Many people suffer from fear of pie — not eating pie, but making pie crust. I have encountered bakers who will gladly bake cakes, bread, cookies, cupcakes, and even French macarons, but are afraid to tackle a simple pie crust. Let’s drive these pie demons out of the kitchen! Pie is a short pastry, which [...]

Celebrate Pi Day (March 14) by baking a pie! One of the most delicious pies is chess pie, a southern transparent pie that has nothing to do with the game of chess. Traditionally, chess pie is an open-faced pie flavored with lots of lemon. Chess pie is best served at room temperature. Chess Pie ½ [...]

Yesterday, a customer called to ask how much flour she should add to canned apples to make apple pie filling. There is a better way. Here are some tips to make a scrumptious apple pie: 1. Choose a fresh apple that is good for baking. I like jonathons, jonagolds, or macintosh. 2. Do not overfill [...]

The short answer is no. Most foods taste best when freshly made and served. But when preparing for a big meal, we get lots of questions: Can I freeze mashed potatoes? Can I freeze apple pie? I don’t have time to make everything on Wednesday and Thursday! Many foods change their texture after defrosting. The [...]

Figs are fresh and in season during the month of September, so I try to eat as many figs as possible! I vividly remember my first taste of fresh figs: on a pizza in Rome in September 1987. I was smitten with their luscious taste. Since then, my favorite pizza is fresh figs with gorgonzola [...]

The summer crops are all gone; all of our exhausted tomato plants were dug up this weekend. This year was our best tomato year ever; we harvested about 450 pounds from 66 plants. In the empty garden, we planted today the fall greens: spinach, arugula, mache, and leaf lettuces, which should be ready in about [...]

Tarts are open-face pies. The most spectacular tart is the simplest: an apple tart created by the Tatin sisters in 1898 with just three ingredients (butter, sugar, and apples). The secret lies in caramelizing the apples, then flipping the tart upside-down so that the luscious caramel is on top. The first picture shows the baked tart with the crust on [...]

Christine writes, “I’m looking for the recipe for the Amazing Peanut Butter Pie that Marla used in her peanut butter class. I have lost mine.” On a snow day, this dessert can be made with pantry items. Pastry chef Marla Scissors (who passed away from ALS in 2008) demonstrated many wonderful dessert recipes in her [...]

Kirsten writes, “Just wanted you to know that I’m in preparation of the perfect pie crust. This morning, I pulled out a bowl, pastry cutter, measuring devices, gravy separator, spatula, and ingredients. With the voice of a great mentor chanting in my mind (“cold dough, hot oven!”), I’m excited about creating a traditional Thanksgiving feast [...]

Certain food combinations are much more than the sum of their parts: tomatoes and basil; bacon and eggs; chocolate and raspberries. To this list, I must add goat cheese and honey. Just drizzling honey on goat cheese and eating on a cracker is a sensory delight. Inspired by this taste, I created this dessert to showcase goat [...]