INDIANAPOLIS — Joanna Wilson learned a lot from her mother.
“As I was a young child, I would sit in the kitchen with her on Thanksgiving learning how to make the pies,” Wilson said. “She would make pies for different functions, church functions, and for our family. She would make over 25 pies and people loved her sweet potato pies so much that they would request it.”
It’s a recipe Wilson uses at her shop, Punkin's Pies Sweet Treats, inside AMP at 16 Tech.
“I got started with my mom's famous sweet potato pie,” Wilson said. “After I started with the pies, my daughter and I started dipping some strawberries.”
After posting the sweet treats online, the requests began to roll in.
“People would just ask if I could make dipped apples, if I could make cake pops,” Wilson said. “I had no clue I could do all of these things, but people believed in me.”
Punkin's Pies now offers a wide selection of sweets and pies.
“I think people love pies because a lot of people grew up on pies,” Wilson said. “They grew up on their grandma's and great grandmother's making pies, so I think that's just a staple in people's families.”
Staples rooted in traditions that continue today.
“I definitely still bake pies for my family on Thanksgiving, but I just don't do it at home anymore because I'm baking for customers now and I'll just make ours while I'm making the customers pie,” Wilson said.
Sharing her mother’s sweet potato pie with central Indiana. Just don’t ask her to share the recipe.
“I’m still not going to give up my mom’s secret recipe,” Wilson said.
