VIP: Why you should get to know this lady, her bike & her pies

Natalie Galatzer rides her bike around San Francisco selling handmade, handheld sweet and savory pies. From her website, pie loving San Franciscans place their orders for her very popular mini pies and she delivers--on her bike. The sole proprietor and baker for Bike Basket Pies, Natalie talked to me about her small batch pie-baking and delivery service. She was even gracious enough to provide a recipe for her Nectarine Raspberry pie...

Charesa Garrett: How did you go from making puff pastry with your father, to making pies for a living? More importantly, what kind of father makes puff pastry with his daughter? Sounds like an incredible childhood...

Natalie Galatzer: My father was an amazing cook...really adventurous with food and (he) brought my brother and I into the kitchen as helpers at a very young age. I was addicted to being in the kitchen pretty early. When I moved out here, I initially lived in West Marin and knew almost no one. So I spent a lot of time cooking and baking; and over the past few years I perfected a pie crust recipe.

Photo provided by Bike Basket Pies.

CG: Where did you grow up? Do you have any other pleasant culinary memories?
NG: I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I think my entire childhood might be one big culinary memory... My family has a cabin in rural Wisconsin and in the spring we'd go hunting for morel mushrooms and my dad would put them in crepes. In the summer we'd pick red & black raspberries and blackberries and my dad would make a puff pastry (we had to make the dough late at night - we didn't have any air conditioning and it was too hot during the day) and top it with the fresh-picked berries and a Coca-Cola glaze.

CG: How did you get to San Francisco?
NG: A four door sedan loaded with a lot of my clothes and an Americorps internship in West Marin.

Nectarine Raspberry Pie. Photo provided by Bike Basket Pies.

CG: Tell us about your business philosophy and products. Why pies?
NG: It's important to me to take advantage of the amazing fruits & vegetables that this region produces. I grow some of my own vegetables that go into the savory pies and I pick fruit from around the neighborhood for the sweet pies. As for pies, there aren't many things more enjoyable than butter & fresh fruit. And they are so easy to vary based on the season. I could probably never make the same pie twice in the summer months if I wanted to.

CG: Your delivery service is unique to San Francisco--you actually ride your bike. How did you come up with this idea for delivering your pies? Do you have special equipment on your bike for the pies?
NG: The idea was driven by customers - when I started this business I went out to the park and essentially used my bike as a cart. The next week a friend of mine asked me to deliver to his office & coworkers instead and I happily obliged. Pre-orders & delivery were so much easier and it stuck. (As for equipment), In the winter months I switch from my cruiser with the basket to my road bike and some very waterproof saddlebags for pie transport. Now I still use the saddlebags because they carry more and the bike is an easier ride. San Francisco has such great bike culture and amazing support for cyclists. This is a great city for this business.

CG: What's your favorite pie on the menu right now?
NG: Picking favorites is hard... I don't make pies that I don't like.

CG: What's your favorite summer pie?
NG: Anything with raspberries.

CG: Where/How do you want people to buy your pies?
NG: I have an email newsletter that goes out with next week's menu every Thursday morning. The email includes delivery times and the date (usually a Tuesday, occasionally a Wednesday, soon to be both). Orders are emailed back to me (hitting "reply" is totally appropriate) and usually by the end of the day I can't take any more orders. A bike messenger or I deliver the pies the same day they're baked (Tuesday or Wednesday) around lunchtime. Occasionally you can find me at events. My website, www.bikebasketpies.com has more details.

CG: What's next for Bike Basket Pies?
NG: I just moved into a different kitchen and hopefully soon I can accommodate more orders and deliver more days a week. After that, lots of possibilities and ideas.

Nectarine Raspberry Pie

provided by Natalie Galatzer

Crust:
12 TBSP butter

4 TBSP shortening (I use earth balance non-hydrogenated shortening sticks)

12 oz flour

4 tsp sugar

1.5 tsp salt

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

12 TBSP, plus extra, ice cold water

1. Combine flour, sugar and salt.

2. Cut in cold butter and shortening (I cube the butter and shortening and put it in the freezer while I assemble the rest of my ingredients)

3. Mix the liquids together.

4. Slowly add the liquid to the butter/flour mixture, working it in by hand quickly, until all the dough sticks together and is tacky but not too sticky.

5. Split the dough into two balls, make into hockey puck shaped discs, wrap in plastic and freeze. Remove from the freezer and move to the fridge at least 4 or 5 hours before making pie.

Filling:

8 or so nectarines

1 pint raspberries

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/4 tsp ginger

3/4 c sugar (depending on how sweet the nectarines are you can increase or decrease this)

juice & zest of one lemon

Making the pie:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Wash and slice nectarines. Mix with sugar and lemon juice and let stand for 30-40 minutes.

3. Flour a clean surface and roll out one of the dough pucks. Ease into a 9" pie tin. Trim the edges so a 1 inch overhang remains. Put back in the fridge until needed.

4. Drain nectarines, mix with cornstarch, ginger, raspberries, and lemon zest.

5. Fill pie crust with fruit.

6. Roll out second dough puck. Arrange on top of pie, trim to a 1 to 1-1/2 inch overhang, then fold overhang under. Crimp edges. Cut 4-8 vents on the top of the pie.

7. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees for another 30-40 minutes, until crust is a beautiful golden color and filling bubbles a bit.

8. Let cool for 30 minutes or more before serving.

Contact Charesa G. for your dessert questions and recipes: info@OaklandCupcakeCo.com