Bake with Kate is a once a month, two-hour, virtual workshop held on Sundays in our own kitchens. In twelve monthly sessions you will learn to make pies that are savory, sweet, cream, chiffon, and custard…plus a pie cousin or two. Each step is demonstrated and done together.

Register for the entire year to get a 13th Baker’s Dozen Bonus Class on December 15, or pick your pies and come to individual sessions! You’ll find the menu with links to full year and Winter Quarter’s individual sessions below.

A teacher of pie-making since 2008, I’ve taught over 7000 people in sold out in-person Art of the Pie Camps at Pie Cottage and virtual workshops and I’m looking forward to sharing pie-making with you!

Start your week with a freshly baked pie!

Reserve Your Full Year Spot Here

Can’t Make a Session?

No worries! All sessions are recorded and you will lifetime viewing access.

2024 FULL YEAR BAKE WITH KATE WORKSHOP SERIES

A Baker’s Dozen: Register now for full year and get the December 15 session FREE!
Baking begins on January 14!

Reserve Your Full Year Spot Here

WINTER QUARTER

• January 14: Nanabanana Cream Pie
  Reserve Your Spot for Nanabanana Cream Pie
• February 11: Steak & Stout Pies
  Reserve Your Spot for Steak & Stout Pies
• March 10: Maple Walnut Pie
  Reserve Your Spot for Maple Walnut Pie

SPRING QUARTER

April 14: Caribbean Chiffon Pie

May 5: Savory Handpies & Pasties

June 9: Black Bottom Pie

SUMMER QUARTER

July 14: Red, White and Blue Pie

August 11: Sunset Mousse Chiffon Pie

September 8: Fisherman’s Pie with Potato Cheese Crust

FALL QUARTER

October 13: Apple Pandowdy

November 10: Sweet Potato Pie

December 8: Mocha Bavarian Cream Pie

December 15: Baker’s Dozen Bonus Class: Flavored Crusts and More Fancy Tops (This session is for Full Year Participants only.)

Full Year Workshop Series: $585 (plus Eventbrite service fee)

Individual Sessions: $60 per class (plus Eventbrite service fee)

Can’t make a session? No Worries! Each session is recorded with lifetime viewing access.

In Person Pie Camp Dates Coming Soon

Stay tuned for dates for the 2024 in-person Art of the Pie Day Camps at Pie Cottage.

The post 2024 Bake with Kate Virtual Workshop Registration Opens November 25 appeared first on Art of the Pie®.

Thanks for all the years you have been here with me and I look forward to seeing you on Substack!

Kate
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Really I am. I just have became so darn weary of Facebook and Instagram and analytics and…and…and… all that social media and computer fatigue. Heck, I’m an old school home cook and baker; a former piano teacher (who still plays daily); a dog mom; a gardener; an avid book-reader; a woman who doesn’t own a microwave, Instapot, or air-fryer, and still heats her home with wood.

I was drafted in to the computer and social media world by my final wuzband…(and ohhhhhh what a draft that was)…over 20 years ago now, and as much as I would like to be in the real and physical world only, the virtual world is the world I work in now and I continue to be so very grateful that you have found me in this quirky little corner of it. So, please know, I am not going away. I am still here!

Let me update you about what I am doing and what’s coming next. Ready?

Drumroll Please…

Writing: More and more, I am embracing the life of a writer, which I’m finding is more than just kinda solitary…it IS solitary. I have created a newsletter (a/k/a formerly known as a blog) over on a different platform and I really really really hope that you will subscribe to it, if you aren’t already, and, if you like what you read there, that you might even consider supporting me with a paid subscription there-there being at this link here. Yes, I write about food and pie over there, just like I always have here, but in addition I write about alot of other things, too. You can read a recent post here.

Teaching: I am and will continue to teach…not surprising as I am a third generation teacher…my grandma, my mama, and me…plus my brother and my son, too. Among all the many other things that we are, We. Are. Teachers. At this time, this still means virtually, but there have been some really big and unexpected bonuses in virtual teaching.

