When In Doubt - Eat Pie!

Photos by Rick MartinPublished in The Message For The Week, April 1, 2009
Vermont Apple Pie & Cheesecake Company was established over 20 years ago by Cheryl James and her kids Jennifer, T.J., Jason and Erica of Londonderry, however Cheryl's experience as a scratch baker goes back much farther than that, in fact, all the way back to when she used to helped her grandmother bake when she was a little girl. Cheryl's grandparents owned the B. A. Pitts General Store for years, with her grandfather running the store seven days a week and her grandmother doing all the baking for the store and family.
“Ever since I can remember, I was helping my grandmother bake,” Cheryl said in a recent interview. “I was helping to make pastries sitting right in my highchair. My grandmother grew all kinds of fruits, raspberries and blueberries for her pies and pastries. As a little girl, I was out in the back yard a lot, picking fresh fruits and berries for the pies.”
Cheryl decided to start her own business in 1988, and for years sold her pies and pastries “under the tent” in Ludlow during the summer time. “It increasingly got more difficult to do this because of not only an increasing demand for our baked goods but also permits and such, so I decided to officially start my own company and have since converted the pantry area at our house into a small retail space, complete with three large freezers to store our freshly–frozen pies, cakes and pastries.”
Located at 265 Depot Street in Proctorsville, the Vermont Apple Pie & Cheesecake Company is “technically” open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. everyday, (yes, that includes holidays), however Cheryl admits that they alter their hours significantly to accommodate their customers, especially patrons from out of state.
“I'd say about 70 percent of our business comes from out of state, mostly because of where we are located , which brings a lot of out–of–state travelers,”
Cheryl said. “We also have a lot of regular customers who sometimes come in the morning before going to work, or whenever they can make it. Basically, if you see that the light on our business sign is on, that means we're open.”
Classic apple pieAlong with the retail space, Vermont Apple Pie accepts special orders and can also provide cakes and pastries for weddings and other family events. “We only use fresh ingredients and our shortening crusts, along with everything we make, are made from scratch,” Sheryl added proudly. “I use the same recipe that my grandmother used, we just increased the size of the ingredients to accomdate our orders."
So what is the “official” Vermont Apple Pie & Cheesecake specialty? “That’s a tough one, but I would have to say that our classic, apple pie recipe still receives the most comments from our repeat customers.”
Other delectable items to be found at the shop include 11 varieties of apple pies, 16 varieties of fruit and berry pies, nine varities of seasonal pies, 12 varieties of cheesecake and various other homemade favorites such as muffins, cookies, brownies, sticky buns and breads. “A couple of favorite sayings state that we only offer products that are “home made from scratch” and that our baked goods are a “taste from the past.” And this editor's favorite? “When in doubt, eat pie!” Always sound advice.
To learn more about (and more importantly taste) the Vermont Apple Pie & Cheesecake Company and their fine products, you can visit them at the shop at 265 Depot St. in Proctorsville, VT or to place a special order call 802-226–7782.