When Julia Hunter of Greensburg first came across a pie recipe using cranberries, she knew she’d found something special.

“This was such a different take on cranberries,” said Hunter. “What intrigued me about it were all the flavor combinations.”

Hunter’s Cranberry-Apple-Raisin Holiday Pie won first place in The Star’s first-ever pie contest.

“It’s a pie I acquired many, many years ago before cranberries were popular like they are now,” Hunter said. “You didn’t use cranberries for anything but relish.”

The judges selected Hunter’s pie from among 10 finalists. More than 100 recipes were entered in the competition.

“That’s a heckuva pie,” judge Drew Appleby, co-founder of local Web site IndyEthnicFood.com, said about Hunter’s entry. “I’d be really proud to serve that to my family.”

Local pastry chef Pilar Lopez, owner of The Pastry Station, agreed, noting that the pie, which was topped with a red currant jelly glaze, won over judges with both looks and taste.

“It looks elegant and it tastes good,” Lopez said. “The crust is excellent.”

The second-place recipe, Peaches and Plums Pie, entered by 17-year-old Mariah Truax of Pittsboro, also garnered praise from the judging panel.

“It’s almost perfect,” Lopez said. “It’s a very beautiful pie.”

Truax, a veteran 4-Her, developed the recipe as a project.

“Last year for a foods project we had to make a pie,” said Truax, who turned to her grandmother for baking advice. “We mixed some recipes together and came up with peaches and plums.”

While the judges commented on the tart, fresh flavor of the filling — which they decided would go well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream — they also liked the crust, calling it the best in the competition.

“The top and bottom were both done just right,” said judge Dwight Simmons, a chef at Kiss Z Cook in Carmel.

Truax credits her grandmother.

“The pie crust is actually my grandmother’s pie crust recipe,” she said.

An unusual graham cracker and coconut crust distinguished the third-place entry, Strawberries and Cream Pie, by Greenwood resident HaeWon Miller.

Judges liked the presentation of the berry-topped pie as well as its unusual crust and traditional filling.

“It’s a nice variation on the Indiana sugar cream pie,” said judge Daina Chamness of Daina’s Petite Pies.

Wild Black Raspberry Lemon Cream Pie with Lemon-Butter Crust, entered by Fortville resident Bev Sharritt, took honorable mention in the competition, wowing judges with its good looks.

“It’s beautiful, and the crust is nice and flaky,” Chamness said.

Also earning honorable mention was Chocolate Therapy Pie, entered by Theresa Yardas, Sheridan. It featured a crushed pretzel crust, peanut butter chips, brickle chips and two kinds of chocolate chips.

Other finalists included Double Cherry Pie, by Rita Hine, Indianapolis; Banana Streusel Pie, by Peggy Strader, Martinsville; Black Bottom Pie, by Anndrea Kapke, Greenwood; Triple Lemon Meringue Pie, by Lynn Pierce, Middletown; and Upside Down Caramel Apple Pecan Pie, by Kathy Faenzi, Greenfield.