Dessert By Candy

Slab Pie For Everyone

Slab pie fascinated me. How can it not? It is an oversized pie that embraces the crust-and-filling characteristic of its circular brethren yet has the portable sensibility of fussy pop tarts. It is streamlined to feed a huge crowd without extra work for the baker. Seems to me slab pie is the ultimate dessert for a backyard barbecue bash with 80 of my closest friends. Yes, 80.

My cooking friends and I gave ourselves the moniker Asian Food Mob. Last weekend, we hosted our first pig roast to great success. Roasting a whole pig was quite involved and handling the pig both in its raw and cooked state was inevitable. Kudos to my friends who took the initiative and gifted us with tender juicy roast pork and crispy crackling! Obviously the pig was the star of our party. I gladly played supportive role by providing many vegetarian sides and desserts. I volunteered to bring slab pies.

Martha Stewart’s slab pie is the gold standard and food52 summed up the ingenuity nicely. I examined the recipe closely and concluded that a 10x15” slab pie uses equivalent amount of dough as two 9” round double crust pies. I turned to my favourite Foolproof Pie Dough recipe and made six batches in one night. My plan was to have enough pie dough for three double crust slab pies. Thank goodness pie dough freezes beautifully so I could spread out my work ahead of time. Two nights before baking day, I moved my stack of dough to the fridge to defrost at its own pace.

Croquembouche At Dîner En Blanc

This year’s Dîner En Blanc Toronto was magical. I thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous location at Ontario Place waterfront. The live entertainment of ballet dancers and painting were classy. The DJ and band put the crowd into a festive mood. I was so happy to be a part of this experience, to share a special evening with 1400 revellers in elegant white outfits.

From last year’s experience, my friends and I decided that group of four was the optimal set up. Each of us was in charge of one course of the menu so our preparation was streamlined. Last year I made main course for my group but this year I enthusiastically volunteered to prepare dessert. I had the crazy idea to make a croquembouche from scratch and bring it to the secret event location. I am always up for a good culinary challenge.

Why my fascination with croquembouche? This traditional French dessert is typically served at big celebrations such as weddings or birthdays. The tower of caramel-glazed custard-filled cream puffs is held together solely with caramel and garnished flamboyantly with filigree of spun sugar. So what if it is complicated to make and delicate to transport? Surely I could overcome such, umm trivial, details. I wanted a croquembouche on our table and that was that.

Gear Up For Dîner En Blanc

I am excited about next week’s Dîner En Blanc in Toronto. After last year’s less-than-ideal feedback, they were searching for new organizers this year and the event was in jeopardy. A few weeks ago, news began circulating that invitations for this year would be sent out soon and I could not contain my excitement. With my whole kit already assembled, it would be a huge disappointment if this elegant pop-up picnic is a no-go.

Based on last year’s experience, my friends and I have our routine down pat. Each person in our group of four would be responsible for one course so we can maximize on efficiency. I volunteered to contribute dessert this year and I have big plans.

First, let me give you an update of my picnic basket to see some upgrades that I made.

Being Canadian: Maple Butter Tarts

Baking a successful pie makes me feel accomplished like nothing else can. By that logic, baking ten little successful tarts ought to multiply my sense of accomplishment ten fold, right? Last weekend, I had the pleasure of experiencing both. I don’t know if I really felt ten times prouder of my effort. What I know for sure, sharing homemade pies and tarts certainly made many of my friends and family happy!

Let’s face it, Canadian cuisine does not have a strong identity. The few dishes that we can say are uniquely Canadian, we are fiercely proud and protective about them. If you want to start a lively argument at any Canadian parties, I suggest you declare loudly “a real butter tart ought to be…” and watch the feathers fly. As a avid baker, I am amused that I had not try baking butter tarts at home until last weekend. And it was only an afterthought to use up some leftover pie dough from making a wild blueberry pie.

Before I get to the butter tarts, let me first tell you about the wild blueberry pie. At my house, summer is not complete without one juicy and deeply flavourful wild blueberry pie. It is one of the few treats I bake that rarely leaves the house for a couple of reasons. First, it is a family favourite that Little Brother and I cannot get enough of. Secondly, it is so expensive to make that I just don’t feel generous enough to share except with close family and friends. This year, the shopping deity smiled upon me and I scored a tremendous deal at $30 for 3L basket. I was ecstatic. Two wild blueberry pies for one summer? That was almost too good to be true!

A Little Comfort

A lost in appetite is my coping mechanism. For someone who enjoys cooking as much as I do, it is somewhat contradictory. The last long weekend of summer came and went opening up old wounds and slashing new ones. I retreated to my kitchen to cook and cook and cook in hopes of temporary relief. Relief did not come but I did end up with plenty of home cooked comfort food.

I finally came to the last bits of leftover from Montreal 24 relay catering. While it was convenient to have ready-to-eat breakfast and dinner everyday of the week, I grew tired of eating the same few things. I bet Little Brother shared my sentiments too. My cooking mojo fluctuated wildly from brilliant to absolutely inedible. Let me share with you my meal of comfort food that could have been so much more.

Congee Dinner

Congee with Cured Duck Gizzards, Dried Scallops, Bean Curd
Green Onion Pancakes
Pan-Seared Stuffed Green Peppers