• I reach more folks.
• Workshops and Pie Camps are at a lower price point.
• You don’t have to buy a plane ticket and rent a car to get here, and arrange for lodging.
• You bake along with me in your own kitchen, using your own tools.
• I trouble shoot with you, and bakers from around the world learn as we do.
• And, I can continue to do what I love…Teach!

Coming up in 2022: I will be offering A Baker’s Dozen Pies–12 pie making workshops, one a month, plus an extra session to make that baker’s dozen. I’ll be posting more about that here AND over on my newsletter…which did I mention you can subscribe to now. 😊

Remaining in 2021: Two wonderful sessions that the 92Y is offering right now and you can find that info right here. There is one class in October and another in November. Yay!
(Please note that these two sessions are produced by the 92Y and they handle registration which means I don’t handle registration, the money, or sending out the curriculum. 92Y handles that. If you read between the lines, you may well guess that I have been emailed these questions about 92Y sessions.)

In Conclusion: I’m writing writing writing, and canning canning canning, and putting the garden to bed.

One more thing: My sweet kitty Mr Fez may be coming to the last days of his oh so very long 20 lives. Please send along some good thoughts as he makes his transition over the Rainbow Bridge where I’m sure Lady is waiting for him.

Love to you all and see you here or there.
Kate

The post I’m Still Here appeared first on Art of the Pie®.

Everything is coming on strong in my little Pie Cottage garden and orchard. I have been enjoying eating and sharing kale, beets, strawberries, broccoli, and more. The tomatoes have been setting blossoms and I’m seeing their fruits plumping up on the vines. I have twelve plants this year and when the harvest is ready I’ll be making lots of tomato sauce, and cutting, slicing, and slow-roasting trays, trays, and trays of them for use throughout the year. Depending on where you are in the country, you may already have been enjoying fresh tomato sandwiches, but mine are not quite there yet. Of course, I can’t wait for my first taste of the season! My favorite is pretty darn simple. I spread mayonnaise…a liberal amount please…on two pieces of white bread, add slices of just harvested tomato, and sprinkle a bit of salt on top. So easy and so good! Another favorite is to make it open face on a piece of homemade sourdough bread, with a few just picked basil leaves, a bit of feta cheese, a drizzle of a good balsamic vinegar, and salt and freshly ground pepper. The combination tastes like summer to me. How about you?

Garlic, all two-hundred head, is close to being ready to harvest, too. I’ll set aside about 15% for planting in October for next years crop, and the remainder will be split between my son’s home and mine…plus some to share with friends.

The spring bloom on the apple trees was spectacular this year, and although the super hot weather that we had earlier this month did sunburn some of the crop, it looks that it will be be one of the best harvests I’ve had in years. I’m looking forward to pies, dried apples, and the annual fall cider pressing at Pie Cottage.

Two virtual workshops are coming up for you…
Savory Summer Ratatouille Pie on July 30th, and Peach Raspberry Pie with a Cream Cheese Crust on August 20th.

Here’s a photo of a Honey Orange Walnut Pie from the virtual workshop earlier this month.

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Honey Walnut Orange Pie: July 13 8AM West/11AM East
Link to Register

Blueberry Pie

When I was little, it seemed like it took forever for July 4th to get here. I couldn’t wait to go to the beach with my mom, dad, and brother to see the fireworks. We’d cover our ears and ooh and ah at all the colorful lights. The sound of the neighborhood fireworks doesn’t bother my darling dog Greta as she is deaf and can’t hear the explosions, but their brightness does make her a little nervous.

“The lights are too loud for her,” is how I explained it to a friend. So we’ll head to a potluck earlier in the afternoon bringing a fresh-baked blueberry pie to share. If you might like to make one (or more!) for a gathering, I’ve scheduled a virtual Blueberry Pie workshop on the morning of July 3rd. We’ll make a delicious blueberry filling, a buttery flake pastry crust with a lattice. The next day, you can share your pie with friends, or you could enjoy all of it yourself, too. I recommend starting in the middle!

