On the Road to Kern’s Kitchen in Louisville, Kentucky – Home of the Derby Pie ®

To keep the Derby Pie® as close to homemade as possible, the pies are still made with a family recipe for the crust that is trimmed by hand once it has been pressed into the baking pans.  The walnuts are hand sorted to avoid any unwanted pieces in the pie. Although they have modernized production over the years from baking pies in their kitchen and cooling them on the back porch, the process remains incredibly labor intensive.

They hand sort all the walnuts, although they have already been laser sorted.

This is what I call serious quality control!

Last year the Kern family created a Golden Pecan Pie, which was the first addition in over 50 years of pie baking.

Baked pies are packaged in boxes to be shipped out to customers.

I have baked versions of this pie many times over the years.  Most recipes you will find are called a Chocolate Nut Pie.  I have never come across a recipe that comes close to the taste of the Kern’s Derby Pie®.  After returning from Louisville, I did see some recipes that might have been closer to what I now know as the original Derby Pie®, but did not bake them since the Bunkycooks don’t need any more pies. 😉

There are lots and lots of pies shipped this time of year!

Jon did share a recipe with me for their Bourbon Whipped Cream which we had on top of our Derby Pie® at their office.  It had a wonderful bourbon flavor that complemented the pie so well.  I am sharing it with you today.  Obviously, I do not have a recipe to share for the family’s Derby Pie®.

We sampled the pie while at Kern’s Kitchen.

Many have tried to imitate the pie and call it Derby Pie®.  The Kern family has aggressively protected their rights to the name Derby Pie®, which I personally understand.  If you do not say something to someone that has taken your property (name, photos, articles, etc.), legally you give up your rights of ownership.  The Kern family is just protecting something that they created and own.

Everything is better with Bourbon Whipped Cream!

So, if you are thinking of making a Derby Pie® for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, Fogettaboutit.  There is only one place to get Derby Pie® and you can order a Derby Pie® for your Derby Day festivities from the Kern family who would be happy to ship a pie or two to your home!  Then you can top it with this Bourbon Whipped Cream and you will be all set for dessert.  Don’t forget those Hot Browns and Mint Juleps, too!  Derby Day isn’t complete without those.

Photo courtesy of Kern’s Kitchen

Enjoy your weekend!

Print Recipe

Bourbon Whipped Cream

Yield: 3 1/2 to 4 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Pint of Heavy Whipping cream
4 to 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 to 2 shots of bourbon. (it has to be good Kentucky bourbon)

Directions:

Whip cream until it begins to thicken in a chilled bowl.
Add sugar gradually and continue to whip.
Add bourbon and continue to whip until cream holds peaks.
Keep refrigerated or on ice.

Kern’s Kitchen
Louisville, Kentucky