- I got some cakes for us.
To prepare us for this episode,
I got a delightful strawberry cake,
yeah! - Whoa, look at that!
- Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about.
- Wow! - Mmm, today, we're doin' pie.
Today on Worth It, we're gonna try three pies
at three drastically different price points
to find out which one is the most worth it at its price!
Which one do you like better, pie or cake, and why?
Create your three paragraph essay,
you can submit it to my Dropbox.
- Okay, here's why I like pie better.
I like pie better because it is usually less sweet,
and I like pie better because there is more contrast
in texture available, period, end of paragraph.
- My turn, food is about sharing experiences,
and what food is better at sharing experiences than cake?
- I'm just saying, more of the time,
I'm more down to have pie.
- I wanna end the debate
without having to get all up in arms.
- Okay, all I wanna do is share some pie today.
- Wanna shake on it? (upbeat music)
- My name's Michael Osborn,
I'm the owner here at Pie 'N Burger.
We are gonna be trying several of our classic
fruit pies today, and we'll feature apple and boysenberry.
- [Andrew] Can you tell us a little bit
about the history of Pie 'N Burger?
- [Michael] Pie 'N Burger started in the fall of 1963.
The recipes are the same recipes that started,
and they actually predated the restaurant.
I've been here 45 years and we do things
exactly the same way that we did when we opened
with a lotta the same ingredients.
- So when you joined,
what was your role with the restaurant?
- I was 18 years old and I was a night cook,
so, uh, yeah. - [Andrew] Really?
- Yeah, so I was in college
at the University of Southern California.
I started working here with the idea
that I would be here a couple years to make a little money,
and then I was gonna go on and be a dentist.
- Wow, and now you're sending people to the dentist.
- Yes, exactly. - How are the pies made?
- [Michael] First of all, it's all about ingredients.
We only use Gold Medal flour,
we only use C&H sugar, and we never use lard,
we use a really high grade vegetable shortening.
So, we knead the dough by hand.
When we make the dough, we like to let the dough sit
for several days and sort of seize up.
All of our pies is almost a full concentration of fruit.
There's no fruit flavors really added to 'em,
no machine, you know, all hand done.
- [Andrew] You only have that one mixer in the back?
- [Michael] We only use it to make a few light toppings,
whipped cream and things like that, we don't use any of it
in our regular pie-making process whatsoever.
- Everything else about the pie is handmade?
- Everything is handmade, we measure out each pie,
we'll put in the exact amount of fruit every time,
and then we'll layer a top crust on it.
The oven that we use here at Pie 'N Burger,
we use a pizza deck oven.
We cook right on the deck surface
and we cook at a little bit slower temperature.
It allows the pie to come in contact
directly with the cooking surface of the oven,
and it cooks the bottom of the shell
so you don't get that doughy texture,
you actually notice a little bit of brownness
on the bottom of the pie shell itself.
- [Andrew] Are you ever asked about
your preference of pie versus cake?
- Depends on the day I guess a little bit.
I have a preference to pie overall.
- Wow, we're gonna go do the pie,
we'll do the burger, that's it, Pie 'N Burger, end of story.
(laughing) - Yes!
(cash register dinging) - Apple pie at Pie 'N Burger.
If we're goin' pie, we're goin' shake.
- That actually looks really good.
- Do you want some? - I'm just gonna,
yeah, I'm gonna take a little sample.
(Steven groaning)
I'm ready to get into this pie.
- Okay. (upbeat music)
- Oooh, look at that, a clean cut by yours truly!
- And look how it holds up, it's not falling apart.
I could really do some gymnastics with this thing.
- Do some gymnastics. (Andrew gasps)
(laughing) (upbeat music)
- [Andrew] Mmmm. - Oh, that tasted real!
(laughing) - Yeah!
- How apples actually taste! - The thing
that makes pie, pie, is the delicious crust.
- Is the end, yes, yep. - A lot of the times
when there's too much crust, it's just dried out.
This is still a delicious, tender,
baked treat just at the end.
I mean, is there anything more wholesome than apple pie?
- Maybe like, goin' to your grandma's house.
- What if she had an apple pie when you got there?
- Oh my god, that's a movie right there!
And the sequel is boysenberry pie.
- [Michael] We heat some boysenberries on the stove
to melt 'em down a little bit.
To get consistency, we use individually quick frozen fruit.
That way we're able to get boysenberries in the wintertime
when it's not necessarily a growing season.
And right now we're getting boysenberries from Chile.
(cash register dinging) - Visually,
ya hafta love a pie with a red filling.
This could be a lighthouse. - Cheers.
Oh, mmm, gimme another bite,
wow, just the right amount of crust.
Pie taco? - Pie taco?
