Creamy Coconut Custard Pie

January 19, 2019

Courtesy Ken Haedrich dean of The Pie Academy

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been testing custard pie recipes for my book-in-progress, and now that I’m nearing the end of this chapter it’s time to move on. It won’t be easy. Not that the pie territory ahead is any less promising. It’s simply that I’ve re-fallen in love with custard pies in a big way, been captured by their spell, and charmed by their quirks all over again. That’s all I’m saying. You’ll find all of my favorites…

Sweet Pies

Toasted Almond Coconut Custard Pie

January 12, 2019

So when was the last time you made a custard pie? Last month? Couple of years ago? Never? I get it. Custard pie is not a headline grabber or Instagram starlet, the way some pies are. It’s not a showcase for shimmering, jewel-like fruit. And nobody tops a custard pie with an eye-catching pie crust rendering of the Sistine Chapel. Which is precisely the point of custard pie’s appeal: it’s a low maintenance, high return choice of a pie when…

News

The New England Pie Getaway 2019: An Update

January 10, 2019

That’s right – our original dates for The New England Pie Getaway are sold out, so we’ve added a second Getaway the following weekend. Watch the video below for an update. And visit NewEnglandPieGetaway.com for all the details and to download a registration form.

Recipes, Sweet Pies

Tipsy Transparent Pie

December 22, 2018

You hear an awful lot about transparency these days – in business and government, in education and on the internet. But there’s a type of transparency that’s dreadfully overlooked and needs many more champions, so I’m counting on you. It’s called transparent pie. Transparent pie is to Kentucky what chess pie is to the Carolinas and a handful of Southern states – a simple pie made from everyday ingredients you’d have on hand if the pantry were almost bare. Unlike…

Recipes, Sweet Pies

Maple Butter Tarts

December 14, 2018

Canadian butter tarts courtesy Ken Haedrich dean of The Pie Academy

What with all the holiday fun and festivities swirling about, you’d be forgiven if your plans for National Maple Syrup Day – December 17th – were still a bit up in the air. So let me help: why not mark the occasion with a batch of these Maple Butter Tarts? My friends in Canada, where butter tarts are something of a national obsession, won’t argue with my suggestion, though I understand they sometimes fuss amongst themselves over what makes for…

Recipes, Savory Pies

Watch the Savory Thanksgiving Dinner Pies Replay Now

November 20, 2018

This past Sunday I hosted a live streaming event from my home kitchen, a class on incorporating your Thanksgiving leftovers into savory dinner pies. Thought these might come in handy, what with holiday guests coming and all. I had a great time doing this event. It’s a little scary working without a script because you never know what might fly out of your mouth, or what you might drop on the floor, or cut yourself with. It can be embarrsing,…

News

Live Baking Class this Sunday – and It’s FREE

November 16, 2018

Free baking class at The Pie Academy on Thanksgiving dinner pies

So you have Thanksgiving leftovers – the gravy, the brussels sprouts, corn, greens, all the usual suspects. What are your plans for them? You could do the usual and just let everyone have at ’em, as is, on Thanksgiving weekend. Yawn… OR…you could orchestrate a rousing encore performance, and turn them into a scrumptious pot pie or dinner pie. Now you’re talking. I’ll show you how to do just that this coming Sunday, November 18th. In this live streamed baking…

News

Our 5th Annual Lowcountry Pie Getaway Photo Album

October 21, 2018

This past weekend, October 12th, 13th, and 14th, The Pie Academy held our signature event in Charleston, S.C., everyone’s favorite southern city even those who’ve never been. This is, of course, the big reason we hold our Getaway in Charleston: there’s no place quite like it. Charleston is America’s collective hometown. It has an ineffable pull on anyone who can imagine a time and place where life was a bit slower, a little more sane and genteel, when people stopped…

Pie Baking Tips and Tricks

The Ultimate Pie Troubleshooting Guide

September 29, 2018

For those of you who missed it, I recently wrote an article for Fine Cooking magazine that began like so: This might ruffle some feathers, but I have a bone to pick with whoever coined the expression “as easy as pie.” As a pie instructor, the author of four pie cookbooks, and the dean of The Pie Academy, an online community of passionate pie makers, I can assure you that a majority of home cooks believe there’s almost nothing easy…

Fruit Pies, Recipes

Apple and Pear Pie with Hot Pepper Jelly

August 31, 2018

Recipe courtesy of Ken Haedrich, dean of The Pie Academy

I had a bubbly email this week from a Pie Academy member about a recipe of mine that I hadn’t thought of in eons. This happens periodically. Someone will reach out and mention a recipe, an article, or something else I wrote about years ago, and jog my memory. I always welcome these reminders, unless it’s to point out that I’ve contradicted myself with something I’ve written more recently, leaving me no choice but to reach into my bag of…