(New and Improved) Salt Lake Bomb Pie

There's no recipe for this. So sorry. Because it's the easiest pie in the world.

Here's how you do it:

Make pie dough. This is a good recipe. I know because it's mine.

Buy 3 Kouing Aman from this place. You'll probably want to buy more than 3 because they're the most delicious things in the world and this little Salt Lake bakery is kind of famous for them. You can have them shipped anywhere in the US. Cut your Kouing Aman up into cubes like so.

Find a Chess Pie recipe and follow the instructions. Here's a good one (it's on my blog, but it's from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook). I used only 3/4 cup of sugar because there's a good bit of sweetness to the Kouing Aman. Especially pay attention to the instructions re: prebaking the crust. After prebaking, place your cubed Kouing Aman in the crust and pour in the Chess Pie filling. Follow the instructions in your Chess Pie recipe for baking. Take out of your oven the most beautiful pie you'll ever see.

Serve it to friends and family with a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream. Watch how amazed they are at your culinary skills. Don't tell them that this pie required no skills. Aside from knowing where to buy good pastries.

Honestly, it's ridiculous how good this is. It's like caramel bread pudding pie. With kind of a crunchy top and softy sweet eggy insides. But not too soft. Or too eggy. Or too sweet. I've mentioned before that we often have a surplus of baked goods at our house and they sometimes end up in the trash (shame). This pie disappeared faster than anything I've made in quite some time. And Seconda said, "This is what they sell at pie shops in heaven." Success.


TGIP Rating--Salt Lake Bomb Pie, Kouing Aman Chess Pie, whatever you want to call it--such a KEEPER.

Next up: I'm about to embark on a food-related project that is top secret for now. It will use up a good portion of my cooking/baking free time at least until the end of May. I will probably bake treats here and there and blog about them, but with less frequency than I have been. At any rate, stay tuned!

P.S. I finally did get some cake that scratched my itch. It was not homemade. It was from Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop, another beloved bakery here in Salt Lake (maybe all bakeries should be pink). I'm pretty sure their buttercream isn't all butter, but I also know that it's strangely comforting. And sometimes that's just what a girl needs to hit the spot.

TGIP Field Trip: Eva's Bakery & Christiansen's Family Farm

Took a visit to a lovely new bakery in downtown Salt Lake, Eva's Bakery. So many delicious breads and pastries, I'll have to make a return visit to give some things a first try, and, of course, to pick up a second round of some new favorites. In this picture from lower left clockwise to lower right: chocolate nib cookie, coconut macaroon, apple half-pocket, pistachio snail, mountain loaf, Italian brioche, beehive brioche, kouing aman (both peeking out from under the Italian brioche), chicken pesto pizza. All of their pastry was lovely. Their dough in general is tender and flaky and easily takes to different applications.

 

Things I especially loved:

• the pistachio snail--has dark chocolate nibs in such a delicious combination with the pistachios.
• the Italian brioche--has a raspberry filling that is perfect, not too sweet, no gooey texture, you know, as if it's made from ACTUAL raspberries, which I'm sure it is.
• the beehive brioche--a brilliant combination of crunchy almonds, fleur de sel, and honey with a really beautiful, tender brioche dough.
• the mountain loaf--a blend of flours, including rye and whole wheat with sunflower seeds (I think) and tart dried cherries. Yeah, the cherries were what got me, but even my cherry-hating mr. liked this bread. It's just a really balanced combination of flavors and textures. Hearty breakfast-y goodness.

Unfortunately for Eva's, we have Les Madeleines here in town, where we all learned about Kouing Aman. Eva's suffers in the comparison on this one count. But next time I visit I'm buying every kind of bread I can get my hands on, as that appears to be their specialty.

