Make Me Some Pie: A pie blog.

Pie Review: Baker & Spice – Blackberry Hand Pie

Joel — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:01:08 +0000

Baker & Spice doesn’t always have pie available, but when I saw that they had blackberry hand pies available on their Facebook page, I made the short journey there from my work to sample the goodness.

I bought two, one for me and one for my wife. I ended up eating both because my wife slacked on eating it fast enough. I also promised myself that I would only eat half of mine at work and save the other half for later. I failed at doing so.

I’d say these are in a different category than what I usually write about, but they do qualify as pie in my mind. However, this was much more of a “pastry” that you’d pick up with some coffee to go, rather than something you’d eat with ice cream after dinner (although… it’d be good with ice cream).

Nevertheless, the presentation on this pie was excellent, just look at the photos.

The crust was awesome. It was insanely flakey on the outer layers, but as you got closer to the filling, it was more of a chewy crust. Best of both worlds. I recommend that you eat this with a fork, though. The flakes from the crust will end up in your lap.

The filling was delicious and fresh and everything that a pie filling should be. Great flavor and not too sweet, they really let the berries do the talking. It was also a good consistency, not too runny, and not too much filling. It had an excellent filling to crust ratio. My only problem is that I was dumb enough to actually eat this by hand and it ended up being quite messy… but, I am a messy eater also, so maybe it was just me (I’d still recommend eating it on a plate, though).

Overall Rating: 5 out 5 slices. I really loved this pie and that is evident in the fact that I simply couldn’t resist eating ALL of the pies that I bought. I was offended that my wife didn’t seem that interested in eating it, so I ATE her piece of it. If you put 5 slices of this in front of me, I would eat 5 slices. So, I’ve got to go with 5 slices.

Other Notes: Baker & Spice owner Julie Richardson knows her desserts and has written a book with award-winning chef Cory Schreiber called “Rustic Fruit Desserts”, which covers crumbles, cobblers, crisps, Betty’s, buckles and pies (naturally). I haven’t had a look, but I’m sure there’s a ton of good stuff in there. It looks like Richardson also owns (or is strongly affiliated with!) a baking supply shop called Sweet Wares, which is located in the same complex as Baker & Spice. Sweet Wares has baking supplies, ingredients and cooking classes (including pie classes!).

Like I said, pie isn’t an everyday item at Baker & Spice, but they do take orders for whole pies, so if you want to give it a try, go for it (the holidays are just around the corner!).

Baker & Spice
6330 Sw Capitol Hwy,
Portland, OR 97239

…And Now The Biggest Pie Fight in Cinematic History

Joel — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:34:24 +0000

From the 60s classic “The Great Race“, enjoy.

Political Pot Pie: Canadians Fight Seal Hunt with Pie, Obama Denies Pie

Pie Review: A Splendid Dessert, Vegan Cherry Cherry Pie

Joel — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:08:37 +0000

I came upon this pie-purveyor at the Tigard Farmer’s Market, which is held every Sunday from 9-2 p.m. from May to October.

A Splendid Dessert (ASD) specializes in Gluten-Free, Dairy Free treats; primarily cupcakes. Dawn Galli started up the bakery because she had worked with many students with Autism that were on gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diets (casein is found in milk). I think it’s great that she’s bringing delicious sweet-treats for people that can’t have them otherwise.

Like I said, ASD specializes in cakes primarily, but she did happen to have a gorgeous looking Vegan Cherry Cherry Pie when I spotted them at the market.

From the picture, you’ll be able to tell that the presentation on this pie was really nice. It had great shape and a nice gold colored crust.

The crust wasn’t bad at all, but was a bit plain as far as flavor goes (not surprising, given it’s vegan). I also don’t recall much flakiness. But, it was a nice wholesome crust and there was a good crust to filling ratio.

The filling seemed very wholesome, it was seriously very cherry. Whole, fresh cherries for sure and they had a great flavor. It wasn’t runny at all, either (a pet peeve of mine with cherry pies). In fact, it was so NOT runny that I thought it was actually a little too dry. The cherries didn’t seem all that juicy.

Overall Rating: My personal rating of this pie is 3 out of 5 slices. But hear me out on this… this is just my personal assessment of the pie and where it stacks up against other pies that I’ve had. If I were vegan or on a gluten free diet or something, I’d probably rate this at like 4 or 4.5 slices… it was a good pie, good presentation, good crust… good all around. Kudos to ASD for bringing pie to people with special dietary needs.

A Splendid Dessert
Tigard Farmer’s Market
1131 SW Pacific HWY (HWY 99W)
Tigard, OR
Young’s Funeral Home Parking Lot

Portland’s Pie Band Back in Action, August 27

Joel — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:47:00 +0000

Portland’s summer of pie love is not over yet, and what better way to wrap it up with an evening of music and pie!?

