Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. Debuts at the DC Meet Market!

 

Almost exactly a year ago, I moved into a beautiful group house of beautiful people (aptly dubbed The Dollhouse) in Northwest DC. One of those inhabitants happened to be my lost soul-sister, fellow baker and look-alike Kari. When Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair put out a call seeking vendors for their Food Fair last October, we combined our powers (with our powers combined...) and launched the pop-up shop-style baking company Tarts by Tarts.

After that first market, where we sold out in under 4 hours, we served up our goods at Treasury Vintage, offered made-to-order tarts for Valentine's Day, collaborated with the awesome Panda Head Blog and sold Southern-inspired treats at the DC Square Dance. It was a wonderful & inspiring collaboration and we learned a lot and all the while got some wonderful press and feedback from the DC community. Last month, Kari left us for a goat cheese-making apprenticeship in Maine, putting Tarts by Tarts on hiatus, though we hope to team up again sometime soon.

In the meantime, I've decided to forge out on my own and launch the baking business side of this here blog under the name Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. Though I'll be offering more than just pies, the aesthetic will be much the same--valuing seasonal and local products with an eye on tradition and creativity. In the coming weeks, I'm hoping to launch a pie CSA, offer made-to-order baked goods, and sell at future local events.

I'll be making my debut at this Saturday's DC Meet Market, happening from 11am-5pm at 15th & P St. NW. Among the offerings will be stone fruit & bourbon fried pies, berry tarts and carrot cake doughnuts. I hope to see you DC readers there, and keep your eyes on this space for more information on future Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. projects and as always, pies!

DC's Best Pie!

It's the peak of summer, the farmers' markets are teeming with local berries and fresh stone fruit, and NPR just launched #pie week, meaning there's an utter explosion of pies and tarts on the interwebs. Aside from our usual blogging and baking, last week Kari and I got in on the action when Nothing-in-the-House's strawberry crème tart and Tarts by Tarts were featured as the cover photo and one of DC's best pie bakers on Refinery29. They also mentioned the pie blog's lemon icebox pie and Florida grapefruit-white chocolate pie. Oh so nice! We're in great company too, with Alexandria's Buzz Bakery, Baltimore-based Dangerously Delicious Pies, and farmers' market stand Whisked also in the mix.

At the moment, Tarts by Tarts' future together is sadly uncertain, and we'll be taking a hiatus as Kari is Maine-bound for a goat cheese-making apprenticeship (I will miss my tartner so!), we'll continue to keep you updated on our current baking and future projects via the Tarts by Tarts site. In the meantime, I've been scheming plans to keep the Tarts by Tarts spirit alive in a new endeavor--a pie CSA? pop-up shop? baked goods bicycle delivery service? For more on those developments, keep your eyes glued to this space, as well as on the Nothing-in-the-House Facebook & Twitter for upcoming projects. As always, feel free to e-mail us at tartsbytarts at gmail dot com or me at nothinginthehousepie at gmail dot com if you're interested in collaborating, catering service, or placing a one-off order. We'd love to work with you, whether at a bean suppa on a Maine farm, a rooftop deck party in DC, or anywhere in between.

Tarts by Tarts at the DC Square Dance!

How 'bout a little pie to go with that swing? Tarts by Tarts joins in with the biggest party in town--the DC Square Dance--this Saturday evening at St. Stephen's Church (1525 Newton St. NW) in Mt. Pleasant, D.C. The dance kicks off at 8:30pm with the legendary Ithaca, NY band The Horseflies, and New Hampshire caller Nils Fredland. We'll be in the back, dishin' up Southern-inspired treats (fried pies, pecan-bourbon pie, and doughnuts are certainly on the menu) until the dance ends at 11:30pm.

Hope to see y'all there...save room for somethin' sweet for you, and save a dance for us! See the Tarts by Tarts and DC Square Dance collective Facebook invites for more information. Yeehaw!

Tart of Gold--Found!

I've never really been one for Valentine's Day. I appreciate its pagan origins, and think it's always a nice thing to show and tell the people you care about that you do, indeed, care about them, but seeing all the cheap sentiment for sale in the grocery and drug store aisles makes my stomach turn more than my heart beat. What Valentine's Day has always been about for me, though, is baked goods. My mom and grandma always made the most delicious and cutest heart-shaped sugar cookies, glazed with red & pink icing--seriously the best you have ever tasted. They continued the tradition through college, where tins of these cookies with homemade valentines would arrive at my dorm room and I'd have to pawn them off on my roommates and neighbors so as not to eat them all.

So it seems right that this year, Tarts by Tarts did a special Valentine's Day event--offering up made-to-order tarts-- "hearts by tarts" if you will--and various other baked goods at the Tart of Gold Party at Treasury last Thursday.