A while back I saw an article in the newspaper about a local family farm that was starting to offer lard. Jumped, is what I did. Because the last time I obtained leaf lard it was about $30 for 5 pounds, and even more for shipping (I think it was coming from Wisconsin, and had to be sent overnight in special dry-ice packaging). Oy. Not to mention the fact that I'm trying to do what I can to buy local. I really am trying. And these people have made it easy for me. I can order online, and then pick it up from one of several stops they make throughout the valley on Saturday mornings. Where, as it turns out, there are scores of other people sitting in their cars (like junkies) waiting for the truck (their dealer). It's a funny thing to witness. Their lard is a combination of leaf and back fat and comes from their super-happy pigs that are petted by the family's children. No, for real. Go look at their website. Of course, not all the junkies were waiting in the parking lot for lard. The family raises pigs, cows, and chickens. And maybe I need a deep freeze in my garage so I can order well-handled meat from them, with knowledge of the source and their practices...

And after a first attempt at using this lard, I am thrilled to report that it is perfect. Perfect texture, dough is elastic and easy to handle. Perfect taste, adds that tiny bit of saltiness that I like for my lard to bring to the pastry party. And it bakes up beautifully as you can see above.

TGIP Rating--Eva's--KEEPER. They also have a seating area and a beautiful espresso machine. One of these mornings you'll find me there enjoying a croissant and a real cappuccino.
--Christiansen's Family Farm--KEEPER. Thank goodness people like this exist. In my general neighborhood. Maybe I'll make them a pie just for being awesome.

Next up: I have to take a few weeks off baking. I know. Trust me, it hurts me more than it hurts you. But sometimes the theatre is a brutal taskmaster. When I'm back at it, I think I'm going to do cupcakes. Probably using some elements of this.

TGIP Field Trip: Tulie Bakery

So, we needed some Valentine's Day goodies, but had no time for baking. Solution: a bakery I haven't tried before, Tulie. I had heard rumblings about them being good, but needed to check for myself. The rumblings were correct. There is so much more to try, but what we tried was good enough that I will definitely go back for more.

Heart-shaped sugar cookie. Probably the best sugar cookie I've ever tried (I only got a nibble). Crispy on the outside, perfectly soft (but not crumbly) on the inside. The frosting was soft and sweet and buttery. Perfection.

Banana cream tart. Very rich and banana-y. With dark chocolate on the bottom and a tender crust. Delicious.

Raspberry macaron. Super tender and crunchy (like a meringue) on the outside, chewy and scrumptious on the inside. I don't know much about macarons, but I understand this is how they're supposed to be. Also, Tulie's are ENORMOUS. Are macarons normally this big? I need more experience in the world of macarons.

Chocolate macaron. Hard to believe a light cookie can also be rich, but it is. Lovely chocolate flavor. Perfect texture, just like the raspberry.


TGIP Rating--Tulie Bakery--DELICIOUS. And I need to go back to try more items. They even had a yummy-looking granola that Seconda pointed out. May need to go there for breakfast one morning.

Midweek Sightings: Halloween Edition

Saw these at my local Whole Foods. And bought them. Obviously. Most clever pumpkin decoration I ever saw. And the ghosties--I think their eyes are made out of chocolate covered sunflower seeds! They're so cute I almost don't care what they taste like. Almost. Lucky me--they are delicious. The chocolate cake is a little bitter, like a sour cream cake, which I love. And a good ratio of frosting to cake. And also, SPOOKY CATS! IN FRONT OF FULL MOONS! So cute!

TGIP Field Trip: So Cupcake

Looks pretty. Brightly colored, etc. Tastes like crap. Seriously. Overly sweet. I couldn't taste anything but sugar. The key lime cupcake tasted exactly like the red velvet, WHA?! The shop was dark and dingy. I was decidedly unimpressed. Note to cupcake shops: The Sweet Tooth Fairy's in town, you need to step up your game.

TGIP Rating--So Cupcake--NEVER AGAIN. I had to go to The Sweet Tooth Fairy 2 days later to wash the taste and memory out of my mouth.

