Francine Bryson: The queen of competitive baking

But the icing on the cake, she says, was her book deal, which culminated recently with the release of “Blue Ribbon Baking From a Redneck Kitchen” (Clarkson Potter, $22), a collection of 122 recipes including her Upside-Down Apple-Pecan Pie, Miracle Whip Pumpkin Bars and World-Famous Chocolate Bacon Peanut Butter Pie, among other zany and delicious wonders.

"A lot of people look at my stuff and say: 'Wait a minute! She did what? But it works," says the championship baker.

Bryson was born in South Carolina and learned the craft of baking from her mother and two grandmothers. “I lived between them, and both of them were great bakers,” she says of her Granny and Nana. “It just seemed natural.”

When she was 16, her father suggested she enter a pork competition at a swine show in Wakulla, Fla., where the family had relocated. Taking home the blue ribbon for her apricot-stuffed pork loin, Bryson realized she had a fiercely competitive streak. Eventually, she became a powerhouse of the bake-off circuit.

“I have been called ‘The Pie Girl’ forever,” she says, explaining the genesis of her Chocolate-Key Lime Heaven Pie, Black Tie Strawberry Pie, and that bodacious chocolate, peanut butter and bacon concoction, which “for a long time was the No. 2 most searched recipe on the Internet, right under apple pie.”

Her “theory on pie,” she says, is this: “Once you put a cake in the oven, you’ve got cake, and you’ve got frosting. That’s pretty much it. But with pies, you can do like three or four different layers inside the pie.”

Not that she shortchanges her cakes.

Bryson’s Blue Ribbon Pumpkin Cake boasts a “cookie crunch” layer made from crushed Oreos and a can of mixed nuts; a cake layer laced with pumpkin puree and lemon-flavored Greek yogurt; a layer of frosting whipped up from 48 ounces of cream cheese; and a topping of dark chocolate-and-eggnog drizzle.

“Honestly, if you want a showpiece for Thanksgiving or for a family gathering in the fall, that sucker is a showpiece.”

Testing recipes for this article, I didn’t get around to that four-layered doozy.

But I did try the Slap-Ya-Mama Fudge Cookies (made with a whopping 28 ounces of chocolate) and the upside-down pie. Both were divine, and the Lemon Streusel Muffins — made with old-fashioned rolled oats and white chocolate chips — were redolent of grandma’s lemon pound cake, and quite delicious, too.

Now I’m just dying to make Bryson’s pretzel pie (which she says packs the same sweet-salty crunch as a pecan pie but without the costly nuts) and her peppermint pie, whipped from melted soft peppermint candies and topped with crushed starlight mints.

So how did this pretty, pink, perfect-for-Christmas confection come about?

“My mama used to be addicted to starlight mints,” Bryson explains. “They were in her purse all the time. In fact, that’s what they fed me to keep me quiet in church.”

Why not put them in a pie, she thought?

"I mean seriously, why not?" Bryson says, going off on one of her little riffs. "I can walk through the grocery store and look at something and go: 'Yeah, I can put that in a cake. I can put that in a cheese cake.' It's just one of those things. I don't know where it comes from. It just happens."

Recipes

Here are three recipes from South Carolina author Francine Bryson’s “Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen” (Clarkson Potter, $22).

Upside-Down Apple-Pecan Pie

Don’t be intimidated by this topsy-turvy pie. It requires you to grease a pan with a full stick of butter, which holds the pecans in place. You then cover the nuts with brown sugar and press on a pie crust, fill it with apples and top with another crust. Using store-bought crust is the trick, Bryson says, “because store-bought is tougher than homemade.”

¹⁄₂ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 (9-inch) store-bought refrigerated pie crusts

About 1¹⁄₂ cups pecan halves

1¹⁄₂ cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

¹⁄₂ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon apple pie spice

1¹⁄₈ teaspoons ground cinnamon

¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 cups sliced peeled baking apples

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Thoroughly grease a 10-inch deep-dish ceramic pie pan (you must use a deep-dish pan) with all of the butter.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each of the pie crusts until about 11 inches in diameter. Transfer to baking sheets and refrigerate until needed.

Starting on the bottom and working your way outside in, arrange the pecans, round side down, in the pan, covering it entirely and making sure there are very few gaps in between the nuts. Do the same up the sides, too. Spread the brown sugar over the nuts until they are entirely covered and then press one of the pie crusts down firmly on top of the nuts, making sure the nuts do not poke through.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, apple pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Add the apples and toss to coat. Pour the apples into the pie crust as evenly as possible. Cover with the second pie crust. Fold the crust sides over each other and crimp together firmly. Don’t worry too much about appearances, as this will be the bottom of your pie. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the crust.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue to bake until browned, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let the pie sit just until the bubbling stops, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the pie out onto a serving dish while still hot. Be careful with the hot pan, and be sure to use a serving dish that will catch the overflow of sauce. Serve warm. Makes: 8 servings

— Adapted from “Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen” by Francine Bryson (Clarkson Potter, $22)

Per serving: 651 calories (percent of calories from fat, 50), 5 grams protein, 78 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber, 38 grams fat (11 grams saturated), 31 milligrams cholesterol, 305 milligrams sodium.

Lemon Streusel Muffins

These muffins are easy to put together and wonderful with coffee.

For the topping

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the muffins

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1½ cups self-rising flour (Bryson uses White Lily)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, beaten

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan

½ teaspoon lemon extract

To make the topping: In a small bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar and the salt. Use a fork or your fingers to mix in the butter and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the muffins: Combine the buttermilk, oats, and white chocolate chips. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so the oats soak up the milk.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the self-rising flour and salt.

Stir the lemon zest and brown sugar into the oat mixture and then whisk in the egg, butter, and lemon extract. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups. The cups will be full; these muffins don’t rise much. Remove the topping from the refrigerator and break the pieces into small clumps. Top each muffin cup with about 1 heaping tablespoon of streusel topping.

Bake the muffins until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with only a few crumbs attached, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto wire racks to cool at least slightly. Makes: 12 muffins

— Adapted from “Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen” by Francine Bryson (Clarkson Potter, $22)

Per muffin: 301 calories (percent of calories from fat, 43), 5 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 14 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 47 milligrams cholesterol, 310 milligrams sodium.

Slap-Ya-Mama Fudge Cookies

This decadent chocolate cookie is perked up with espresso powder and, if you like, a little chipotle powder.

1 cup pecans or walnuts

½ cup self-rising flour (Bryson uses White Lily)

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle powder (optional)

1 pound semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1 ¾ cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread out the nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned and fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool and then chop coarsely. Leave the oven on.

Whisk together the flour, salt, espresso powder, and chipotle powder, if using.

Melt the semisweet chocolate and the butter in the microwave or in a stainless-steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract. Gently fold in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Stir in the dark and white chocolate chips and the nuts. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until just firm, 30 to 60 minutes.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and drop the dough onto the paper, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. (I used about 2 heaping tablespoons per cookie. If you pat the tops smooth with your hand, you’ll have a prettier cookie. You may also smooth out the dough in your palms, though it’s fine if you just drop the dough onto the sheet and let them bake free form.) Bake until puffy and cracked on top, 14 to 16 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set the baking sheets on wire racks to cool until the cookies are just firm, 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and let cool completely on the racks. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 24 large cookies

— Adapted from “Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen” by Francine Bryson (Clarkson Potter, $22)

Per cookie: 315 calories (percent of calories from fat, 46), 4 grams protein, 42 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 17 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 41 milligrams cholesterol, 69 milligrams sodium.