Local pie shop gains national attention

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Kelly Maucere’s Hoosier Sugar Creme Pie has earned national attention. (Photo by Jillyann Burns)
Kelly Maucere’s Hoosier Sugar Creme Pie has earned national attention. (Photo by Jillyann Burns)

By Abby Walton

Even before you enter My Sugar Pie bake shop in Zionsville, the amazing aroma of baking pie crust hits you from the sidewalk. The intoxicating smell lures you inside, taking you back to memories of your mom or grandma’s kitchen. This week marks the second anniversary for the shop at 40 E. Pine St. While the location is fairly new, the business, started by Zionsville resident Kelly Maucere, has actually been around for several years.

“We started out by selling our pies at the Cobblestone Grill in Zionsville and it just expanded from there,” she said.

Although Maucere always loved to bake, she said she never thought of it as a career option.

“I was a teacher for 11 years and then stayed home with my two boys for five years,” Maucere said.

But it was during a Komen three-day walk that Maurcere had an epiphany.

“You walk 20 miles a day so you have a lot of time to think. During that time, I realized that after reaching this goal, I needed to have another challenge,” she said.

With friends and family always complimenting her pies, Maurcere decided to try selling them. So armed with her mother’s recipes, she started out making Dutch Apple and Hoosier Sugar Crème pie.

After selling her pies at Cobblestone Grill, Maucere said she began selling her pies at the Zionsville Farmer’s market. From there, a business plan started to form. During that time, Maucere also got her pies into some of the most recognized restaurants in the state, such as St. Elmo’s Steakhouse and all the Harry and Izzy’s locations. She also just went into business serving pies at the Omni Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.

“Before this, I didn’t know anything about how to run a business. It’s exciting because I’m constantly learning,” Maucere said.

Another aspect of the business that Maucere said always was part of the plan was selling her pies online.

“We officially started selling online in 2008, but before that, we did lots of beta testing,” she said.

They sent pies to friends all across the country, testing out what types of pies could ship, how they would ship them and the best company to actually do the shipping.

“Oddly enough, the United States Postal Service was the best company, so we use them to ship our pies,” Maurcere said.

It’s this aspect of the business that caught the eye of Country Living magazine.

“They called and asked us to ship them a Hoosier Sugar Crème pie,” she said.

This led to the national publication naming My Sugar Pie one of the Best Mail-Order Pie companies in the United States. Besides Country Living, My Sugar Pie has been featured on Oprah.com and is set to be featured in a few other national magazines.

“Someday, I want to be the Starbucks of pie,” Maurcere said.

With talks of building another location, branching into other states and new products like mini pies and pie pops, there’s no doubt that one day you’ll be able to eat a My Sugar Pie desert while dining in a restaurant in New York or Los Angeles.

“It’s all about doing something that you love and setting a goal,” Maurcere said.


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