Keep Your Fork There’s Pie, Portland’s houseband for pie, is back in action on Friday, August 27 at the Woods in Sellwood. From what I’ve heard, the Woods is one of the coolest new music venues in Portland. And, as always, there will be PIE at the KYFTP concert.

They’ll also have copies of their new CD for sale.

Go check them out, eat pie, enjoy the music and embrace the impending end of another lovely Portland summer.

Pie and Politics: Senator Levin takes a Dutch Apple

Joel — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:10 +0000

Michigan Senator Carl Levin was unwittingly pied on August 16 at a meeting in Big Rapids, Michigan. Apparently the pie throwers were mad about Levin’s activities as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

The manager of the café that the meeting was being held at managed to chase down the offender, Ahlam M. Mohsen. Mohsen apparently snuck up behind Levin while her comrade was reading an anti-war statement and she shoved the Dutch Apple pie in the senator’s face.

Levin wasn’t hurt and said he wished it was blueberry pie. The political statement comes at a price, though – Mohsen is being held in jail and a judge set her bond at $250,000, requiring a cash payment of $25,000 for her to get out.

This continues a long string of pies in the face to political figures.

In the history of pieing there have been two notable pie-throwers. Aron “The Pieman” Kay pied McGeorge Bundy, G. Gordon Liddy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William F. Buckley, Jr. and others in the 70’s through the early 90’s. More recently, a group of two called “Al Pieda” pied Ann Coulter in 2004.

Wikipedia has a great list of famous pies to the face, I recommend that you check it out. Add this one to the list.

Political Pot Pie: Canadians Fight Seal Hunt with Pie, Obama Denies Pie

Pie Review: Perry’s on Fremont – Peach Blackberry

Joel — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:06:19 +0000

Perry’s on Fremont has been around since 1984 (hey, we’re birthday buddies). Despite our similar ages, I hadn’t yet been to this neighborhood bistro that some have described as a Portland “institution”. Perry’s boasts a wide variety of pies on their dessert menu. I should also add that they have chicken pie on their menu, and one Yelp reviewer made it sound amazing (perhaps I shall return for dinner).

Being a fruit pie enthusiast, I went with their Peach Blackberry.

The presentation was ok. The top crust was very nice with a little design on it made from extra pieces of dough. But the cleanliness of the slice was lacking. They said they gave us extra filling since we were sharing; nonetheless, it looked kind of runny and sloppy.

The crust had a good level of flakiness and seemed like it should be a really good crust. But… there was something off about the flavor. My wife and I agreed that there seemed to be some kind of artificial buttery aftertaste. Like… movie theater butter or something… just an unnaturally high level of butter flavor. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I have zero culinary training and I am not a foodie; but in my mind there was something slightly peculiar in the taste of the crust. Update: Emily from Perry’s writes-in (see comment below) and assures us that there’s no artificial butter flavor added – all real butter. Like I said, take my opinion with a grain of salt (or a slab of butter).

The filling was, meh, I don’t know, nothing to write a blog about (oh,oops). It wasn’t bad, but like I said, it was quite runny. We also felt it was a little too heavy on the blackberry. I think a good peach blackberry pie has just enough berry to balance out the peach (Read: peach blackberry pie at Bipartisan Café).

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 slices. For all of the negatives I listed above, they were still relatively minor imperfections, it wasn’t a BAD pie… it just wasn’t a high-performing pie. I also list it as 3 out 5 because I still think Perry’s is a place you SHOULD try… you might like it more than me & who knows – their other pies might be amazing (for example, their Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Pecan Crust may be a winner).

Other Notes: While I say that it is a good place to try pie, it might not be the best place for you frugal pie-tasters. This was one of the priciest pies I’ve had in Portland… our slice was $7.50 (and don’t forget to tip). It was a very generous helping of pie, though.

Perry’s on Fremont
2401 NE Fremont St.
Portland, OR

Etsy Pie Find: MMM Pie Wall Art

Joel — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:30:36 +0000

This Etsy pie-find struck me as kind of awesome. A trend in home decor recently has been to put wording that is special to someone on their walls. For example, you’ll see things like “Live. Love. Laugh.” or “Faith. Hope. Love.” or something simple like “Welcome.”

Well, for those of us who live the pie life, there is a wall decal for you. The MMM Pie decal from Purple Fox Design.

Portland tweeps who love pie may particularly enjoy this, because the hashtag #mmmpie is oft used to indicate enjoyment of pie (typically a Whiffies Fried Pie).