July 13: Honey Walnut Orange Pie

It is so good to hug people again, yes? And recently I took this Honey Walnut Orange Pie to a potluck of good friends where it was definitely a showstopper! So, on July 13 I’m offering another virtual session for you so you can make one too. This pie uses phyllo dough which is a lot easier to work with than you might think. Just be sure to remember to defrost the frozen phyllo dough in the fridge over night before our session. This filling is pretty darn scrumptious, too. Plus, I’ll also show you some other ways to use the phyllo dough.

OK, Hope to see you soon!
Kate

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Beat the heat, join me on Friday June 25 and learn how easy it is to make your own rose water. In this quick 30-minute session you’ll learn to make one of my very favorite ways to keep cool in the summer.

The only ingredients you’ll need are a cup of rose petals, the more fragrant the better, and water. This truly is the easiest recipe ever!

Click Here to Register Now and Keep Cool

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It’s here. And as the song from Carousel goes, June is bustin’ out all over! Yesterday was June 1 and right on queue the sky was northwest clear blue and the temperature got up to 78F. If you live in a warmer part of the country you may think, well what’s the big deal about that, Kate? It may be much warmer where you live but honestly I’m just not a hot weather person so 78F is hot for me. If you have known me here for a while, you know that even 68F is hot for me. The Santa Barbara climate that I grew up with would be hot for me today, and even though I can’t claim to be a native Washingtonian, after 41 years in the upper left and corner, I’m pretty close. It is a little cooler today but I would be less than honest with you if I didn’t say that I’m looking forward to the extended forecast of some cooler days and rain coming up.

My garden loves the sun and heat and is growing gangbusters. I’ve harvested the rhubarb four times during May, the strawberries are just starting to come in now, garlic will be putting up scapes soon (can’t wait for some garlic scape pesto!), kale has been a regular visitor to my kitchen, beets are already looking like they are ready to be harvested, and my tomato plants (12 this year!) are loving the longer days.

To celebrate the season I’ll be sharing how to make a strawberry rhubarb pie for the 92 Street Y in NYC on June 17. If you want to join me there, the sign up is here.

Today I’m heading out to a potluck with long time friends and since we have a Mediterranean theme going for the dishes we are bringing, I’ve got a Honey Walnut Orange Pie in the oven right now. I used to be petrified of working with phyllo dough. Then one day I decided to give it a go and found that it wasn’t all that difficult. What was I waiting for, right. Maybe I should teach this one?

Have a wonderful day my friends!
Kate

P.S. WordPress keeps getting more difficult for me to use. It feels like as soon as I figure out one thing, the next time I try to do it, something has changed and I can’t find it anymore. So, I’m contemplating moving my blog over to something called Substack and hoping that I can figure out all the ins and outs of it. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on that if I do decide to move.

The post June Is Bustin’ Out All Over! appeared first on Art of the Pie®.

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In our day, baking a pie in a wood-burning cookstove is something very few will experience. In addition to having access to a working cookstove, it takes time, skill, wood sized for the firebox, plus the patience to heat that baby up, and keep it at temperature. Oh and be prepared to sweat as your kitchen will heat up, too. But for those who might like to try their hand at another old style of baking, outdoor campfire baking in a cast iron Dutch oven may be the way to go. There is a wonderful sense of accomplishment in outdoor baking and it lets us experience pie making in a simple and very hands on way.

As there are great general baking lessons that we can learn from with outdoor baking, such as controlling the ovens heat manually and trusting yourself, it was one of the techniques for pie baking that I really really wanted to include in Pie Camp. Without a thermostat, a pie-maker’s baking instincts will be put to the test when gauging when to lift the lid to see if the pie is done. But, my editor said there just wasn’t room in the book for it, so I decided to wait for the time when camping might be on your agenda (even if it is in your backyard) to share it with you.

