Searching for the perfect hostess gift or an easy dinner-party dessert? Michelle Gayer, the Salty Tart’s James Beard-award winning pastry chef, has come to the rescue this holiday season with her weekly pop-up pie shop at Hola Arepa, Power, Corruption & Pies. Although several pie flavors are available at the bakery, the pop-up has given her a little extra room to play.
Flavors so far have included malted banana cream and cranberry-chiffon pies, and the baker has no plans to stop dreaming up creative combinations. “Next week, we’ll have a salted-caramel pie, with a layer of caramel and a layer of cream and a layer of…Something else,” says Gayer. “I have it all in my head.”
That’s not to say that she eschews more conventional flavors, though. “People like tradition. I like tradition; I like consistency,” says Gayer, noting that the pop-up offers all of the basics, including pumpkin, pecan, and apple—although one of her favorite creations thus far has been a sour-cream-and-apple twist on that classic.
The pop-up sold out its first day and was thwarted by snow the second week, but Gayer says that she’s crunched the numbers and the shop should stay open for its full hours each week through the rest of its run. Will Gayer’s #pieparty Monday become the new Taco Tuesday?
Power, Corruption & Pies @ Hola Arepa
Mondays through December, 3–7 p.m.
3501 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls.
powercorruptionandpies.com