Easy As Pie
Nothing shouts summer quite like a warm pie straight from the oven, oozing with ripe Northwest peaches, cherries or berries. But this would-be baker has a confession: Despite the current wave of back-to-the-kitchen trends, getting pie crust made, rolled out and into the oven is intimidating enough for me to (briefly) consider forgoing pie altogether. Thank goodness Art of the Pie’s Kate McDermott, who spent two-plus years perfecting her secret buttery crust, is available for private parties. (She also offers public cooking classes.) I invited Kate into my kitchen for a fun, laid-back tutorial with the girls, who went home with delicious pie party favors.
Kate demonstrates how to roll out the perfect crust at the prepping station. Ingredients and tools can double as inexpensive décor: Bowls of local blackberries, cherries and peaches add instant color.
PIE PARTY FAVORS
These miniature fruit pies by West Seattle’s Shoofly Pie Company are the perfect snack to serve guests while you wait for your own pies to bake. With such colorful and quaint pies, minimal décor—such as white dishes and Lucite trays—can make a big impact. Guests who want to extend the fruity fun can take home a slice in a clear box decorated with eco-friendly wooden forks and laminated recipes from Kate.
No Time to Roll Crust?
These bakeries have your pre-made pie crust needs covered:
> Grand Central Bakery (grandcentralbakery.com; $4.95 for pre-formed crust in tin)
> Shoofly Pie Company (shooflypiecompany.com; $7 for top and bottom crust with pan)
> Whole Foods (wholefoodsmarket.com; $5.99 for two gluten-free crusts)
LEARN THE ART OF THE PIE:
For details on Kate’s pie making classes (including her famous annual Frog Hollow peach pie class this month), visit Art of the Pie.
Shopping Directory
Invitation/Pie Display: Wood-slat basket: Kate’s own, filled with lemons, Metropolitan Market. Invitations: ivory card stock paper, 8 cents/sheet, and brads, $2.99/package, Office Depot. Pie plate: Kate’s own.
Prepping Station: Glass trifle serving bowls, $21.95, Sur La Table; stainless steel scoop, $17.95, Mrs. Cook’s.
Serving Table: Footed square Chelsea cake pedestals, $34.95, square Chelsea dessert plates, $7.95 each, Crate & Barrel; wooden fork set, $10/set of 12, Anthropologie; square Lucite tray, $34.95, CB2, lined with floral turquoise paper, $3–$4/sheet, Packaging Specialties; mini fruit pies, $6.50 each, Shoofly Pie Company. Takeaway: plastic to-go containers, prices vary, teal satin ribbon, $7.20/roll, Packaging Specialties; ivory card stock, 8 cents/sheet, rings, $3.09/20, Office Depot.
Originally published in August 2010
Videos
Kelley’s step-by-step instructions on how to make a pie invitation of your own
Kate McDermott shows how to crimp a lattice crust