Go ahead, pie taco it.
Oh yeah, I can't understate how perfect
the amount of crust is on this pie.
- Oookay, alright, we did not do this the wrong way, yep.
Pie 'N Burger. - Thank you.
I am literally in heaven. (lettuce crunching)
Oh my god.
- Alright, let's finish up these burgers,
and we're headin' to the road, we're goin' to Houston!
(Steven inhales audibly) You see that bite?
Yo, Andrew! - Yeah.
- Pie fact!
Here's a pie fact for you, we're in Houston.
- And as a little dessert,
we got some sesame balls, ooo! - Whoa!
- Mmm, mmm, mmm, Adam's havin' a good time on the swing set.
- Pie fact, historians believe that early pie doughs,
which mostly consisted of water and flour,
and could be quite thick, were primarily meant
to protect the food inside, and weren't always eaten.
- So pies used to just be semi-edible boxes for other foods.
- That's right. - I'm glad they figured out
how to eat the crust. - Next up,
we're headed to a restaurant called Underbelly.
- Underbelly! - Under my belly.
- We're just gonna have some pie, but not just some pie,
because it is going to be-- - Carrot cake pie!
It's cake pie. - It's a pie with cake in it.
- That's right, we stuck some cake in this episode.
Cake or pie?
Okay, you're off the show!
(funky music)
- My name's Chris Shepherd,
Chef/Owner here at Underbelly in Houston.
Today we're doin' the carrot cake fried pie.
- Is that a cake or a pie? - Technically both,
but it's a pie, fried pie
is just a southern staple around here.
- [Steven] Can you tell us about what pie is in Houston?
- Proverbial question is cake or pie,
right, but here we're pie.
So Underbelly is focused on the story of Houston food.
It's also the most culturally diverse city,
basically the gateway drug to people coming into Houston.
You know, they'll come in and taste something and be like,
"I really like this flavor," and I'll say,
"Well this is Korean, you need to go up on Long Point."
Now, at this point, let's let Victoria kind of show you
and walk you through the fried pie aspect of things.
- I'm Victoria Dearmond, I am the Pastry Director.
I've worked here since Underbelly opened,
almost six years now.
Underbelly's entire premise is about locality.
So, right now it is carrot season.
We've got the carrots, we shred 'em all
and make a very traditional carrot cake.
Then we make the pie crust, unrendered pork fat,
it's basically the fat around the kidneys.
It's much firmer than the outside fat,
so it's kind of, like, protected by meat.
That's the main part of the dough's, the flour,
the unrendered pork fat, some salt, baking powder,
and cold water, just get everything in the mixer.
I try to let it sit overnight,
or at least for a couple hours before I use it.
We'll roll 'em into small balls and roll those out.
So we have our circles,
then we put our cake and cream cheese icing,
fold it up, pinch it around the sides
like a little empanada, and then we fry it.
You always want them to come out GBD,
golden, brown, delicious.
After the pie comes outta the fryer,
sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top,
then goes on a plate with candied pecans
and kumquat sour cream ice cream.
(cash register dinging) - So we asked the chef
for the recommended drink pairing.
Victoria gave us this lovely Topo Chico,
but then Chef Chris is goin' with the whiskey.
- I love it. - I love it too, cheers.
- I don't know how we should do this,
since it's a hand pie but I'm not gonna hold hands with you,
so I'm just gonna take off kind of like the center chunk.
Oooh, seeing the inside of this makes me go, (slurping).
Here, you have top crusts on both sides,
that's like a win-win. - Ready to eat the pie?
- Yeah. (Steven clicks his tongue)
- That's ridiculously good.
Kind of like a Frankenstein dessert experiment,
but it's not a monster after all.
I don't think there's ever been a real answer to the
pie versus cake debate. - The answer is cake pie.
- Oh. - Oh, there you go!
Mmm, throw in the ice cream with the pie
and you get, like, that citrus-y flavor.
- Having that zing of that orangey kumquat,
it's delightful, what's this?
- [Victoria] Just in case you need more pie.
- What, oh, oh yeah! - This is vinegar pie,
and this is a chocolate citrus pie.
- Oh yeah. (Victoria laughs)
- Oh, this is the best part
of any ice cream accompanied dessert.
My dad will spend 25 minutes goin' like this
with a bowl of ice cream.
Ice cream is like,
the most delicious creamsicle I've ever had.
- Pie break, Chris Shepherd actually advised that we,
while we're here in Houston, try some Viet-Cajun food
because it's the thing to do in Houston!
(energetic music)
- Too busy eating, so here's a fact for you.
- [Voiceover] According to the American Pie Council,
over 180 million pies are bought
at US grocery stores every year.
That's enough pies to circle the globe, with leftovers!
