03/30/2008
Staff Writer
Loosen the ol' belt.
Skip dinner.
And put on your eating shirt.
A little pie-eating joy is just around the corner at the Chase Farm Bakery at 333 Townhouse Road in Whitefield.
Robin Chase, who excels in the art of pie-making, is responsible for providing that joy. She has been running the bakery for close to five years.
Originally, she wanted to sell organic bottled milk and butter, but the pasteurizer she needed was too expensive.
So she decided to open a bakery in her home.
It was a niche business to help support the family's dairy farm as they dealt with the rising costs of grain and fuel.
"I never did get a pasteurizer, but I kept the bakery going," Chase said. "I started in my kitchen doing some small accounts and baking for restaurants. Then I got into going to farmers' markets and started making whoopie pies and donuts."
Her husband, Patrick, runs their two, 65-acre dairy farms. They sell raw organic milk.
Chase, 51, was busy recently filling 15 pie crusts with raspberries and blueberries for sale at an indoor farmers' market in Bath.
She started with a butter crust -- she uses butter in everything. She then dusted her countertop lightly but thoroughly with flour. She rolled out the dough into circles and lined several tin shells.
She combined flour and sugar and spices with the berries and dumped the mixture into the pie crusts.
After dotting the berries with butter she covered the pies with a crust and decorated the top with a design that resembled a snowflake.
Chase crimped the edges and washed and brushed the tops and sides with an egg wash for a golden-brown crust.
"I get my recipes from a lot of different places," Chase said. "I never wanted to use tapioca or corn starch. I use flour for thickening to get more taste of the fruit instead of a gummy flavor."
Making sure her berry pies are not overly sweet but borderline tart is an art, she said. You have to be careful with the sugar. A whole lot will take away the flavor of the pie, she said.
Chase sells her pies and baked goods at farmers markets in Augusta, Damariscotta, Boothbay and Bath.
Business usually dies down in the winter, but the demand for donuts has kept her busy throughout the year. She makes 40 dozen a week for the Country Corner Store on Route 17 in Coopers Mills and Hussey's General Store in Windsor.
Why are her hand-cut donuts so popular?
"It's the memory of an old fashion donut," she said. "People say they taste and look and smell like a donut is suppose to."
Cheryl Weeks, clerk at the Country Corners Grocery store in Whitefield, said Chase's pumpkin donuts are the most popular.
Customers buy them in a six-pack and individually in the morning to enjoy with their coffee.
"She brings them in every other day and every other day, they're gone," Weeks said. "They're just a fresh homemade donut. You don't find many places where you can get those anymore."
Sue Straight, manager at the Weatherbird general store in Damariscotta, said customers there react the same way to Chase's pies.
In the summer, she sells more than two dozen a week. The most popular are the traditional apple and blueberry pies, but she said customers also snatch up Chase's strawberry rhubarb and apple-cranberry pies.
She depends on her five adult children to help her through the summer months when business picks up. They help out with baking and cleanup, the farmers' markets and fairs, she said.
To help save time in the kitchen, Chase recently bought a machine to roll out the pie dough. It will come in handy this summer, she said, when she takes her pies to all the fairs. She supplies pies to Emily's Restaurant, famous for its turkey dinners. The restaurant is located on the Windsor, Fryeburg and Topsham fairgrounds.
"I got to the point I was making so many pies I was rolling and rolling and rolling," she said.
Bumbleberry and strawberry rhubarb pies are her specialty. She also makes raspberry, peach, apple, cranberry and blueberry. Chase can go through 100 pounds of blueberries in one week.
Custard pies, like banana and coconut cream, have to be special ordered. People can place their orders by calling her at 549-7611.
Her bakery on the Townhouse Road is open seven days a week.
"My customers can come in and write down their purchases and leave the money in a box," she said. "We don't ever close. Paying is based on an honor system."
Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408
mcooper@centralmaine.com
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