CARAMEL AND DUCK FAT

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.

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 was Libby Titus, who is the wife of Donald Fagan from Steely Dan. She 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 duckfat 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 understanding 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 ingredients. 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.