A rich chocolate and English-walnut pie in a buttery flaky crust, the official pie of the Kentucky Derby Festival since the 1960s.
Walter and Leaudra Kern, with their son George, developed the chocolate-and-walnut pie at the Melrose Inn in Prospect, Kentucky in 1954 as the restaurant's signature dessert. The family pulled the name out of a hat: Derby-Pie won. After leaving the Melrose Inn in 1960 the Kerns continued making the pie and registered Derby-Pie as a federal trademark in 1969, defending it with more than 25 lawsuits over the years. The pie is now made only by Kern's Kitchen with the secret recipe known to a small group of family members. Louisville bakeries sell look-alike chocolate-walnut pies as 'May Day Pie' or 'Triple Crown Pie'; Plehn's Bakery on Shelbyville Road runs a Triple Crown Pie each Derby season.
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