In addition to our made-to-order tarts, we offered up various baked goods for snackin' at the party, or to take home to your sweetie. Here's the menu:

honey-hazelnut amaranth short bread cookies
maple orange sugar cookie sandwiches with vanilla & raspberry buttercream
chocolate cookies
salted vanilla-bourbon caramels in stamped muslin bags
yeasted doughnuts with chili spiced chocolate glaze
yeasted doughnuts with vanilla-bourbon glaze & toasted coconut
yeasted duce de leche-filled doughnuts
caramel nut tartlets
lemon-ginger meringue tartlets

Though I had recently made my grandma Eileen's lemon meringue pie, this time I used the lemon-ginger lemon curd recipe that we used for the ginger-lemon and bourbon orange tart. The recipe is as follows:

Lemon-Ginger Meringue Tartlets
Makes 6 tartlets

Ingredients
For crust:
Nothing-in-the house pie crust recipe or your favorite tart crust recipe

For lemon-ginger curd:
6 Tblsp. arrowroot starch (or corn starch)
2 cup + 4 Tblsp. granulated sugar
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
finely grated zest from 2 medium lemons
2 Tblsp. of freshly grated ginger
4 Tblsp. white wine
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
pinch of salt
6 Tblsp. of unsalted butter, cold

For meringue:

5 egg whites

6 Tblsp. sugar

Pinch cream of tartar

 
Directions
For crust:
1. Follow instructions for Nothing-in-the-House pie crust or your favorite tart crust recipe. Meanwhile, prepare your lemon curd (see instructions below).

2. Preheat oven to 400 and remove crust dough from fridge. Grease and flour 6 tartlet pans. Divide crust into six, roll out, and fit into tart shells. Place crusted tart shells into freezer for 15 minutes. 

3. Remove tart shells from freezer. Line each with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and bake for 5-10 minutes more or until golden brown and flaky. Let cool.

For lemon-ginger curd:
1. Place the arrowroot starch, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, grated ginger, white wine, eggs, egg yolks and salt in a small saucepan.

2. Turn the stove on low heat, and with a whisk, stir contents constantly as the curd cooks and thickens. Bring the curd to about 185˚F which should take about 7 or 8 minutes.

3. Once the curd has reached the right temperature turn off the stove and remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour the curd into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 30 seconds to cool the curd. Then turn the speed to low and add one tablespoon of butter. Beat until it is melted and fully incorporated. Add the second tablespoon beating until it too is incorporated. Repeat with the final tablespoon.
4. Let the curd come to room temperature and pour it into a bowl or tupperware. Cover bowl and place in the freezer for at least two hours or overnight.

For meringue:
1. Once curd has been chilled sufficiently, divide curd into baked tart shells (I had some leftover curd, which was just fine with me--try it on toast, pound cake or ice cream!). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add sugar gradually and pinch of cream of tartar. Spread meringue over lemon curd in each tartlet, using the back of a spoon to create curls and peaks. Place tartlets in the oven and brown, 13-15 minutes. Let tartlets cool to room temperature and place in fridge. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

 

Cathy of Treasury called it "the best meringue tart of my life! I loved the crust too and I normally like that part the least." Thanks so much to Treasury gals Joyce, Katerina and Cathy, our friends who helped out and took audio recordings and lent us supplies, our customers who ordered tarts and bought baked goods, and to my awesome tartner Kari! We ended up getting a lot of really nice write-ups from blogs and sites**, including Refinery29, The President Wears Prada (who also graciously provided these pictures), and Panda Head--so thank you to those writers and bloggers too!

 

Hope you had a sweet Valentine's day! Look for Tarts by Tarts next at the D.C. Square Dance on March 3rd, where we'll be hawking Southern-inspired treats for all the ladies and gents. Of course, that will include pie (maybe even some fried ones too).

**UPDATE**

Our friend DVD made this adorable and hilarious audio piece about the party--a "little synapse of deliciousness for your ears". Have a listen.

Thanks to TPWP and Kari for the photos.

Tart of Gold Valentine's Day Party!

We've got more where that came from! Part deux of the heart tarts in D.C. news is that Tarts by Tarts is teaming up with Treasury to bring you the Tart of Gold Valentine's Day Party! It's happening this Thursday from 5-9pm at Treasury, located at 1843 14th St. NW. We'll have treats aplenty--doughnuts and tartlets, cookies and caramels, delicious cocktails and vintage treasures! 

You can pick-up your ordered tart at the party, or order one for delivery on Sunday and we're also running a special cross promotion. When you order a tart from Tarts by Tarts, you'll receive 20% off one item at Treasury, and when you buy from Treasury, you'll receive $5 off of your tart! Now that's a pairing we can get down with.

We've had so much excitement leading up to this event-- from planning with the lovely ladies of Treasury, our doughnut & vintage styled photoshoot, to recipe selection and promotion--we hope you can be a part of it. And look! We're been written up in Refinery29 and been called a "local baking supergroup!" Love at first bite, indeed!

Hearts By Tarts!

This Valentine's Day, my baking venture, Tarts by Tarts, with my friend Kari (you'll remember our stand at Crafty Bastards in October) is serving up some special made-to-order tarts for your sweetheart in Washington, D.C.

You can pick-up your tarts at our Valentine's Day party, Tart of Gold, this Thursday, February 9th at Treasury (more on that later), or have them delivered anywhere in the District on Sunday, February 12th.