TGIP Field Trip: The Copper Onion

You might notice that I like to go to brunch. I DO! It's one of my favorite things to do. Especially Sunday brunch. Especially here in Salt Lake, where only the SOTE (inside joke that will stay inside, thanks) venture forth to spend money on the sabbath. My people.

And now I have a new favorite place to engage in this brunching activity: The Copper Onion. Everything there was delicious. And the best thing IMO? The toast. What? Yes. They grill it or do some other magical thing to it and it is the most delicious bready thing ever. Don't take my word for it. Just go get it.

In addition to toast I had some fantastic scrambled egg thing with duck. I don't even know what was in it. The waitress said "duck" and it was mine. And then...then...we overdid it on desserts. We ordered one for each person. Overdoing. But, it gave us the opportunity to try 4 different things!

I ordered the Fried Apple Pies. For research. I still plan on making hand pies one of these days. Had to see how they did theirs. They were yummy. Not how I want to do mine, but yummy all the same.


The Tiramisu was also yummy, but *whisper* not as good as mine.


Lemon Tart? Delicious. The kicker, though...the Flourless Chocolate Torte. Holy mother of brunch. Rich, complex, with caramel sauce to put it right over the edge. We all spent so much time mooning over it I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it. I guess I'll have to go back. And while I'm there I'll also have to try the Almond Brown Butter Cake (zoinks!) and the Homemade Cheesecake (just to see how good their bakers really are...).

TGIP Rating--The Copper Onion--Highly Recommended. And for more than just their baked goods. Next time I'm going to find out if they do all their own baking or if they outsource. Also for research. Who's joining me?

TGIP Field Trip: RubySnap

RubySnap is a local (Salt Lake) gourmet cookie shop that has been in the news a good bit over the past year or so for a run-in with a much bigger corporation that decided to bully them for their previous name. You can google it if you feel the need. Thank goodness they didn't let it beat them and they are still kicking. Hard. Mostly because they make awesome cookies. And they're not just the standard flavors you'd expect, there's always something different, always something unexpected. I'm partial to the Lilly which has lemonheads (!) and the Maris which has a caramel center (good lord, yes), not to mention the Frida which has a spicy chile de arbol ganache center (for real!). There are several cookies on their regular menu that I still haven't tried, and Tami (the genius whose brain I would very much like to pick) is always experimenting with new and seasonal cookies.

Cute polka dotted packaging for fresh cookies.

However, here's the real genius of this operation: the frozen dough.

Super functional ziptop packaging for frozen dough in the background. You can cook as few or as many cookies as you want and they'll be fresh!

The cookies in the shop are delicious, no doubt. But when you can use that same dough and make a fresh cookie in your own home with virtually no trouble (I even popped a panful in the oven while I was down with a cold) and eat it hot out the oven, that is priceless. The frozen cookies bake up tender and delicious and, in all honestly, taste as good as homemade. Maybe better.


TGIP Rating--RubySnap--Very highly recommended, especially for frozen take-home dough. Next time, I'm picking up some dough for the Nina--"Coffee. Toffee. What else is there to say? Well, how about 'brazil nut and chocolate?'" They speak my language. Also, out-of-towners--they ship frozen dough.

P.S. In case you were wondering, this is what my dreams look like. Sweet little shop with bright colors, well-lit display cases, and a shiny industrial kitchen. Except PIE.

TGIP Field Trip: The Wild Grape

I know. I just posted a Field Trip entry last week. I'm rehearsal-ized right now, so this is the best I can do.

And okay, The Wild Grape isn't actually a bakery. It's a local restaurant. But they make one of my favorite pastry treats in the world: beignets. What's funny...to me...is that they don't call them beignets anymore because people didn't know what they were so they didn't order them. So now, on their brunch menu you'll find "House-made Doughnut Holes". Fine. But they're about the biggest doughnut holes you could ever imagine. And they are so yummy. Not greasy--cakey and warm and crusty. Perfectly sugared. They serve them with a warm chocolate sauce and an orange crème anglaise, both of which are delicious.

