Photography Courtesy of Steven Doyle & Samantha Moss
Dallas’ relaxed cottage-industry rules are a lifestyle savior for pastry chef Samantha Moss. The 38-year-old New York City native runs Pixie Pies out of her home kitchen off Center Street. Moss worked as a caterer in New York before moving to Texas 13 years ago. She was the opening pastry chef at the Breadwinners store at NorthPark Center and then worked at Nick & Sam’s for about five years. She had major brain surgery five years ago because of a condition, chiari malformation, which causes brain tissue to extend into the spinal canal. As a single mother with a disability, Oak Cliff neighbors make it easy for her to get by as an entrepreneur, she says. That doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of work. Moss rises before dawn, bakes all morning and makes deliveries in the afternoon, while supervising her 8-year-old Dallas ISD third grader, Shyla Lily Owen. The Pixie Pie menu, available on Facebook, includes four cookie varieties for $20 per dozen and four types of pie that cost $12-$24.
How she got into cooking: I taught myself how to cook at 10 because I was alone a lot. When I was 18, I was making food for my boyfriend’s lunch every day because I was home at the time. He was a painter in New York City, and his client tried some of my food and immediately demanded that I cater one of her events, and it launched my own little company for a while.
How she started Pixie Pies: My daughter started school, and I was picking her up every day. I had left the steakhouse and decided that I was going to do it from home, make pies and cookies and deliver them. Between the PTA and [Facebook groups], and because of my pedigree working at Nick & Sam’s, I was busy right away.
Her best seller: The Fat Nona pie is the best seller, hands down. It’s a caramel apple pie with a duck- fat vodka crust. Because I’m Italian and from New York, I also do a lot of desserts that are from that, like a black-and-white cookie, rugelach … I do an Italian Easter pie every year. That’s basically like a pizza encased in a huge crust.
It’s not just baking: I actually do a lot of catering for my clients and meal trains. Some of my best customers have turned keto, so I make keto pumpkin pies that are sugar free and gluten free, and I’m making meals for them as well. I have some clients with food allergies, and they trust me because I take that very seriously. Then I just randomly do meals. I’ve been making sag paneer for two weeks because I do Indian cuisine as well.
Special orders: I get a lot of requests from people who want comfort food that they can’t find here. That’s been fun. I had a request for this chocolate cake with mousse layers on the inside and shaved chocolate on the outside. It was a giant, very heavy cake that I recreated just from pictures and the description.
The holidays: I get extremely busy. Last year, I had to hire a delivery person. From the time I open my eyes in the morning to the time I go to bed, I’m baking. This year is different because the parties and church gatherings aren’t happening.
Mistakes home bakers make: Not trusting the science and not under- standing what the science does in baking. They over-mix things or don’t get ingredients to the same temperature. They think it’s just the ingredients and they don’t think about the chemistry behind the ingredi- ents. And also, go by weight instead of measuring.
Why she named it Pixie Pies: I’m called a pixie a lot because I’m kind of tiny and flighty. I even have a Tinkerbell tattooed on me.
Because of Oak Cliff: I don’t think I could’ve been successful anywhere else because of the way people support each other here. I’ve never had such a sense of community anywhere.
