Who Needs A Cheese Tray?

They say variety is the spice of life (I'm not sure who the "they" are exactly, but in this case, I'm going to have to agree with them).  So, as our name would suggest, we know a thing or two about pies.  All that said, we get A LOT of questions from customers about whether we plan to add more product variety to our show when the shop opens in March. I don't get the coincidence, but on Saturday we fielded several calls from customers interested in tarts.  (How random is that?  Do you think they all knew each other and teamed up to call us on the same day, just a few hours apart, to make us feel sorta crazy?).

And because neither of us excel at disappointing anyone and saying "no" (unless you ask us something like "would you hold my tarantula?" or "would you like some coffee from the gas station?"), we spent about 3.2 seconds discussing tarts before saying "OK!"  And that is the short version of how we ended up with an order for 120 pecan pie tarts for this Friday.

So what is the different between a pie and a tart?  Not much.  The Internet suggests that pies are traditionally made in pie plates (imagine that) and are meant to be served directly from the pie plate.  A tart is typically baked in a pan with a removable bottom so that they can be unmolded before serving.  I have no idea if that information is legit, but our tarts are baked in tart pans with bottoms that don't remove (so either we don't know what we are doing or that Internet article is totally wrong...).

At PJP, the different between a pie and a tart is primarily size.  Each tart we produce will hold approximately 1/4 cup of filling.  This is noticeably smaller than our traditional five inch baby pie.  A tart equals a hearty bite, while a baby pie is approximately a slice and a half.  You can share a baby pie with your bestie, but you'll want a tart all for yourself (I guess you could share a tart but that would make you infinitely nicer (and skinnier) than I am).

Tarts are great for all sorts of occasions because they lend themselves well to eating on-the-go.  We are working with several parties specifically on their weddings...one to package pecan pie tarts as favors for guests and then one that wants to offer a variety of tarts in lieu of a groom's cake.  They are also fun for a dessert bar or in a variety pack for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and other large family gatherings.

This blog post is quickly becoming a story of how I went from no tart knowledge to a let's-build-a-tart-empire planning session in two days flat.  But seriously, we are talking about bite-size pie, and how can you not get on that train?  Plus, they are super cute...a bite size chocolate bourbon or a bite size coconut cream is pretty adorable no matter how much you like the buttercream roses on a cake.

So, you can apparently order mass quantities of tarts right now if you call or email us (the whole saying "no" thing again).  We are also working on developing some tart variety packs for pre-order from our new retail space.  We guarantee you that a box of tarts will be much more exciting to bring to an event than a cheese tray.

So we are officially tart makers and tart sellers (tart purveyors?) as of today and we are pretty excited about it.