did receive the Pie Cozy.

Prettiest Pie
Laurita Carleton for Peach Melba Cheesecake Pie

Most Original Pie
Kathleen McDade for Dr. Pepper Pie

Best Pairing with Pie
Jenny Cook for Rosemary’s Baby (Blueberry Rosemary) + Wine

Best Overall Pie
Tricia Butler for Tomato Pie
And the best part? Tricia posted the recipe on her blog a little while back, so you can make it too. Or you can buy one at her booth at the Montavilla Farmer’s Market.

More photos and news from the first ever Portland Pie-Off to come: uploads to Flickr from the event? Please tag them with mmmPie.