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Pie


Heather

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I like pie better than cake. Every year I have a birthday pie rather than cake. Some years I have been lucky enough to have my friend Tom bake it for me; he makes the best pie on Earth (PM me with your address and I will send you his three pages of instructions). Agent Dale Cooper loves pie, with a damn good cup of coffee. The eGullet thread devoted to the pie vs. cake issue is a fave. Then there's Weebl.

Cherry pie, peach pie, lemon custard meringue, chess pie, pecan pie...open top, double crust, sugared lattice topped (sigh)...all of them contribute to the betterment of mankind. Cake, not so much. And that's not even getting into the savory side...steak & kidney, chicken pot pie, quiche, etc.

I'd love to hear how Rockweilers stand on this important issue, and whether anyone has any good recipe to share. :lol:

piepiepiegw9.jpg

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The fact that you need a thread to discuss that pie might be better than cake only illustrates the innate superiority of cake as the standard by which all pies are measured, and inevitably come up short. :lol: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Cake.

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The fact that you need a thread to discuss that pie might be better than cake only illustrates the innate superiority of cake as the standard by which all pies are measured, and inevitably come up short. :lol: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Cake.

Did the main character in American Pie use a cake? Did Don Mclean sing "bye bye miss american cake"? Did Marie Antoinette say "let 'em eat pie"?

I rest my case.

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The fact that you need a thread to discuss that pie might be better than cake only illustrates the innate superiority of cake as the standard by which all pies are measured, and inevitably come up short. :lol: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Cake.

You are wrong.

Felix Unger

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Oh boy. Here we go again....

You know, I spend alot of time in our Nation's Capital and I was beginning to believe that all of the press about the insular, backwards misfits living inside of the Beltway was just press driven glop. Now this silly subject comes up on a board that is, otherwise, seemingly filled with intelligent, opinionated people.

Don't waste your bandwidth, just shut your pie holes because:

A good cake is better than a good pie. Everytime.

Sheesh, whaddabunchayahoos. :lol:

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Cake is analogous to the boob grope over a wool sweater. A truly great cake, at best, is like that same grope under the sweater but still over the bra. A great pie, on the other hand, is akin to that moment about ten minutes later when buttons and belts are no longer useful, and the real heavy breathing begins.

There, I said it as tactfully as I could.

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I am well aware of your opinions on this matter, and your input will be taken into consideration. Perhaps a congressional hearing is in order? :lol:

Well, it just so happens that A and I own a house, from which I am battling this titanic wrong, that is within sight of a congressman's house who has some room for test cakes in his icebox. Perhaps I will speak to him about hearings. I'm sure that his price has dropped. I saw him cutting his own grass this weekend. He looks like he has some time on his hands.

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Well, it just so happens that A and I own a house, from which I am battling this titanic wrong, that is within sight of a congressman's house who has some room for test cakes in his icebox. Perhaps I will speak to him about hearings. I'm sure that his price has dropped. I saw him cutting his own grass this weekend. He looks like he has some time on his hands.
I hear he likes icebox cake. <rimshot>
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mmmmmmmm..... Warm apple pie with sharp cheddar cheese. Vanilla ice-cream goes-with also.

Just my point. Thanks.

With pie, there seems to be a constant need for additives that will serve to improve an otherwise dull and uninteresting dessert.

With cake, you just need a delicious piece of cake. You're all set!

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With pie, there seems to be a constant need for additives that will serve to improve an otherwise dull and uninteresting dessert.

Exactly. Cake stands alone as the pinnacle of pastry perfection.

I foresee a caramel cake in my future. Better go find that bag of While Lily.

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Pie, hands down. When I was a kid growing up in Kentucky, my aunt made rhubarb pie with fresh rhubarb picked on her farm. No wimpy strawberries to dilute the sour goodness of the real thing. (I've never understood strawberry/rhubarb pie. It's like putting coke in a great single malt.)