Baking outdoors is a skill I am proud to have acquired and some of my best pies ever have been baked outside over and under coals in a Dutch oven. And heck, what’s camping without a little outside cooking and baking, right?

Here’s what you’ll need and a basic overview of how to do it.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Chimney charcoal starter
Charcoal briquettes
Lighter fluid
Matches
Extra long heavy oven mitts
Fire pit or bricks
Long tongs to lift and move hot briquettes
A cast iron Dutch oven that is at least 12” (30 cm), mine is made by Lodge
A cast iron trivet to fit into the bottom of the Dutch oven
Cast iron oven lid lifter
1 unbaked fruit pie

VERY IMPORTANT CAUTION: ALWAYS use oven mitts, tongs, and a lid lifter when working with fire, hot coals, and heated Dutch oven. Removing a pie pan that fits too snuggly inside a hot Dutch oven can be awkward, so before heating the oven, be sure to practice lifting the pie pan in and out while wearing your mitts.

PROCEDURE
MAKE COALS
We’ll need to “preheat” the oven, and do to that we need coals made in the chimney charcoal starter. There are cookbooks on cast iron cooking with charts giving the exact number of coals to use to preheat to specific temperatures. I make more than the number suggested, and use them to keep the oven up to temperature, which is especially helpful if I open the lid to check on my pie progress.

CHECK THE COALS AND SPREAD THEM OUT
Put oven mitts on and check the coals. Once ready, place a pile of coals in the fire pit or on a bed of bricks, and use the tongs to spread them out in a circle that is slightly smaller than the Dutch oven you are using. Place some on the inside of your coal circle, too.

PREHEAT THE OVEN
Set the trivet inside the Dutch oven, and place the cover on top. With oven mitts on, carefully lift the Dutch oven on top of the coals. Place the other half of the coals evenly over the flat top cover of the Dutch oven, and spread them around evenly with tongs. Set the other coals nearby in pile in the fire pit. Fire up about 10-15 extra briquettes in the chimney charcoal in case they are needed for more heat. Let the oven preheat.

TEST THE TEMPERATURE
To test the temperature of the oven, fill a pie pan with dough scraps that have been filled with cinnamon and sugar, rolled up jellyroll style, and cut in 1-2” (2.5-5 cm) pieces. When the oven feels pretty hot, place the filled pan on the trivet and put the lid back on. Be sure to wear the mitts.

HOW LONG TO BAKE?
You’ll be baking by instinct now. In my kitchen oven, these little tasties take about 15 minutes to bake at 425°F (220°C) and my goal is to get the Dutch oven to about that same temperature. About 10 minutes into the bake and with my mitts back on, I lift the lid off with the cast iron oven lid lifter for a peek. If they are dark brown or burned, my oven is probably too hot. If they are looking pale and still soft, I set the lid back on with the lifter, and check again in 3-5 minutes. When they look golden brown, carefully remove the pan from the oven and set aside to cool a bit before tasting your pre-bake treats. Replace the cover on the Dutch oven.

RAISING THE OVEN TEMPERATURE
Place a few coals on the top lid to get the oven back up to baking temperature. How many coals and how long to reheat is pretty subjective. The charts will give you an idea, but practical application, and baker’s instinct will come with practice. After a few minutes of preheating, place the unbaked pie on the trivet in the oven, and replace the lid.

BAKING THE PIE
About 30 minutes into the bake, add a few more hot coals underneath and on top of the oven from the stash of waiting coals.

About 15 minutes later (45 minutes into the bake), put on the mitts again and lift the top off with the lid lifter.

IS IT DONE YET?
When done the pie should be a beautiful golden brown, smell great, and have some filling bubbling up through the vents. If it doesn’t look done, replace the lid, add more coals, and let it go a bit longer. When the pie is done, put on your gloves, carefully lift the Dutch oven off of the coals with the lifter, and set it in a safe place before removing your just baked pie from inside of it. Let the oven cool completely, or if you are doing more baking place more coals on top and preheat again.

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