Here's a look at our offerings:

Salty Honey Pie

A savory-sweet romance pie with a crusty top and gooey insides. made with local, organic honey from Takoma Park, MD! (read more here)

Simple Apple Tart

"I wish I was an apple a-hangin’ on a tree, and every time my true love passed she’d take a little bite of me,” the old song goes. Whether it's with your true love or not, take a bite out of this classic apple tart, with sugar on top. (middle picture, and more here and here)

Raspberry Goat Cheese Tart

The kissin’ cousin to cheesecake with a goat cheese twist, topped with raspberry preserves to remind you of sweet summer love.

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Tart with Candied Pecans

Dark chocolate with a bite for that cutie who digs on sweet 'n' salty crunch as much as we do. (top picture and more here)

Honey Caramel Walnut Tart

A sticky, crunchy, chewy tart with a pinch of anise and a twist of orange, for the babes with a dash of spice in their blood.

Savory Roasted Garlic Tart

In the land of kissing, the garlic tart is king. Say what? Well, your honey is sure to come back for seconds when there's this much flavor. Made with goat cheese, herbs, and a whole heap of garlic. (bottom picture and more here)

You can place your orders online via the form here, or in person at Treasury, located at 1843 14th St. NW in D.C. from now until Friday, February 10th.  Order a tart for that sweetheart, crush, pal, or just for you!

Happy 2012 & 2011 State of Nothing-in-the-House Address

Happy New Year! I want to get up-to-date and share all the pies and tarts that friends and I made this holiday season, but before I do, I wanted to do a little 2011 "State of Nothing-in-the-House Address"/year end wrap up because it was a great year--perhaps the best ever-- for the pie blog, pie baking and other pie-related endeavors!

First off, this year we had the greatest number of posts yet--85! We also had the most blog hits in 2011, with 3,280 page views in November. Thanks to all those readers, new and old out there. In 2012 I'd like to aim for 100 posts, and for even more readers...and commenters! I love when people give feedback, personal connection to or historical context of a pie, etc. Keep 'em coming.

 Part of the spread at Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont 2011

In March we hosted our 2nd annual Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont, at Johnny's in Carrboro, NC. We had a spread of 24 different pies and some hand and mini pies made by our awesome Pi(e) Day baking team, raised $400 for CEFS to develop a statewide youth food council, and celebrated pie, spring, and math with about 75 attendees. I've enjoyed revisiting Ashley's video about it here-- maybe you will too.

Plans are in the works for another Pi(e) Day this year, though it will likely be in the Washington, D.C. area, as I moved up here in June. Stay tuned for more info on that as March 14th draws nigh...

Lora's and my article in online food journal Zenchilada

I was very excited to have the opportunity to do some pie-related writing in an outside publication last year. My friend Lora and I wrote this piece Pi(e) R Squared Revolution is Round, using pie as a lens to discuss our ideas of female friendship, tradition, and the domestic arts, for the awesome online food magazine Zenchilada. You can read our article here and see our featured recipes here.

I was also asked by author of Pie Contest in a Box Gina Hyams, to do an interview with her for her blog, Pie Takes the Cake. I was so honored to be asked, and excited to see it come out so well. You can read the full transcript here.

I'm looking to find more opportunities to do some off-blog pie and food writing in 2012, and would like to feature more of my own interviews with fellow bakers, pie shop owners, and authors. Check back here for one with Natalie of Bike Basket Pies coming soon in the new year.

Me at the Tarts By Tarts stand at Crafty Bastards

One of the highlights of 2011 for me in general was the launch of Tarts by Tarts-- a new baking venture with my friend, housemate, and fellow baker Miss Kari Nye of Tanglewood Baked Goods. We kicked off our collaboration at DC's Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair with great success! Even on the freezing cold Saturday, we sold out in 4 hours and got lots of great feedback from our customers. Read more about it here and on Kari's blog here. We've been scheming about our next venture, and will likely be doing made-to-order pies and tarts a.k.a. "Hearts by Tarts" for Valentine's Day. Shhh! Don't tell your sweetheart...

And lastly, this year we launched the Nothing-in-the-House Facebook and Twitter (@housepie) pages, adding 2 more ways to bring pie recipes, history, and ephemera into your life. Please follow and like us if you haven't already, and tell your friends!

On ward and upward to Nothing-in-the-House 2012, with more pie baking experiments and musings on pie history, paraphernalia, and cultural import. How bout Bedfordshire clangers? An audio piece about a visit to Pie Lab? Maybe we can even get co-founder Margaret to start contributing again? Here's to this being the best year yet--may your pies be tasty, your butter be cold, and your PEZ (Pie Enjoyment Zone) be frequently visited and full of friends.

That Tarts By Tarts Look

We are busy gearing up for our baked goods stand, Tarts by Tarts, this Saturday! Kari had a stamp made with the awesome she designed, and last night we did a lot of stamping of business and label cards...


She also made a bunting to hang across our table...



Also of note in this photo-- my double decker Amish pie carrying basket (at right), and the trompe l'oeil pie plate my friends Heather and Sara gave to me several years ago (at left). And yes, that's the original Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook next to it.

Check back here tomorrow for some Tarts by Tarts kitchen missives!