On Sunday, I had a near-perfect day. I started by baking apple pielettes, this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection. Then, I went to Heritage Hall for Tea Sparrow‘s Tea-Off. After tasting (and tasting again) eighteen teas, we walked a block and had dinner at Burgoo, one of my favourite places for comfort food in the city.
The apple pielettes (or pielets, depending on your spelling preference) are going to become a seasonal feature in my kitchen. They’re made with the galette dough from Dorie’s Baking Chez Moi, which she describes as “both sturdy and supple.” Sturdy enough to hold the saucy apple filling, supple enough to fit into muffin cups easily. But when you bite into it, it’s not tough at all. Instead it’s flaky, tender, and delicious.
For the filling, I decided to keep things simple, opting for apples with apricot jam and a little cardamom and cinnamon. I don’t think I need to tell you the filling was as delicious as the crust. Nearer the holidays, I think a version with dried cranberries might be in the works.
I sent some downstairs to my neighbour for her birthday, then sent some more home with my mother. They were my companions for the tea-tasting and for dinner and I believe they had a great day, too.
We certainly enjoyed the seemingly endless cups of tea we had at the Tea-Off. I’ve told you about Tea Sparrow before and the process they use to choose the teas that go into their monthly boxes.
This time, we sampled teas that ran from cocoa and chocolate notes to herbaceous tisanes. I enjoyed most of the teas presented, but I had some favourites:
- Aromatica‘s Walnut Green tea
- Tea Desire‘s White Tea Champagne
- JusTea‘s Mount Kenya Estate
- Thay Tea‘s Chocolate Blueberry Organic
The last one surprised me, because it doesn’t fit my usual tea preferences, but the flavours were beautifully balanced.
There’s an endless amount of learning in the world of tea. Even though I’ve been drinking it since adolescence, I feel I’m still a novice in many ways. Visiting the Tea and Coffee Show helped and I’m looking forward to learning more at the Vancouver Tea Festival in November.
But, in some ways, I’ve learned most from those for whom tea has become a passion. At the tea-tasting at Tea Sparrow last week, I picked up a lot of interesting information, including these tidbits:
- Some big tea companies pre-stale their tea before it hits the shelves to ensure a uniform flavour.
- There are no real standards for tea, so companies like Tea Sparrow have to do a lot of their own research and testing to determine which teas are free from additives and artificial ingredients.
- The growing popularity of premium teas is prompting larger tea vendors and corporations to cater to this market, making more clean, quality teas available to everyone.
The next step will be nurturing a tea-serving culture that has the standards of coffee barista service – no more lukewarm brewing or 1/2 cup portions of tea leaves in a cup, please!
I came home with a package of Vanilla Honeybush tea, which I happily enjoyed with my remaining apple pielettes. Since I gave so many away, I think I’m justified in making another batch this weekend, don’t you?
You can find the rest of the Tuesdays with Dorie crew’s entries on this recipe here: Apple Pielets.
One Wet Foot 
I have tried to get into tea but always struggle with what I perceive as watered down flavors. I love Chai though. So much. Glad to see you had trouble with your tops too, and not surprising to hear they were such a hit all around.
I am not a tea drinker but that sounds like a fun time and the line up certainly has some interesting
names. We enjoyed these cute little pies, they are easy to make, and even easier to eat. I had
about two left over, put them in the fridge, they were delicious cold too.
I enjoy my tea. But tea is so much harder to get into, so I stick with the old stand-bys. Sounds like fun to taste a variety of tea and compare. Take your favorite one home to enjoy with the pielettes. Savor the sweet life!
I like how you used cardamom in your pie filling! That sounds like something I should try for myself the next time I make these!
Your little pielets are gorgeous. I like the sound of the tea place.
These cute little pielettes were perfect for sharing. I did use cranberries and they were delicious.
Thank you for letting me know you were having trouble commenting on my blog. I was surprised to hear about the captcha since I disabled it years ago but apparently google thinks I need it for some commenters. From what I’ve read, the issue you’ve had may be firefox or cookie related. I’m still looking into it.
Love love love this post !!! I am drinking tea as I write comments 🙂 So fun to hear of your adventures and see the photos – thank you so much for sharing. I will have to check out that site. My splurge teas have been enjoying Harney & Sons tea and then the Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. Such fun to try new flavors and oh yes, back to the pielettes….LOL…yours look adorable. So fun that you could share them. Great move on the cardamom, btw. Good call indeed.
I love Harney & Sons tea, but I haven’t heard of Saratoga – there are so many great tea companies now, aren’t there. I love cardamom and apple – it’s my favourite. 🙂
Your pielettes looks fabulous! These were a hit in my house too, and I will be making this again! Your tea-off sounds “sippingly” good! I love tea! 🙂
Thanks, Joyce – the tea-off was a lot of fun and the tea I brought home went very well with the pielettes. 🙂
The pielets are gorgeous and look so delicious. Where did you get the recipe from?
Thanks! They’re from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking Chez Moi.
Dorie Greenspan is an amazing chef, I’m glad you like her recipes as well!
Thanks, Angela! I’ve been working through her books with French Fridays with Dorie and Tuesdays with Dorie – a delicious way to learn more about cooking and baking.
I love the combination of flavours that you chose for the filling! They sound like they were delicious!
Enjoyed all your info on tea. Sounds like a wonderful event. I am a coffee girl at heart but do drink tea when I am sick. I love that these little pielettes were shareable. I just need to solve my moisture issue.
How lucky you are to have that Tea place near by. Been drinking tea since I was 10 and i love trying new flavors altho I often go back to my faves in the end.
These pielettes would be perfect for a new tea with friends. Or alone!!