OUR STORY
Every Pie Shop should have a story.
Ours certainly does.
The Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop story begins in the kitchens of our maternal grandmothers Ruth and Edith. They were two Southern ladies: one from Arkansas, the other from Mississippi. Each shared a spunk best described as “whiskey in a tea cup.” Known as much for their crazy sayings and firm beliefs as for their pies, biscuits, and preserves, these two special women placed a mark on our hearts that will last a lifetime.
Scott had the privilege of growing up on a 1500 acre second generation farm in rural Southeast Missouri. Summer days were spent working in the garden, driving the tractor, and spending time in his Granny’s kitchen canning and sampling her fruit pies and preserves. It was here that he developed a strong work ethic and a taste for fresh handmade baked goods that would set the bar for quality at Buttermilk Sky.
Scott learned all aspects of running the farm from equipment, to livestock, to crops and basic business and brokerage principles. He followed up his “farm raising” with a degree in Architectural Engineering and a 20-plus year career in Construction Management prior to going into the baking business. Scott’s attention to detail and passion for design has been a great asset to the retail build-out process of our stores. When he isn’t working, Scott enjoys spending time with sons, Bo and Tabb and hanging out with his yellow lab, Curtis.
Buttermilk Sky Pie Founders
Meredith’s Nanny, Edith
Scott’s Granny, Ruth
Meredith grew up a city girl from Memphis, TN home of Elvis Presley and the birthplace of the blues. Memphis is famous for its BBQ and for the desserts that follow it. Memphians know a thing or two about pie, and Meredith’s Nanny (Grandmother) was no exception to the rule. Nanny was known among friends and family and to many in the community as the “pie lady.” She was often seen toting her marigold-colored Tupperware pie carrier to birthday parties, cookouts, reunions, and yes, even funerals. That old pie carrier must have had more miles on it than her Chrysler Lebaron.
Meredith often spent Friday nights at Nanny’s house. Saturday mornings were always a treat. She made homemade “tea biscuits” cut with an old can. It was just the perfect size to make a petite three bite biscuit. If she were lucky, Nanny would have a jar of her plum jelly to top them with and life was good. Afternoons were often spent making pies. While Scott’s Granny was an expert on making fruit pies using fruits from her orchards, Nanny’s specialties were cream pies and pecan pie. The idea for our 4” Mini Pies came from a child sized cast iron skillet that Nanny always let Meredith use to make “baby pies” as she baked along side her in the kitchen.
It is around our grandmother’s specialties that we have built our classic pie menu; the fruit pies from Scott’s Granny and the cream pies and pecan pie from Meredith’s Nanny. We never would have guessed that Meredith’s prior career as a Speech-Language Pathologist and Scott’s Construction Management career would have ended in the culmination of our childhood memories and entrepreneurial dreams in the form of a pie shop.
We first entered the bakery business following Meredith’s sister’s lead in 2007 and opened The Cupcakery as a licensed location of her original cupcake store in St. Louis, Mo. It didn’t take long for us to figure out that we loved the baking industry and the independence that we gained from owning our own business.
We recently were blessed to have won Cooking Channel’s Sugar Showdown, something we couldn’t have even imagined ever participating in on the day we opened the doors at the original Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop.
It is with great pride in our family’s time honored recipes and traditional baking methods that we invite you to enjoy the taste of Southern tradition, the taste of Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop.
Scott and Meredith Layton
Buttermilk Sky Pie Founders
