The humble pie has been given a makeover, fit for Instagram.
A quick search of the hashtag “pieart” in Instagram reveals close to 7000 posts, featuring pies decorated with all kinds of pastry art. There’s one topped with .
There are hundreds with , traditional symbols of autumn. There are some with . Some have messages, like , and . Some look like .
But almost exclusively, the top #pieart posts are from one woman - Lauren Ko, who posts under the name .
The Seattle resident is an amateur baker with no training whatsoever, but her intricate, geometry-heavy designs have won thousands of followers (since launching her account in August, she’s amassed a community of more than 41,000 people, and counting). We chatted to Lauren about pastry art, pie prep, and why patience is the key to a great dessert.
How did you get into making pies?
A little over a year ago, I had newly moved to Seattle, Washington, and had some free time on my hands while job hunting. I thought I’d try my hand at making a pie after seeing some really beautiful images on Pinterest, and successfully (to my surprise) created the plaid pie on my feed. Then I brought a really disastrous pie to Thanksgiving and was too mortified to continue. Eventually, all the wonderful summer produce in Seattle lured me back into the pie world. I've always been a cookie/cake/muffin baker, but since this Instagram has taken off, it looks like I'll be deep in the pie world for a bit!
Right! You’ve amassed a huge social media following but it looks like you haven’t been on Instagram for too long - how’d that happen?
I started the @lokokitchen account on August 29 for fun. It was simply a venue to post my occasional food photos without inundating all my friends on my personal account. On October 29, one of my photos was shared by @designmilk and things just blew up! Since then, I have gained nearly 40,000 extra followers and have been featured on accounts like @food52 and @grubstreet (@nymag). The internet is nuts!
Your pie art is out-of-this-world amazing - what are your secrets?
My arsenal of tools is pretty minimal. It includes a French rolling pin, a rolling pie cutter, a metal ruler, a bench scraper, and a tempered glass pie plate. That's about it! A good chunk of time and patience is required, so I do a lot of my baking on the weekends since I work full-time during the week. I don't sketch my designs out and because I usually only have a general idea in my head. The finished products are often improvised accidents.
What are the best tips you’ve learned?
I'm such a novice and still figuring things out as I go along. But I do find that keeping the dough cold is key to preventing significant shrinkage. After I finish constructing the pie, I refrigerate the whole thing for at least an hour before baking.
Favourite kind of pie?
The pear and miso caramel pie I made was a revelation. Miso caramel is my new favorite thing.
