Pie in the sky
No one is having as much fun with pie as Stacey Mei Yan Fong
Fresh baked news
New June Bakery’s ultimate butter cake
Nicole Rucker’s hitting the road with Fat + Flour
This guy invented the croquembouche
Mary Berry’s cookbook news
Natasha Pickowicz & Paola Velez at Jubilee!
Dreamy matcha éclairs
Catch Pooja of Malai Ice Cream on tour
A pie for every state
Do you use Ina Garten’s vanilla method?
When we listened to Stacey Mei Yan Fong chat with Jessie Sheehan on She’s My Cherry Pie this week, she mentioned her six-year relationship with a jar of homemade vanilla extract. Use the vanilla bean, add to jar of vodka, repeat. It’s never too late to start. (Ina’s has been going strong for 40+ years!)
Stacey is the author of the totally charming cookbook 50 Pies, 50 States: An Immigrant's Love Letter to the United States Through Pie. What we love about this book—and Stacey’s baking style generally—is how creative and unexpected her mind works. Look at this nori lattice crust! This shrimp-wreathed laksa pie! The hot dish casserole pie for North Dakota!
Listening to her talk about dessert is almost as fun as eating it, and you’ll be dying for a slice of her over-the-top recipe for Massachusetts: Boston Cream Pie . . . as a pie. (After all, the original was baked in a pie pan—designated cake pans had yet to hit the scene.) She uses her vanilla stash to make a dense, buttery pound cake that tops a fudgy ganache and pastry cream-filled pie crust. It’s maximalist. It’s magnificent.
LISTEN TO SHE’S MY CHERRY PIE ON APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR YOUTUBE.
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Stacey uses GIR’s silicon pastry brush to brush an egg white glaze on the bottom of her crust to avoid soggy bottom sadness
Confession: Stacey’s go-to pie pans are aluminum ones she buys in bulk from Restaurant Depot (she gives away a lot of pie)
Stacey “Julie and Julia’d” her way through the The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book—and then got a job at the bakery
Sézane’s got cream for your closet
If you’re craving a classic Boston Cream Pie
And for the ice cream lovers
Wise words
“If you’re gonna eat a pound cake, eat a pound cake. Never eat diet pound cake!”
–Stacey Mei Yan Fong
Rabbit hole to chase
Obsessed with this Easter lamb cake by @bayousaintcake and this version by Stacey (as a pie with mashed potato frosting)
Tip of the week
“People are concentrating so hard on the aesthetics of it all… but honestly, who cares? If you made a pie, and it looks a little bing-bong, just put some ice cream on it, cover it up, everything will be fine.”
Question for the class
Is rum raisin the most “Grandpa” of all ice cream flavors?
From the archives
More pie talk: Lauren Ko of Pieometry
IRL happenings
Gloria Steinem, Asma Khan, Natasha Pickowicz, Caro Chambers, Paola Velez, Zaynab Issa, Eden Grinshpan, Woldy Reyes & Chrissy Tracey will be speaking at Jubilee! Don’t miss our annual conference in NYC on Saturday, 4/12. Tickets now on sale. Official Bombesquad Members & paid Substack subscribers, use your special discount.
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had the best time on the pod with Jessieee!! love this so much xo
Have so much fun at Jubilee this year! Living vicariously!