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Etsy Find: Robot Pie

Pie Review: Lauretta Jean’s, C/O the Sugar Cube – Cherry

Joel — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:22:22 +0000

The Sugar Cube, located on Mississippi Ave. in Portland is a lovely little food cart in a great neighborhood. Kir Jensen serves up creative dessert concoctions, including the Amy Winehouse cupcake (boozy yellow cake) and has also been known to serve up milkshakes w/ Captain Crunch in them.

The Cube doesn’t specialize in pie, but the one pie that they do offer regularly is ~~Jensen’s~~ Kate McMillen’s ‘Best Cherry Pie Ever!’ McMillen bakes pies under the moniker “Lauretta Jean’s” (which was her grandmother’s name) & Jensen serves it up to the sweet-loving masses.

And you know what, now that I think about it… it probably is the best cherry pie I’ve ever had.

The presentation was lovely, particularly the large glop of delicious whipped cream (whoop, as Jensen calls it). The whoop comes free, but you can opt for vanilla bean ice cream & caramel sauce for an extra buck fitty (I should have, but I’m cheap).

The crust was amazing. This was one of the flakiest crusts I’ve had in recent memory, it had multiple layers of flakiness.

The filling was solid as well, it wasn’t runny at all, which is a big pet-peeve of mine when it comes to cherry pie. I don’t want filling that seems like it came from a can. The filling to crust ratio was also up to my standards.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 slices. What’s my reasoning for the rating? I’m not really sure… I’m trying not to hand out 5 out of 5 ratings like candy, and I guess my thing is, this was a super-excellent pie, but I don’t know that I’d seek it out on a regular basis. If I’m in the area, I’d stop by fo’ sho, though. Maybe it’s just because cherry pie isn’t my favorite.

Other Notes: The Sugar Cube was recently named to Sunset Magazine’s Top 10 Portland Food Carts list. I haven’t tried any of the other desserts there, but I’m sure they’re super amazing!

It looks like you can order Thanksgiving pies from Lauretta Jean’s and pick them up from the Sugar Cube. Visit http://www.laurettajean.com/ for more info.

Lauretta Jean’s c/o
The Sugar Cube
4237 N. Mississippi Ave.
Portland, OR

You Can Take a Baseball Out of Pie, but You Can’t Take the Pie Out of Baseball

Joel — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:04:58 +0000

There’s been a lot of pie controversy in baseball lately. The Florida Marlins have banned shaving cream pie throwing & other such hi-jinx because Chris Coghlan somehow managed to injure his knee when he jumped to throw a pie in the face of teammate Wes Helms after he hit a game-winning home run.

As I’ve written before, a shaving cream pie in the face has become a tradition in baseball, typically when a player hits a game-winning home run, but it has been used for other feats, including Stephen Strasburg’s 14 strikeout debut.

A lot of people are talking about ways of trying to prevent these high-paid ballplayers from hurting themselves doing juvenile things (namely pie-throwing). I don’t really think that’s necessary & the folks over at the Sports Pickle make that obvious by posting the 20 Most Ridiculously Humiliating Sports Injuries of All-Time.

For example, number 4 on the list is when Nolan Ryan missed a start because he had to get a series of rabies shots after he decided to pick up some baby coyotes!

The point is, these guys are going to get injured in ridiculous and unfortunate ways and you can’t stop it. With that said, please don’t take the pie out of baseball.

If they are really concerned about pie-throwing in baseball – maybe they should just start using the classic “pie in the face” game to throw the pies – no players would get hurt that way:

Pie Review: Immortal Pie & Larder, Andouille Sausage & Sweet Potato

Joel — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:42:39 +0000

Immortal Pie & Larder is basically a take n’ bake pie shop (or, take & reheat). Along with tasty pies, they have wine, beer and other tasty food goods available.

They don’t offer very many “traditional” savory pies, per se, but all the pies on their menu sound interesting and tasty. I’m just saying, don’t go expecting a traditional chicken pot pie or anything.

I chose the andouille sausage and sweet potato pie, as I knew these were two ingredients I would enjoy.

And ENJOY I did.

I love how they’re sold in little bake-able cardboard pie tins (ala Papa Murphy’s) and come with reheat instructions. The pie itself is visually appealing and has kind of a… rustic, old-timey pie feel to it.

The crust was solid & had a nice level of flakiness.

The filling was delicious. The andouille was very good – spicy as it should be – and it worked very nicely with the sweet potato. My only knock on the filling is that the pie wasn’t jam-packed with filling.

Overall, I give this pie a solid 4 out of 5 slice rating with my only knock being don’t skimp on the filling.

Make sure to visit Immortal Pie & Larder for your pie and other sundry food item needs.

Immortal Pie & Larder
8029 Southeast Stark Street
Portland, OR 97215-2343

More: Visit Yelp for more reviews.