But now my favorite is cherry pie, followed closely by apple and peach....except for the pecan pie baked by Kudzu Bakery in Georgetown, SC. That is the greatest pie I've ever tasted.

Question: Does cobbler qualify as pie?

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I wonder if Rose Levy Barenbaum has a preference. She has written a bible for each.
IIRC, she admits in the intro to "The Pie and Pastry Bible" that although she is famous for and loves cakes, her heart really lies with pie.

As for me, I love making cakes. I'm better at making cakes than pies. I love decorating cakes, even though I suck at it. But if I'm really honest with myself, I think I actually like eating pie more.

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Bad pie is much. much worse than bad cake. There is almost always something decent in even the worst cake. Bad pie just sucks out loud...
I don't know, bad syrupy (or even cough syrupy!), old fruit or gross-crust vs. bad gooky-I'm-going-to-gag-on-this-frosting or really dried-out-several-days-old-tasting cake (which I've had on both pie & cake fronts before) is kinda equal in my book... :lol::lol:
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As for me, I love making cakes. I'm better at making cakes than pies. I love decorating cakes, even though I suck at it. But if I'm really honest with myself, I think I actually like eating pie more.
This applies to me too. All of it! :lol:
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From Todd K.'s chat today in response to a chatter requesting where to find lemon meringue pie (which I adore):

"Evidently, a lot of pastry chefs seem to have concluded that you're not going to win a lot of awards and attract a lot of press by making such pedestrian things as cake and pie. "

:lol:

Really? Is it all about attention? What about good old comfort classics?

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Bad pie is much. much worse than bad cake. There is almost always something decent in even the worst cake. Bad pie just sucks out loud...

I dunno. pies always have crust at least, and even bad crust is ok. However, some cakes don't even have decent frosting--I've had some supermarket type cakes at office b-day parties where the usual sweetened shortening icing had a gross oily off-taste to it. ick.

as far as preferences go, i have to separate the fruit pies and the non fruit pies, as a good french silk pie trumps almost any cake, in my opinion.

that being said, now i really want a good french silk or black bottom pie. does anyone know where i can get one?

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From Todd K.'s chat today in response to a chatter requesting where to find lemon meringue pie (which I adore):

"Evidently, a lot of pastry chefs seem to have concluded that you're not going to win a lot of awards and attract a lot of press by making such pedestrian things as cake and pie. "

sad.gif

Really? Is it all about attention? What about good old comfort classics?

In the current print issue of Washingtonian Kliman has a hilarious memo to pastry chefs, the gist of which is "quit f***ing around with pie." I wasn't able to find it on line. Pie-loving restaurant-goers, check it out.

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In the current print issue of Washingtonian Kliman has a hilarious memo to pastry chefs, the gist of which is "quit f***ing around with pie." I wasn't able to find it on line. Pie-loving restaurant-goers, check it out.

Anyone getting a PhD in Clinical Psychology and needing a dissertation topic could have a field day with this one:

I come away thinking dessert is more about you, the pastry chef, and your needs than about me and mine. More about satisfying your ego and less about satisfying my sweet tooth.
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You know, Don, for a year I've been trying to find a way to quantify what I do and don't like about dining out these days. I thought the problem was fine dining, but that ain't quite it. Kliman and Heather got it right. So often there's a "wow! look what neat/innovative/creative stuff I can do to this food!" sensibility coming from the kitchen. Maybe it's just how I'm aging but what impresses me the most is excellent technique with stellar ingredients and a touch of inspiration (Trabocchi, Ruta).

Or to put it another way, mostly I just want a piece of really good pie.

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I like pie, but I keep running into a lot of people who don't ... so I make it less.

Did y'all see the article about 20 people and 19 pies that was in Slate around Thanksgiving? Using that as an excuse I made seven desserts--four pies, one tart, and two cakes--for T-giving dessert. We only had 21 people lol, but it's possible I went overboard. Maybe next year I'll only make five ... maybe.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2011/11/_20_guests_19_pies_my_mother_s_demented_glorious_thanksgiving_baking_extravaganza_.html

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