Pie Review: Back to Eden – Lemon Coconut Cream

Back to Eden Bakery Boutique on Portland’s Alberta Street is an all Vegan bakery. They opened their cute and quaint little storefront last September, but they had been selling their goods wholesale prior to switching to retail.

They have an “ever-changing menu of cakes, cookies, muffins, scones, pies, tarts and sweet breads”. Typically they only offer one to two pie varieties a day. They update their blog each day with what they’re offering, though, so check it out at: http://www.backtoedenbakery.com/new/news.php

Although I wouldn’t count them as a pie for this blog’s purposes, they do also offer some delicious looking “Whoopie Pies“.

When I went in, my option was a Lemon Coconut Cream pie. I was a bit reluctant to try it, as I am not a fan of coconut at all, and lemon is not a huge favorite. But, I don’t make it out to that area of town often, so I figured I might as well just go for it.

I have noticed that a lot of their cream pies are “coconut cream” pies. I assume that has to do with the vegan thing – they can’t use milk or real cream, so coconut cream is probably one of the best substitutes. So, while it does have a coconut flavor, I think it’s used more for the purpose of getting the same creaminess that you’d expect from a normal cream pie.

The slice was really appealing visually, it was pretty much covered in the creamy white topping.

The crust was tender and flaky and actually was reminiscent of my mom’s pie crust. The bottom was firm and crisp, no sogginess, overall a tasty crust.

The coconut flavor was not too strong, it actually worked really well with the lemon flavor. The coconut cream makes for an incredibly rich and decadent cream, and I enjoyed the flavor combination more and more with each bite.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 slices. I’m only ranking it this low because I’m sure I’ll like OTHER pies from Back to Eden a lot more. The fact that they were able to impress me with a Lemon Coconut Cream pie speaks volumes about what they could do with a traditional fruit pie.

Other Notes: Order a drip coffee there, they grind the beans fresh for each cup and literally drip water through the coffee grounds (via Portland’s Cellar Door) and filter it straight into your cup. Great cup of coffee!

But you don’t have to take my word for it, Back to Eden is getting amazing reviews on Yelp - so check that out as well!

Back to Eden Bakery Boutique
2217 NE Alberta St.
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 477-5022