Giveaway: Mila's First Birthday of Pies

Ok everyone, let's vote. And we all win because Designing Mom Shinmin of I Dream of Cake will let us in on one of her coveted pie recipes. Read below and leave a comment on the pie of your desire...



by Designing Mom Shinmin

As Cat mentioned in a previous post, Mila turned one last month.

As horribly depressed as I was that she would be no longer under one year, I wanted to throw her a fun yet casual party to mark this important milestone. Because I work in the event industry, people were really cranking up the pressure and expectations by asking almost daily, "what will you do for your daughter' first birthday?" And especially since I'm a pastry chef specializing in cakes I got this all the time, "Oh she's going to have the most spectacular cake. What will her very first cake be?" Oh the pressure!!!



Then as the first days of spring appeared, through the fresh scent of clean air, warmed by the sun's friendly touch, tulips and daffodils made their presence known. I immediately pictured a picnic. The vision became clear. Grass, picnic tables, taupe linen table cloth, flowers, sun..... and.... yes I think I see them..... Pies!!! Mila's First Birthday of Pies. All kinds of pies. Because Mila never had sweets up until then, I didn't know what she would like. So I decided to make nine kinds of pies and hoped something would please her.


My common sense was temporarily out of commission as I gave in to this pie fantasy and stayed up till 1:30 am baking the night before the picnic. Luckily I had the help of two amazing friends, Leticia and Ariel, who baked into the wee hours with me. With little sleep, I appeared at the Crissy Field picnic site at 6am to reserve the tables. Since I've fully committed to this picnic of pies, and had about 60 pie-hungry guests coming, I had to be sure to secure the tables. In case anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area is interested in a picnic at Crissy Field, I highly recommend it. The view of the Golden Gate bridge and water is breath taking. But the tables are first come first serve. Hence I appeared at 6am to claim my territory. I draped my table clothes on the tables, left a few nonvaluable items (all were stolen by the way) and went home to prep.


Here is a list of the pies I made.

1. Mila's Temper Tantrum Strawberry Rhubarb Explosion
2. Mila's Gone Bananas! - a caramelized banana tarte tatin
3. Mila's Peachy Keen - a tart of peaches poached in a brandy orange reduction
4. Mila's Sweet & Tart Apple Pie - a blend of Gala and Granny Smith pie
5. Mila's Blueberry Madness - a lattice topped Blueberry pie
6. Mila's First Coconut Cream Pie - Coconut custard dream, topped with coconut whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes
7. Mila's Tutti Fruit - a fruit flan tart with strawberies, raspberries, kiwis, mangos, and blueberries, all sitting on a spread of lemon Creme patisserie
8. Pretty Pumpkin Milana - a traditional pumpkin pie with short bread flowers as decoration
9. Milana's Prim & Proper Linzer Torte - an Austrian traditional almond torte with raspberry puree

I'm happy to share one of my recipes. Please leave a comment and vote on the pie you would like to bake!