And also, sometimes I don't have a camera with me so you have to put up with iPhone pictures. This will probably happen a lot in Field Trip entries. But...I kinda like it.


TGIP Rating--The Wild Grape--Highly recommended for brunch beignets. I still need to go there for dinner sometime and try their dessert menu: Chocolate "S'mores" Torte (!), Pear Crisp (!), Pt. Reyes Blue Cheesecake (!!), Roasted Banana Bread Pudding (!). Yeah, I def need to go there for dinner. Soon.

TGIP Field Trip: The Sweet Tooth Fairy

I'm starting a new occasional feature: Field Trips! I like to visit bakeries to see which ones I like. To see which ones I would visit when I don't feel like (or have time for) baking myself. To get ideas for baking projects. And of course, to eat delicious treats! I might even make a habit of finding bakeries to visit when we go on family vacations. Get an idea of what's going on in the baking world outside my own backyard. And I'll share all my experiences with you in words and (hopefully) beautiful photographs.

First up: The Sweet Tooth Fairy. This company started out (if memory serves) as an online only cupcake business. They have grown rapidly and now have 5 locations. And with good reason. Often, cupcakes don't have the right proportions for my taste. They have too much frosting, the frosting is applied to make the cupcake too tall. You can't actually pick it up, take a bite, and get the right amount of cake and frosting in that bite. That is not at all the case with Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes. They are perfectly proportioned. No fork required.

(Cupcakes pictured clockwise from top left: Va-NIE-lla Squared, Root Beer Float, Strawberry Shortcake, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip)

They also have a variety of really wonderful flavors. I've tasted several. In fact, the last time we got cupcakes, Prima, Seconda and I passed our cupcakes to each other so we could taste that many more flavors. Their cupcakes are moist and delicious. Their frostings have a perfect consistency and are not too sweet (with one exception). They also make Cakebites, which the girls and I really like, though mr. doesn't.

(Cakebites pictured: German Chocolate, Double Chocolate Fudge, Fairyfetti, Coconut, Lemon, Red Velvet)

It's like a more dense and moist cake cut into small pieces and dipped in a more glaze-like frosting. Lovely little treats. The bars were kind of unimpressive, but that could be because the one I tasted had been in the bakery box on our counter for a couple of days before I ate it.

Some specifics:

• Red Velvet Cupcake--has a hint of almond in the frosting that I really liked. The Va-NIE-lla Squared cupcake had the same hint. Really lovely.
  

• Root Beer Float Cupcake--when I asked the girl at the counter about it she said it was a root beer cake with a vanilla ice cream frosting. I was sort of mystified at the idea of ice cream flavored frosting, but it was! It had a thicker consistency than most frosting, so it stayed like a little scoop on top of the cupcake, and it tasted like vanilla ICE CREAM.

• Chocolate Peppermint Cupcake--perfect wintertime dessert.

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcake--I haven't tasted this, but mr. has. A modern conundrum: what is really the difference between a pumpkin muffin and a pumpkin cupcake? He's very clear--theirs is a cupcake, not a muffin.

• Strawberry Shortcake Cupcake--This is the only item that I've tasted that I would say is too sweet. The frosting...if I'm being honest...hurt my teeth.

• Cakebites--My favorites are Egg Nog and Fairyfetti. I have no idea what it is that the Fairyfetti tastes like--ground up fairies? If so, they're delicious! It almost tastes like a sugar cookie--but cake.

(pictured: Cookies n' Cream Bar, Peppermint Chocolate Brownie, Seven Layer Bar)

TGIP Rating--The Sweet Tooth Fairy--Highly Recommended. I would not be ashamed at all to show up at a party with their goodies in my hands, rather than a dessert I baked myself.

ETA 2/7: I tried their "Foxy Bar" on Friday...YUM. Butterscotchy, marshmallowy, deliciousness.