Don't even think about asking Melissa Thornton for a "Crisco cake."
The seemingly ubiquitous cakes with icing that is nothing more than shortening whipped with confectioners' sugar are the bane of her existence.
"I will not — even if requested — make an icing with shortening," said Thornton, who operates a tiny, behind-the-scenes baking company in Memphis that supplies area restaurants and bakeries.
Thornton calls her company Melissa's Pie. But that's not all she makes. Around Memphis you can find her banana caramel pound cake, a Heath Bar cake and a Mickey Mousse cake.
But pies are, of course, a specialty. And some are exclusive gigs.
There's her fabulous banana cream pie and her "King Coulda Woulda" pie (a peanut butter, chocolate and banana concoction Elvis would have loved). And she's developing something that will involve Moon Pies.
A truly scrumptious dessert can leave diners with a very positive impression of a restaurant. It's the sort of thing people talk about later.
"Oh, have you been to such-and-such restaurant," they'll say to friends. "They have this incredible dessert."
"Go to New York, San Francisco or any other big city, and you've got bakeries and pastry shops where you can sit down after a show and have a fabulous dessert with a glass of wine or coffee," Thornton said.
Born and reared near Laurel, Miss., south of Jackson, Thornton baked her first cake at age 11. (She iced it before the cake cooled and it looked awful, she said, but it tasted great.)
Though it was the era of the cake mix, when convenience ruled, Thornton's mother made cakes and pies from scratch, using old-timey recipes Thornton now collects.
She spent 13 years working in information technology for an insurance broker. For friends, she made desserts. And they loved them. One friend, John Pearson, who was the chef at McEwen's restaurant in Memphis at the time, liked Thornton's desserts so much he asked her to start baking some for the restaurant.
And a business was born.
In July, Thornton moved into a commercial baking kitchen, where she works with the help of new husband Vince Harrigan, who owns an Internet business selling CDs and has flexible hours.
Thornton's pumpkin pie brought them together. Harrigan tried the pie at a local restaurant one day and asked who made it. Thornton happened to be at the coffee bar at the time, making a delivery. Harrigan said he chased her down and asked for her card.
"I really did want a pie," he said. "But when I saw her . . . that was it."
They married in November.
Thornton made their wedding cake: a sweet potato cake with fresh coconut cream and macadamia nut filling and a white chocolate French meringue butter cream.
She's one of few bakers willing to customize cakes. For one bride, she made a banana-almond cake with butter cream.
For another, it might be a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, whipped cream, coconut and toasted almonds.
One bride even requested an elaborate banana cream pie as a wedding cake.
"I don't even have a price list for wedding cakes because every one is so different," she said.
Thornton uses either an Italian (made with egg whites) or French (made with yolks) butter cream on her cakes. It's a time-consuming process that involves whipping a meringue with boiling sugar syrup, then adding butter until the icing is fluffy, light and delicately sweet. It's an example of what drives her food costs up.
It would be cheaper to throw a glob of shortening in a bowl with confectioners' sugar, she said. Or to use premixed "buttercream." But such shortcuts just don't taste good.
"I opened this with no money. I have no money. And I'm not making any money yet," she said. "But I get a good feeling about myself from the work and what people say about my product."
THORNTON'S COCONUT CREAM PIE
Filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch, heaping
5 eggs, separated
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 prebaked pie crust
1/2 cup flaked coconut
Meringue:
7 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For filling, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium-size thick-bottomed pot. Separate egg whites from yolks and set whites aside. Add the egg yolks and slowly add the milk until combined and not lumpy. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Add butter one piece at a time, stirring, until melted. Add vanilla and 1/2 cup coconut. Stir well. Place filling in baked pie shell.
To make meringue: Mix sugars in a small bowl and stir well. Place reserved egg whites in mixer bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Beat on medium low until frothy. Add cream of tartar and increase speed to medium high. When soft peaks form, begin adding sugar gradually. Beat until firm (but not dry) peaks form. Add vanilla and beat on high about 30 seconds.
Place meringue on top of filling. Make sure that meringue covers entire filling area and seals to crust. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons coconut over meringue.
Bake at 350 until meringue is lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate. Serve cold or at room temperature.
NOTE: A whipped topping also works well with this pie. Cool pie after filling. Cover top with whipped cream. Sprinkle with coconut. Do not bake. Refrigerate until serving.
Source: This recipe from Thornton's family originally came from a long-defunct plate-lunch spot in Laurel, Miss., called Luke's Restaurant.