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Did Cornish and Karelian pasties come together in Michigan? an IFAQ

I asked this question on 7 November 2005 in Wordwizard's discussion of pasties.

Can anyone confirm what is said in Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food, that the Cornish pasty (or at least the idea of a Cornish pasty!) was taken to Michigan by Cornish miners, and that in Michigan the pasties interbred, so to speak, with a similar product familiar to Finnish immigrants? With what final result, and under what final name, Alan doesn't say ...

Next day I got two replies, which I abridge here: for the full text follow the link above. The first was from Shelley:

... I had a teacher in Michigan who was ... first generation Finnish-American. At one time a collective feast was held at school ... My Finnish teacher brought meat-filled, turnover-type delicacies which he called "pasties" ... Years later I was in Finland, and enjoyed the Karelian region treat called "piirakka" ... but am not sure if that would be the item which was crossed with a Cornish pasty in Michigan.

The second was from 'haro' (Hans Joerg Rothenberger), who added:

... pasties are pretty popular in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a.k.a. 'da UP' because of the heavy Fenno-Scandinavian accent those folks (= da Yoopers) have retained through many generations. I don't know how the science of baking pasties got there, though. Cornish miners sound reasonable in that mining plays quite a role in da UP. The Karelian piirakka can be made with rye or all-purpose flour; it is stuffed with rice, not meat, but it may have influenced the Yooperish pasty recipes. A UP pasty recipe can be found at this address ...

Erik Kowal's note closed this bit of the discussion, bringing it back to the other meaning (and the other pronunciation) of 'pasty' --

Apart from making me hungry, all this talk of Finnish-Cornish hybrid pasties has led me to another thought, namely: Is it beyond the wit of man to invent a pastry-based edible-cum-wearable accoutrement for strippers? The need is obvious.