Gurgle.
Stomach, what is wrong with you? Why are you so hungry? It’s not the regular time for morning tea, and I’ve eaten the same breakfast I always do. And what’s with this craving for carby, sugary, cakey food? We eat nuts for morning tea. We always do. Why rock the boat?
Though you have a point. It has been several months since we got anything from the cake shop…
Curse that bakery! No shop should specialise in cheap delicious slices!
Fine, fine. If I get something I haven’t tried before then I can blog about it.
Trotting over to the bakery… I shouldn’t feel this gleeful. It really has been awhile!
Time to be the most annoying customer ever and ask what everything is.
Longing looks at my regular slice… no! Newness!
It is hard to find complete novelty in a bakery selling slice like your grandma’s generation made. I’ve eaten vanilla slice, consumed fruit slice, munched up carrot cake, devoured cheesecake, licked my fingers clean of apple slice, enjoyed hedgehog slice, cooked my own banana cake, swallowed coconut slice, savoured rum balls…
Ah! What are these?
“Coconut and apple pie,” explains the storegirl after following my pointed finger.
Haven’t had that! Also they are just little mini pies so I can pretend they’re not so exceedingly unhealthy…
Back at my desk I rescue my little pie from its paper bag. It fits into my palm, the mound of baked desiccated coconut rising so high above the tin foil case that it dwarfs the actual pie. The white swirl of solid, soft topping is browned to a crisp in the thin peaks, making a twisting line of girl that circles and circles til it reaches the pinnacle.
I slip the pie free of its case so I can bite into it and find my hands instantly sticky from the moist oily glaze that coats the outside of the pastry. Just in case I wasn’t sure if this was going to be good for my arteries or not.
Bite in.
The coconut yields instantly, a chewy texture that releases sugar and coconut flavour. The pie filling is gelatinous with chunks of fruit luxuriating its marmalade-like coating. The pastry is nothing but a perfectly cooked case hiding bashfully in the background, not offering any extra taste and not needing too.
Suddenly I remember the coconut fruit slice I used to cook at my best friend’s house when I was late primary school. I can still remember the recipe because it was simple enough even for a useless chef like me: one part flour, one part sugar, one part desiccated coconut, one part milk, one part mixed fruit, all stirred together and baked til done. I loved that stuff… I tried to be coy and ask casually whether we would cook it or not but I was always dying to eat it again…
Morning tea with memories. This pie is great. The apple is good quality, not soggy or scrappy, and its moisture works amazingly with the coconut topping. It’s like eating coconut slice and apple slice in the same bite.
The huge pile of coconut topping makes the small pie last and last.
Licking my fingers when it’s all gone.
I really hope my stomach doesn’t make me go to the bakery again tomorrow… a habit could be very quickly formed!
Rating: 
Specifics: Coconut and apple pie, bought from Merrylanda Cakes, Merrylands.
Coconut and Apple Pie
Gurgle.
Stomach, what is wrong with you? Why are you so hungry? It’s not the regular time for morning tea, and I’ve eaten the same breakfast I always do. And what’s with this craving for carby, sugary, cakey food? We eat nuts for morning tea. We always do. Why rock the boat?
Though you have a point. It has been several months since we got anything from the cake shop…
Curse that bakery! No shop should specialise in cheap delicious slices!
Fine, fine. If I get something I haven’t tried before then I can blog about it.
Trotting over to the bakery… I shouldn’t feel this gleeful. It really has been awhile!
Time to be the most annoying customer ever and ask what everything is.
Longing looks at my regular slice… no! Newness!
It is hard to find complete novelty in a bakery selling slice like your grandma’s generation made. I’ve eaten vanilla slice, consumed fruit slice, munched up carrot cake, devoured cheesecake, licked my fingers clean of apple slice, enjoyed hedgehog slice, cooked my own banana cake, swallowed coconut slice, savoured rum balls…
Ah! What are these?
“Coconut and apple pie,” explains the storegirl after following my pointed finger.
Haven’t had that! Also they are just little mini pies so I can pretend they’re not so exceedingly unhealthy…
Back at my desk I rescue my little pie from its paper bag. It fits into my palm, the mound of baked desiccated coconut rising so high above the tin foil case that it dwarfs the actual pie. The white swirl of solid, soft topping is browned to a crisp in the thin peaks, making a twisting line of girl that circles and circles til it reaches the pinnacle.
I slip the pie free of its case so I can bite into it and find my hands instantly sticky from the moist oily glaze that coats the outside of the pastry. Just in case I wasn’t sure if this was going to be good for my arteries or not.
Bite in.
The coconut yields instantly, a chewy texture that releases sugar and coconut flavour. The pie filling is gelatinous with chunks of fruit luxuriating its marmalade-like coating. The pastry is nothing but a perfectly cooked case hiding bashfully in the background, not offering any extra taste and not needing too.
Suddenly I remember the coconut fruit slice I used to cook at my best friend’s house when I was late primary school. I can still remember the recipe because it was simple enough even for a useless chef like me: one part flour, one part sugar, one part desiccated coconut, one part milk, one part mixed fruit, all stirred together and baked til done. I loved that stuff… I tried to be coy and ask casually whether we would cook it or not but I was always dying to eat it again…
Morning tea with memories. This pie is great. The apple is good quality, not soggy or scrappy, and its moisture works amazingly with the coconut topping. It’s like eating coconut slice and apple slice in the same bite.
The huge pile of coconut topping makes the small pie last and last.
Licking my fingers when it’s all gone.
I really hope my stomach doesn’t make me go to the bakery again tomorrow… a habit could be very quickly formed!
Rating:
Specifics: Coconut and apple pie, bought from Merrylanda Cakes, Merrylands.