Kern’s Kitchen’s Derby-Pie® is Made with Louisville Pure Tap®

When you think of a traditional Kentucky dessert, Derby-Pie® probably comes to mind.

Did you know that iconic delicacy wouldn’t be possible without Louisville Water’s Pure Tap®?

It’s true. While the recipe is still a well-kept secret, one ingredient that’s been a part of the process since the beginning is water!

“Louisville Pure Tap is something that goes into making our dough, which happens to be my favorite part,” Co-owner Rebecca Rupp said. “It’s a beautiful flaky crust. It is like Great Grandma Leaudra used Louisville Pure Tap when she made the dough 70 years ago.”

Walter and Leaudra Kern and their son, George Kern, first created the Derby-Pie® in 1954 at the Melrose Inn, a former restaurant in Prospect, Kentucky. They needed a signature dessert to offer their guests and settled on a chocolate and nut pie with a buttery, flaky crust. When deciding a name, they asked their friends and family to come up with ideas and threw them in a hat.

The winning name became synonymous with the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports – Derby-Pie®.

In the beginning, the Kerns would bake three pies at a time and cool them on the back porch. Today, the production facility in Jeffersontown, Kentucky bakes anywhere from 1,800 to 2,400 pies a day during its busy season.

While production has grown exponentially, much of the process today is still handcrafted. From cracking their own eggs to hand-sorting walnuts, Kern’s Kitchen strives to honor tradition and protect the legendary taste.

“What helps us is using great brands like Louisville Pure Tap,” Rupp said about ensuring great quality and consistency over the years.

Dough day is always on Mondays at Kern’s Kitchen. To make the crust, employees fill up large buckets of water straight from the tap the night before. They let the water chill overnight to ensure the right consistency in the dough. Chilled water keeps fats from spreading too quickly, resulting in a thicker, flakier dough.

Kern’s Kitchen and Louisville Water have one more thing in common and that’s the pride we take in each of our products. We like to say Louisville’s water is so good, we gave it a trademarked name.

Well, Kern’s Kitchen did the same thing!

The company trademarked the name “Derby-Pie” in 1968.

“Us being a registered trademark (and) Louisville Pure Tap being a registered trademark, just again, shows the uniqueness of our products,” Rupp said.

Is your mouth watering from all this talk about chocolate-y, nutty goodness? Luckily for you, Louisville Water customers get $5 off any online orders placed between April 29 and May 30. Use code LOUPURETAP when you check out at www.DerbyPie.com/shop. And make sure to wash down your dessert with a cool glass of Pure Tap!

Kern’s Kitchen isn’t the only business who gets the Made with Pure Tap seal of approval. Make sure to check out the countless other local businesses who use Pure Tap in their products at LouisvilleWater.com/MadeWithPureTap.