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National Pie Day comes to Rosycakes Bakery

Family business, customers enjoy unofficial holiday

By Susan Parrish, Columbian Education Reporter
Published: January 23, 2016, 8:19pm
9 Photos
Rosie Williams, left, and her daughter, Kimberley Zerzan, make pies at Rosycakes Bakery Saturday for National Pie Day.
Rosie Williams, left, and her daughter, Kimberley Zerzan, make pies at Rosycakes Bakery Saturday for National Pie Day. (Susan Parrish/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Rosycakes Bakery rolled out plenty of pie crust — and a sidewalk sign declaring “National Pie Day” on Saturday. In case you missed it, Jan. 23 is National Pie Day, an unofficial national holiday created by the American Pie Council.

Using her thumb and forefinger, Kimberley Zerzan expertly pinched a fluted design into the crust of a miniature pie. Next, she lined the pie crust with aluminum foil and filled it with dried beans. It’s an old family secret in keeping the unfilled pie crust flat while it bakes.

“The secret to really good pie crust is using really cold butter and ice water,” said Zerzan’s mother, Rosie Williams, who stood on the other side of the baking island. “Don’t overwork the dough. There should be little lumps of butter showing. That’s what makes flaky pastry.”

Williams, the namesake of Rosycakes, grew up baking alongside her mother, and when she became a mom, she taught her own daughter to bake.

Rosycakes Bakery

 701 Grand Boulevard

• Open 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday.

• 360-694-6097 or www.facebook.com/rosycakes

Rosycakes is a family affair. Terry Williams, a retired physician, works alongside his wife, Rosie Williams, and his daughter. Zerzan’s husband, Jason Zerzan, also works at Rosycakes. All of them bake as well as wait on customers.

The mother and daughter duo started a wedding cake business from Rosie Williams’ kitchen in 2012. But as the business grew to 40 wedding cakes last year, it became too much for a home-based bakery.

“I didn’t have a home life,” Rosie Williams said. “I was always baking cakes.”

Last year, the family started looking for a storefront bakery not far from home when they noticed a vacancy sign on the shuttered Vancouver Pie Co. on Grand Boulevard. They leased the old pie shop and bought all the baking equipment. Rosycakes opened in October.

Kimberley Zerzan arrives by 5 a.m. to start the cinnamon rolls.

“Our cinnamon rolls are a favorite,” Terry Williams said.

As if on cue, three customers walked in and a woman announced, “I’m here for my cinnamon roll!”

To commemorate National Pie Day, the mother and daughter baking duo made three types of pies Saturday: salted caramel apple, coconut cream and sour cream lemon. The glass cases also held chocolate sour cream bundt cake, biscotti, cookies and sweet breads. Rosie Williams also met with two engaged couples tasting wedding cakes.

Two regular customers, Jhon Robertson and Kelly Kirk, shared a table while they munched baked goods and drank coffee they’d bought next door at Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters. Terry Williams leaned across the counter to chat with them.

Kirk, a Portland resident, is Rosie Williams’ brother. Robertson, who lives a few blocks from the bakery, is one of Terry Williams’ former patients.

“He was my doctor,” Robertson said, nodding toward Terry Williams. “I come in for my breakfast cookie almost every morning. It’s my prescription.”

As her hands filled a pie crust with sour cream lemon filling, Rosie Williams shared more pie secrets.

“If you want the absolute Holy Grail of a berry pie, use fresh berries in season,” she said. “If you use frozen berries, add more corn starch or flour so it sets up right. That’s pretty much pies in a nutshell.”

“In a pie shell,” her daughter corrected, smiling.

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Columbian Education Reporter