Multi-layered pies at Peace Piece

Ask Peace Piece owner-chef Kim Yi-yeon why she bakes American classics like key lime pie and she will explain, in a somewhat roundabout fashion, that she had an idea of pie: pretty to look at, tasty to eat, the kind of dessert often seen in movies, large-scale, time-consuming, tall creations that convey, through the silver screen, the gorgeous deliciousness to be enjoyed if only the audience could get their hands on a slice.

With her own detailed vision of pie floating in her head, Kim said she was having trouble finding a place that made pies the way she wanted them to be made. Furthermore, said Kim, “There weren’t many places making pies to begin with.” 

Instead of waiting for someone else to open the pie shop of her dreams, Kim decided to take matters into her own hands by opening her own place near Hongdae last November.

Having tried her hand at running her own cupcake shop, then working for a business’ bakery division, Kim decided to join the small clutch of shops specializing in pie with Peace Piece.

Located in a narrow alley close to Hapjeong Station, Peace Piece is a small, 12-seat space, a bit hard to find at first, until one sees a stand-alone, white wooden sign outside that reads “cake-pie-coffee.”

What the sign fails to mention is that Peace Piece specializes in very specific varieties of cake and pie, double- to quadruple-deckers, glorious when served, one towering slice at a time.

When Kim drew up the menu, she eschewed double crusted, single fruit versions for extravagant, multi-layered affairs, creations that resemble Neapolitan ice cream, but in pie form. Pies that are essentially beautiful, architectural layers of yum.

That kind of layering comes at a price, of course. Lucky for her patrons, Kim had no idea that pie-making could be such an arduous process when she started out, and now, over a year later, even though it takes over six hours to churn out just one, she refuses to compromise.

Her banana cream is a four-layer deal, with whipped cream resting lightly over thick custard. A thin layer of chocolate lines the shell and is topped by slices of banana.

One forkful gets one the sweet, meatiness of banana coupled with rich chocolate, cold custard and then airy cream. It is a good combination.

The Mississippi mud pie at Peace Piece really showcases how much one can do with cacao. The over-the-top dessert features an Oreo cookie crust, chocolate cake topped by chocolate pudding and then a final layer of whipped cream.

The key lime uses fresh limes in a custard filling and is finished off with a cream topping for a pie that packs a pleasantly tart zing. A slight bitter aftertaste serves as proof that Kim went all out with her limes, using the zest as well as the juice itself.

On Saturdays, she also whips up lemon meringue pies, special for that day.

Now some people might stop there, content with keeping the lineup short and simple, but Kim felt an itch, a need to create layer cakes, and so she also makes four-tiered carrot and red velvet confections with cream cheese frosting.

Both moist and tall, the dark red velvet gets its depth from Valrhona cocoa powder, while the carrot displays Kim’s mastery of cake decoration with adorable, frosted orange carrots on top.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)

Peace Piece; 1F, 396-54 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul; (02) 333-0779; www.peace-piece.co.kr; open 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, closed Mondays; cakes and pies cost 5,000 won to 6,000 won per slice; Tuesdays tend to be cake-centric and lemon meringue is available on Saturdays.