The
Pie Academy

Every once in a while I’ll give a talk, or have a conversation with someone, or read an email and I’ll hear a question that goes something like this: Do you ever get tired of making pies? I like that question. It’s a good question. And it raises an interesting point: If you love what [...]

When you’re the Dean of The Pie Academy and avowed champion of all things pastry, certain people aren’t shy about letting you know when your good graces are expected. Take, for instance, this email I received the other day from one of my sisters, whom I’ll call Joanne since that’s her name: It’s Joe’s birthday [...]

This is going to be one of those less-is-more moments. As in less talking about this free-form pie, and more just showing you how it’s done. Indeed, this is a first here at The Pie Academy: an instructional video set entirely to music. No blabbing about why you’d want to make this: if the video [...]

The Pie Academy’s Tailgate Pie of the Week: Week 10 One of the things I love about pie making is the astonishing number of ways you can take pastry and filling and fiddle with them to come up with delicious and attractive variations. I’m not talking about carving up pastry and recreating Mount Rushmore, piece [...]

The Pie Academy’s Tailgate Pie of the Week: Week 2 Okay, here we go with Week 2 of our tailgate pie baking adventure. And just as a reminder, each week you’ll be alerted to the new recipe of the week on Thursday, leaving you plenty of time to roll up your sleeves, turn on the [...]

My life as a peach pie maker has gotten considerably brighter since moving to South Carolina last year. But things weren’t always so rosy. Back in my New Hampshire days juicy, local, fresh peaches were about as rare as a January without snow. I negotiated a deal with my sister Joanne in North Carolina: she [...]

Anything But the Pits: This Cherry Pie is One For the Ages Okay, so cherry season isn’t underway in earnest quite yet. But when you can practically count the hours to fresh, juicy cherries on the fingers of your own and one good friend’s hands, it’s time to make a practice pie or two. So [...]