Posted by Teresa Cheng in bakeries, pastries, restaurant profile on June 11, 2008 at 7:20 am

Wanda’s Pie In the Sky
287 Augusta Avenue
416-236-7585

Kensington Market, a familiar and comforting gathering spot for folks of all stripes, is now home to the relocated Wanda’s Pie in the Sky, a shop that serves up equally comforting foods like pies, pastries and tarts. With Kensington's array of cuisines, it only seems right that a pie shop would make itself at home there.

Wanda Beaver started baking pies at the age of nine. Having grown up in the Niagara region, she was surrounded by the luxury of southern Ontario fruits; peaches, apples and blueberries are all things Beaver knows well. When asked what makes her pies different from pies everywhere else, Beaver quotes her husband, David, saying that their pie-making philosophy is that they simply “put the frame around the fruit.” As well, the pies and pastries are all made “the old-fashioned way,” meaning with minimal machinery.

What is interesting to note is that Beaver was never formally trained in the culinary arts; rather, she attended the Ontario College of Art and Design, and her flair for colour and design is evident throughout the bakery. The first thing I noticed about the place was its light and breezy atmosphere, which is no doubt brought out by the colourful decor. Despite her lack of official training, Beaver has managed to win a silver medal from the Cuisine Canada’s 2003 Cookbook of the Year Awards for her baking cookbook, Wanda’s Pie in the Sky: Pies, Cakes, Cookies, Squares and More. Wanda was clearly very proud of her award, and she recounted her accomplishment with delight.

The top-selling pies include all of the apple-based ones, with the Swiss apple pie beating them all. It is made with lemon and vanilla and contains no cinnamon, an ingredient that is commonly believed to be essential part of an apple pie, and the absence of which, according to Beaver, gives it a European flair. Other favourites include the Ontario sour cherry pie and the black bottom chocolate pecan pie.

While any of the pies at Wanda’s can be made vegan, Beaver plans to have low-fat items, vegan pies and cupcakes, and flour-less items available for customers. As well, the bakery is in the process of becoming a bakery-café, serving up light lunch items such as soups, salads, quiches and sandwiches.

Beaver seems to be quite fond of the neighbourhood where her shop is now located, telling me that the market is in the process of “cleaning up” and evolving into a place that is more “upscale,” which sounds eerily like gentrification, but is really just the pendulum swinging back from the dark days of the market some five years ago when drugs and crime ruled the streets here. And the shop seems to be a great fit amongst the newly opened vegan restaurants, small independent cafes and long-running local grocers in what many consider the heart of our city. Feeling at home at last, Beaver is set to reign as the pie queen of Kensington.