Laura Lacina specializes in single-serving pies at Home Slice Homemade Pies in Bondurant. (Photo: Wini Moranville)
By Wini Moranville
I was the second person in the door at Home Slice Homemade Pies in Bondurant when they opened at 4 p.m. yesterday, and within minutes, a steady stream of pie-seekers followed. At the counter, a young clerk rang up orders. Nearby in the open kitchen, owner Laura Lacina greeted customers, many by name, as she rolled out each single-serving ball of dough, tucked it neatly into a mini tin, filled the shell and slid the little pie into the oven.
Lacina started baking pies as a hobby during the pandemic. Soon, the hobby blossomed into a home-based business, and she moved into her current storefront and bakery in 2022.
Yesterday afternoon, despite how busy she was with multiple pies at different stages of baking, she didn’t miss a beat as I lobbed a few pesky questions her way.
The shop is open only Thursday through Saturday, so how many pies does she make in a weekend? “Oh, a couple hundred,” she laughed. “I’m always too busy to count.”
Her favorite pie? She needed me to narrow that one down. “There are categories, you know.” For fruit, she points to her “fruits of the forest pie” with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, rhubarb, apples and pears. Yes, all in one pie.
And of course, the inevitable question: butter, Crisco or lard? Or perhaps a combo? “It’s all lard,” she said. She will, however, make vegetarian pies on request.
Her website makes it pretty clear that she’s open until she sells out. On Saturdays, that happens often. Thursdays and Fridays are safer bets, though the widest selection belongs to those who stream in when the doors open. (4 p.m. Thursday, 1 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday.)
And talk about specialization — she makes only pies. Selections rotate weekly, and you can find out which varieties are on the menu by checking the website. She sells single-serving pies ($8 each or $27 for four) at her storefront, but if you want a traditional sized pie ($25), you’ll need to order in advance and pick it up during business hours.
I’d drive well past Bondurant for her butterscotch meringue — unabashedly sweet, as it should be, and crowned with a cloud of fluff. The pecan pie was richly gooey, the apple pie a pure classic, and the hot chocolate pie was topped with a homemade marshmallow, a playful nod to a mug of cocoa.
And the crusts? As flaky as you’d expect from a baker who’s an all-lard die-hard.
This is the fourth in a series of micro pie-bakers around the metro. Read Wini Moranville’s previous stories about Chellie’s Sugar Shack, Pies and Pastries by Lana and Wooden Spoons Homemade Pies.
