Today at work I noticed a beautiful pecan pie of Emilou’s that had gone (tragically) unsold for a few days (if you are not aware, Emilou is a friend and long-time employee of the Cake Shop, who recently left the Cake Shop to attend to her burgeoning home-base business, Emilou’s Famous Homestyle Goods. Lucky for us, Emilou still supplies the Cake Shop with pies several times a week). Anyway, when I noticed this under-appreciated pie, I did what obviously had to be done- I baked it inside of a cake.
As a baker, I tend towards the traditional. Gimmicks and trends do not appeal to me. In my opinion, molecular gastronomy, culinary competition, increasingly bizzare flavor combinations, and cake pops are all best left to reality TV, while I prefer to practice and refine the tried and the true desserts of our foremothers. But recently, I have been made aware of a certain trend- that of baking a pie inside of a cake- and I felt that that was one culinary innovation that I could truly get behind. So when I saw that forlorn Pecan Pie in the case at the Cake Shop, I knew what I had to do.
I mixed up a batch of Sweet Potato Spice Cake, greased a deep 10-inch cake pan, and layered the cake batter in the pan with the pie totally surrounded by cake batter.
I baked that bad boy for over two hours, just hoping that what was going on was that the pie was becoming deliciously gooey, and that the cake was baking gently all around it. I pulled it out of the oven, and let it cool for a few hours, then inverted it onto a cake board. I glazed the Piecake with rum glaze, and sliced into it.
It was incredible. The cake and the pie seemed to complement and enhance one another- the flakey crust was intact and the pecan nougat of the pie was warm and gooey. Within moments, it was halfway gone. We let some customers try it when they arrived- the general consensus seemed to be that the creation resulted in eye-rolling, hallelujah hands, slap-your-mama, warm, delicious pie-meets-cake goodness. So, you can expect to be seeing a lot more of the Piecake from us in the future… including on our upcoming holiday menu.
In the meantime, I will keep trying new combinations of Piecake- and I’ll let you know how they turn out.
xo
UPDATE! We have now succeeded in executing the Lemon Poundcake/Blueberry Pie Piecake:
Before the Piecake went into the oven:
And After:
So, how do you procure one of these Piecakes for yourself? Just call the Cake Shop at 828.505.4822 and place your order. Please give us 3 day’s notice!
The Piecake is available in the following Flavors:
- Pecan Pie inside Sweet Potato Cake
- Blueberry Pie inside Lemon Pound Cake
- Apple Pie inside Vanilla Pound Cake
- Medium (4″ pie inside a 6″ cake: feeds 10-15) $30
- Large (9″ pie inside a 10″ cake: feeds 30) $68