Pie Party #1 of ?

For months I’ve been wanting to put together a small, low-key, preferably lovely event where I baked up a few new pies and served them to friends for their tasting notes. I thought it might be a way I could create a little bit of publicity for myself through some mellow grass-roots word spreading. I thought maybe it would help motivate me to push toward my larger pie baking dreams (which have yet to be defined, exactly). And, maybe it would just be fun, regardless of what came out of it.

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of hosting. It makes me kind of tense and nervous trying to round people up and serve them a good time. I’m also not a fan of self-promotion but I’m trying to push past that a little bit right now, since I’m pretty sure it’s a necessary part of creating a business. Ugh. So I did what I could to round up a little team of pie tasters/partiers and convinced them to come over on a Friday night in October.

There’s nothing I like better than spending my day baking at home. I think that’s a pretty solid sign that I’m working toward the right thing, don’t you? I love that it’s creative, I love that it’s hands on and physical but not too serious and I love that in the end you get to eat a beautiful fucking pie! It’s a trifecta of loves. And it’s exciting to make new things. Exciting and challenging and a little nerve-wracking, but that’s the whole point of all of this right? To push myself a little bit and take baby steps toward the great beyond of baking? I landed on Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with a Gingersnap Crust that I found in an old issue of Martha Stewart Living, Maple Lime Custard with a Pecan Biscotti Crust that came straight out of The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, and Spiced Honey Pear that I mentally mixed up and put together myself. I wanted a good variety of tastes but for them all to kind of go together, and clearly fall flavors are front and center right now. Just ask the promotions department of any major grocery store. And Mother Nature too I guess.

I banged out the pear first because I really wanted it to have time to cool off and set and preferably hold together in that perfect way that pie is supposed to. Lately I’ve been feeling that fruit pie is kind of the middle child (Jan) of modern pie making in that it often gets passed over for creamier, chocolatier, zingier flavors. But for me it’s a true staple and a singular beauty when done well. I was really really into this one. I used bosc and starkrimson pears and they were both PERFECTLY ripe which is inspiring in and of itself if you ask me. There’s nothing more simply special than a ripe pear. I added some lemon juice, honey and freshly grated nutmug to some other standby ingredients to try to make the flavors sing, just a little bit more fiercely. I also mixed up a pate brisee by hand for the first time in a while and tried to keep all of the ingredients extra cold to see if that would improve the flaky texture. I think it came out beautifully. This one was my personal favorite of the bunch, although I might be alone on that. But it’s nice to be separate from the crowd in your tastes sometimes. And then you can spot the others who stand apart and you can share a nice slice of pear pie with them.

The other two were a little more problematic. Believe me, it pains me to admit it, but here goes. With custard pies it can get a bit touchy. You don’t want to overcook them because they can separate and be a general pie trainwreck, but undercooking results in a too-loose consistency, AKA soupy pie. My pumpkin cheesecake pie (see how it just lost its right to capitalization?) fell into the latter category.

It looked great (topped with toasted meringue leaves!) but just didn’t cook for long enough and when sliced into (that’s right, I didn’t know it was a fail until someone who was not me went to cut themself a slice) it slid out into the middle of the dish like a pumpkin-y mudslide. I cannot tell you how bummed about this I was. I wanted all three pies to be STELLAR, AMAZING, PERFECTION! I wanted everyone who ate them to run home to call all of their closest friends to tell them how phenomenal my pies are. Is that too much to ask? It took some major ego soothing to attempt to recover my sense of self as a baker after witnessing The Great Pumpkin Slide of 2015, but I’m working on it. Honestly though the flavor was great, the crust was super gingery delicious, and the edges of the pie where it did manage to set were pretty delightful.

Then there was the Maple Lime Custard. This one set like a pro but I realized (again too late) that the filling probably should have been strained. It baked with bubbles and lumps that I just could not mentally handle, so I did the only thing I could do: smothered it with whipped cream. No one complained but I still felt a little pained knowing that beneath the fluffy sweetness on top there were flaws that no one must see. I also thought the crust got a little soggy under all that maple lime goodness so I might try to fix that with a layer of egg white while baking next time around. The flavor of this pie was really great, and I’m pretty sure it was the clear crowd favorite.

So there you have it. Three pies, one bruised ego and about 15 friends with bellies full of sweets. I can’t say the event has helped my bourgeoning pie career take off in any particular direction, but it was a good, if not utterly ideal jump into presenting myself, and my pastry dreams to the world. But really, how often is any sort of perfection truly reached? I don’t know about your life, but mine is a constant work in progress. Being able to accept the flaws and still march on toward greatness is my idea of a goal worth having. And ultimately, despite arbitrary unmet goals or tarnished pictures of perfection that swirl in our silly, lovely, imperfect human brains, there is still PIE to be had, so how bad could it all be?