- So now, we're goin' to a place
that serves pumpecapple piecake.
That's right, we had cake pie and now we're goin' piecake.
Pumpecapple piecake. - Pumpecapple.
- Boom, let's go eat some piecake!
It is 8:00 PM right now and I am up!
- Let's get that pie. (singing Twilight Zone theme)
(fast-paced music)
- Welcome to Three Brothers Bakery, my name's Robert Jucker.
Today we're gonna be tryin' the pumpecapple piecake.
We got voted by Country Living Magazine
for our pecan pie as the best pecan pie
mail order has to offer.
One of the writers for the Houston Chronicle, Greg Morago,
wanted to write an article about that.
Started talkin' to my wife
about having me do somethin' unusual.
I made the pumpecapple piecake, we really did it as a joke.
The Food Network found out about it,
and then it just really went viral.
- Is it a pie or is it a cake?
- Well that's really the question.
(laughing)
- If this is the liger of piecake?
- More like the turducken of desserts.
- That's exactly what it is.
- What are the flavors inside of this thing?
- [Robert] Apple pie with an apple spice cake,
pecan pie with a chocolate cake,
and pumpkin pie with a pumpkin spice cake.
- [Andrew] So there are also
three different kinds of cake, I see.
- [Robert] Yes, first you gotta start with makin' the pie.
So, we make the dough for the pie shells,
put the filling in, put the lattice work on, bake 'em off.
Then after we get the pies ready and we cool 'em off,
we get the batter ready for the cake batter,
and then we pour 'em in the pans,
dump the pies into the pans,
cover them up with batter, bake 'em off.
We let those cool when they come outta the oven,
and then we start to build it, apple on the bottom,
pecan in the middle, pumpkin on top,
put the cream cheese icing in between,
nuts around the side, and then we drizzle caramel on top.
- [Andrew] Generally speaking across all desserts,
are you more of a pie guy or a cake guy?
- [Robert] I think I'm more of a cake guy.
- Yessss! - Really, wow!
- So you hafta understand that I work here everyday, right,
and I'm trying to lose some weight.
I just like 'em without icing, just the cake.
(cash register dinging) - We're going to have
three pies in three cakes in one cake.
- Pumpkin, pecan, apple. - Pum-pec-apple.
- Oh, pumpecap, pumpecanple.
- Adam was telling me before this,
there's a rule to not eat something
that's bigger than the size of your head?
Too late, we're breaking the rule today!
'Cause that thing is bigger than my head.
- You got that? I'll take the other.
- This is what they actually use to cut the piecake.
- [Andrew] Oh yeah.
First a bit of pumpkin, then a little bit of apple.
- Pumpecapple. - Pumpkinapp, pump.
- Pumpecapple! - Cheers, Steven.
- Cheers. (elegant music)
- It's really good! - When you eat a smoothie,
you're putting together, like,
bananas and apples and other flavors together.
This is just like the non-blended version of a smoothie.
It's funny though, because it started as a joke.
That's when true creativity comes out.
- I knew going in that we were having three pies,
three cakes, but I forgot about the icing component.
- Yes. - So not only
is this the greatest hits of pie flavors,
but the greatest frosting, arguably,
is the cream cheese frosting.
- I wanna try the pecan pie by itself.
(elegant music)
- Wonderful, yes, you're never bored eating this piecake.
There's always another flavor to come back to.
But just like 3.14,
there is no ground conclusion to this piecake.
(Steven laughing) That's how pi works,
right, it's been a while.
Adam, would you like to try the pumpca-papple, pump.
- Pumpecapple! - Pumpecapple.
(laughing) What are you doing?
- Gotta admit, you may have won me over with this episode.
Pie takes the cake for me, nah I'm just, but yeah, pie.
Which pie was the most worth it to you at its price?
- For me, the most worth it pie
was Pie 'N Burger's slice of pie.
It's the last chapter on a delicious book
called "I Just Ate a Burger."
- My worth it winner, Underbelly.
We got both cake and pie in a pie.
- Hot, crispy, delicious filling,
and if you went back there,
regardless of the filling, that's gonna be a great pie.
- But shoutout to the pumpecapple pie.
Bobby, you figured it out! - You did.
- It's like landing on the moon.
- Special Worth It props to the pumpecapple pie.
Adam, who's your worth it winner?
- Ooh, we're at the hotel, it is time to sleep.
Next week comin' up? - We're vampires.
- No, we're eating pho, actually we're doin' it right now
but you'll see that next week, teaser alert!
You guys have been asking for it.
- They've been askin' pho it?
- We're gonna take a nap,
get rid of the bad puns, you'll see us next week.
(laughing)
- [Voiceover] Oh, yes!