As a high school senior, Tina Echement knew that baking was in her blood. From a young age, she loved to help her grandmother in the kitchen, especially around Christmastime. Her grandmother’s apple pie was her favorite thing in the world; it had just the right amount of sweet, salty and crumbly goodness.
What began as a family Christmas tradition eventually led to Echement’s decision to pursue baking as a career. When she was 17 years old, she enrolled in a co-op program through Parkway West Career & Technology Center. The program allowed her to spend mornings working at the Ultimate Pastry Shop and afternoons attending classes at her high school.
Upon graduating in 1993, she began working for the Ultimate Pastry Shop fulltime. When the former owner decided to retire in 2001, Echement was given the opportunity to take over the business. Along with sprinkles, cookie cutters and pie tins, she inherited some rather interesting shop memorabilia.
“The original owner picked up some pink flamingo souvenirs from Florida and brought them back to decorate her shop,” Echement said. “Customers then started bringing us more flamingoes as gifts. We have too many to count now.”
The newest flamingo in Echement’s collection is a tiny stuffed animal that she named Ophelia. For the past year, Ophelia has been greeting customers every morning on social media to let them know what they should sample that day.
The flamingo influencer has become one of Echement’s favorite ways to engage with her customers. Shortly after she opens up her shop, Echement pens a clever post to let people know about daily specials and holiday deals. For Echement, one of her favorite yearly promotions is right around the corner.
“I love to make pies; it’s my favorite thing to bake,” Echement said. “We go through hundreds of pies here during Thanksgiving season, but most of our pies are available all year.”
Fortunately, customers need not wait until Thanksgiving rolls around to indulge in pie specials. The Ultimate Pastry Shop is celebrating Pi Day on March 14 (3.14) with some mouthwatering deals. More than a dozen flavors of pie will be available, including multiple fresh fruit and crème pie options.
“Apple pie is absolutely our number one seller,” Echement said. “Cherry would be second. Mixed berry is also popular; it’s a combination of fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. We offer individual blackberry, raspberry and blueberry pies, as well as Dutch apple and strawberry rhubarb.”
In addition to a variety of fruit options, the Ultimate Pastry Shop also sells banana cream pie, lemon meringue pie, coconut cream pie, key lime pie, chocolate cream pie and lemon tart.
Customers who prefer savory over sweet choices can opt for quiche, which is considered a type of pie, as well. According to Echement, the bacon, tomato and green onion quiche is the most popular, followed by ham and Swiss. Vegetarians can choose between broccoli cheddar and feta veggie.
“We just started offering some gluten-free pies,” Echement said. “They’re more like tarts. We call them tarty pies, because they are actually tarts in the shape of a pie. They’re made with shortbread crust and different fillings and gel preserves. We offer cherry and raspberry gluten-free tarty pies.”
To ensure that your preferred pie flavor will be available on Pi Day, customers are encouraged to get their orders in at least two days in advance.
If pie isn’t your thing, the Ultimate Pastry Shop has you covered. Cookies are actually their biggest-selling item, accounting for up to 50 percent of overall sales — 40 different kinds of cookies are offered at different times throughout the year.
On nice days when people are out and about, the shop easily sells a couple hundred cookies a day. Many repeat customers check in to see what new flavors are currently on offer. One of those regulars is 14-year-old Peyton Kim, who often stops by when she’s visiting her father’s barbershop two doors down.
“The far-out cookies are really good,” Kim said. “I like the frosting. They taste like goodness.”
Other customer favorites include iced cocoa drops, lemon baby cakes, cinnamon rolls, rugelach and iced oatmeal cookies.
Custom cookies are also available to be ordered and come in different shapes to compliment holidays or occasions, such as baby showers and bridal showers. For St. Patrick’s Day, expect to see cookies shaped like green shamrocks, pots of gold and rainbows. For Easter, you’ll find cookies shaped like eggs, peeps and bunny ears. Flamingo cookies are offered year-round.
As much as she enjoys baking her own treats for the community to enjoy, Echement gets just as much satisfaction from giving back through her service as a Girl Scout troop leader and cookie sale supporter. She has been a leader for her daughter’s troop for the past 13 years.
“My daughter, Reagan, is aging out this year,” Echement said. “She’s a senior, so this is our final push on Girl Scout cookies. We have five girls in our troop now. At one point when they were little, we had 20 girls who were peddling cookies outside my shop.”
Reagan’s goal is to hit super troop status, which means that each girl in her troop has to sell 185 boxes. Customers can pick up a box of their favorite Girl Scout cookies when they come into the Ultimate Pastry Shop while supplies last.
To find out about daily specials or holiday promotions, follow them on Instagram at @the_ultimate_pastry_shop. To place an advance order, contact the shop at 412-741-9150 or visit them at 445 Beaver St., Sewickley.