Jason Derusha and Sara's Tipsy Pies: WCCO Interview
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — She took her mom’s pie crust recipe and created something totally different with it: A hand pie with a unique twist.
In this week’s DeRusha Eats, Jason checked out Sara’s Tipsy Pies and we find out where to get our hands on them.
In a Marine on St. Croix basement beneath the oldest general store in Minnesota, Sara Hayden has been scooping homemade pie filling for three years.
“Our record is 900 in three hours,” she said. “I really wanted to succeed, and I really wanted something that would be different.”
Sara’s Tipsy Pies took her mom’s pie crust recipe and created a glaze her mom couldn’t have dreamed of. And of course, she wouldn’t reveal the secret to her recipe with us.
It’s a Tipsy Pie because the glaze is made with alcohol. Her peach pie is topped with Minnesota-made 2 Gingers Irish Whisky. Her apple pie is topped with a St. Paul Irish beer: Finnegan’s Blonde Ale.
“You get the taste of Finnegan’s, bright tangy, fresh beer and fruit is amazing. It’s really bright,” Hayden said.
She sells her pies at the general store, farmers markets and Irish Fest in St. Paul.
“Our goal is 3,000 pies. We did 2,400 last year and I ran out. I don’t want to disappoint,” she said.
Sara was a stay-at-home mom of five kids. Her kids sometimes help sell the pies, including 11-year-old Madi, who was born with Down Syndrome. Sara is donating $1 from any pie she sells this year with a Finnegan’s glaze to the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota.
Irish Fair is next weekend at Harriet Island in St. Paul, starting Friday, Aug. 8 and running through Sunday. It’s free, and Sara will be selling her pies for around $5 dollars each.