Over the past year I happened to ask a couple of women from the North about fried pies. In both cases I got something like "What is a fried pie?" for a response. I dug a little deeper and discovered that a large part of the US population does not know the unhealthy joy of a yummy fried pie!

When I was a kid, my mom would send us out to pick some green wild Mustang grapes. They were hard as a rock and completely inedible. She would place them in a saucepan and simmer with sugar water until they were tender. She would then make the standard Crisco pie crust, place the cooked tart grapes in a six inch circle of dough, add a little more sugar, fold and seal the crust, then fry until golden brown. The tart clean fresh crisp sweet flavor was like nothing I have had since.

Do Yankees really not know the joy of a fried pie? This thread is more about if you do, and if so, what are your experience. If you don't, would you say so?

I happen to live near one of the best organic farms in the area, but when I go there I am attracted to the little booth in the back where they have black raspberry cream fried pies, walnut cream, coconut cream, etc., and a dozen other flavors.

What is your favorite?

I'm a yankee. The only fried pies we had were hostess ones. Yankees tend to deep fry savory stuff rather than sweet, such as clam cakes. Which are NOTHING like crab cakes. We did have quite a bit of dough boys as kids... my sister and I did, that is.

I can remember my mother fixing both the peach and apple fried pies...oh and an occasional pear one also. Such good memories!

I don't think the Hostess ones are fried. I think they are baked. The commercial fried pies I remember as a kid (I think) were called "Tex-Pax" or something like that. They came in a wax paper wrapper that had a greasy stain.

We had a little pear tree in the yard that made the "hard canning" pears. My mom would used those for fried pies too. Yum!

No, I'm almost 100% sure they are deep fried.

I am sure you know. I remember some that I thought were baked because the crust was dry like the top of a typical baked pie. They sure didn't have the flavor and texture of the greasy ones.

I just went and looked and others agree with you that Hostess are indeed fried. I stand corrected. There was an article there about a food critic from Austin who went to Lambert's Restaurant who had this to say.

"But then came dessert....
We ordered the pear fried pie and switched out vanilla bean ice cream for the Dutch chocolate (I almost never make substitutions, but hey it was my b-day). It was amazing. The crust was flaky, buttery, and perfect. The filling was well spiced and not too sweet. Honestly, it makes my list of Top10 restaurant desserts of all time. I would go back for this alone.

Service was pleasant. The waitress packed up the bones for our dog and informed us they sell their prime rib bones for $5 for Fido. We will most likely go back to Lamberts for lunch or to eat in the upstairs bar, but not for dinner in the dining room. The bar menu boasts a frito pie that sounds very tasty and the pulled pork Cuban sandwich also intrigues me. I think the kitchen may better excel at these type items. And you know whatever meal I have in the future will be followed by a fried pie!"

Well, they are mass produced. It was a show on Food Network that showed how they are made. I remember them going, en masse, into a vat of grease. It's hard to forget such visions....

The real ones, the home made ones, are as different from the factory massed produced version as a home made cookie from a cheap off brand cookie.

I remember the Hostess Pies as a child in Philadelphia. I never knew they were fried though. This is the first time I heard of Fried Pie. It is not on the menus in our restaurants! Sounds great but then isn't everything better fried!

I'm clearly among the uninitiated Yankees because I grew up knowing about "turnovers" that were baked and "fried pies" were only those gross things they sold at McDonalds.

I guess that means "fried pies" really are fried and from the sounds of it, I missed out on something deliciously sinful.

I've had Zeppoles, Amish Funnel Cakes, but no Deep fried
Twinkies or deep fried turkey wings. However, I just had
these little cream cakes in Chinatown which were deep fried and looked like little Hostess Twinkies but weren't greasy, but were
filled with custard & were yummy!

I guess the jury was right. Yankees know little about making or eating fried pies. Here is a good two minute lesson on something you have to eat to understand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxbGydZFpk&NR=1&feature=fvwp

So when and where will these be served to those of us who need to know???

Shouldn't you just jump outside your bubble and make a fried pie ... or two?

That video made me hungry and it looked easy enough. I think I'll try it tomorrow!!! Thanks for sharing it.

When I was young and my mom made these, you can bet it put a smile on my face.

I made the recipe from the link you gave us. It was quite easy and they turned out delicious. My teenage son and his friends loved them so I will definitely be saving this recipe. Thanks for sharing it