Pies at KCRW's Good Food pie contest

There were a lot of food-related events that happened over the long Labor Day weekend, but only one featured a homemade pie made by my friend, blogger Marni Landes of Happy Go Marni, and her mother, Joyce: KCRW’s Good Food pie contest. The event shared space with Taste of Beverly Hills, a three-day food extravaganza at the Beverly Hilton, but the best part was the pie contest was free! You could just walk up and sample from more than 100 pies that people had lovingly made in hopes of getting to the final, which was judged by L.A. foodie luminaries Jonathan Gold, Sang Yoon, Zoe Nathan, Eric Greenspan, Karen Hatfield and more. Marni won last year’s cream pie category, so she had a good chance of winning again this year.

There was also an apron fashion show, MC’ed by “Good Food” host Evan Kleiman. Here’s Marni in her cute apron:

Evan Kleiman (left) and Marni (right)

There were too many pies to taste, though I did get a good assortment of sweet and savory before I got exceedingly full. Everything from classic apple pies to more inventive ones such as a fig, goat cheese and rosemary pie were represented.

All kinds of pie!

Though Marni’s orange maple hazelnut pie with a chocolate glaze and candied orange peel didn’t make the cut (boo!), I thought it was gorgeous and delicious.

Marni's pie

In the end, it didn’t matter who won because Marni and her mother, Joyce, are the cutest! I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.

Joyce, Marni's mom (left) and Marni (right)

Tuesday, Oct. 27: Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake and Blum’s Lemon Crunch Cake

This cake, which is Valerie’s recreation of the famous San Francisco bakery’s, is outstanding. The two layers of sponge cake and whipped cream frosting are topped with crunchy coffee-flavored candies, much like honeycomb. The interplay between the different textures makes this fun to eat, too. After being featured in the Los Angeles Times Magazine, the response was so positive that the cake became part of Valerie’s regular offerings. Lucky us!

Wednesday, Oct. 28: Everyday Indulgences

This new line of “casual” treats includes almond fleur de sel toffee treats, peanut toffee treats, chocolate-dipped almond shortbread, and dark chocolate candied-citrus bark. The toffees, for which Valerie Confections is best known, are light and airy, making them easy to bite into. The peanut toffees, for example, are more salty than they are sweet, despite being dipped in chocolate, which makes them easier to eat…one after another…

Peanut toffee treats (left), chocolate-dipped almond shortbread (top), almond fleur de sel toffee treats (right), dark chocolate candied-citrus bark (bottom)

Thursday, Oct. 29: Petit Fours

These cute little chocolate-covered cakes come in lemon, orange, ginger and rose petal flavors. The rose petal petit four is made with vanilla bean cake layered with rose and passion fruit ganache covered in white chocolate. Though Blum’s cake was made as a wedding cake for the L.A. Times story, I think these little guys would make great wedding favors.

Rose petal (left), ginger (center), lemon (right)

Check out the candied rose petal!

Friday, Oct. 30: Valerie at the Market

This farmers market-inspired line includes the one savory item from Valerie Confections — thyme shortbread, which pairs nicely with chevre, by the way. There’s also candied citrus pieces (blanco oro grapefruit, meyer lemon, valencia orange and kumquat), chocolate truffle torte with fresh cream and strawberries, apple caramel hand pies, and various jams (white fig and fuji apple, strawberry and vanilla bean). A friend of mine, who has a big sweet tooth, took one bite of the apple caramel hand pie and was nearly brought to tears — no joke — because she thought it was so good. Just sayin’.

Strawberry and vanilla bean jam

Chocolate truffle torte

Saturday, Oct. 31: Chocolates, Toffees and Truffles (ends at 5:00 p.m.)

Sample from the sweets that got the company its start. All manner of toffees (almond, orange, ginger, mint, LAMill coffee), truffles (fleur de sel, black pepper), liquid caramels and rocher will be available for tasting. Try the holiday nougat, with almonds, oranges, topped with gold leaf, and the mint mendiants, made by topping a disk of bittersweet chocolate with a candied mint leaf.

Black pepper truffle

Ginger toffee

Mint mendiants (front), holiday nougat (rear)

In addition to its storefront on 1st Street on the edge of Koreatown, Valerie Confections can be found in specialty food stores, including Joan’s on Third, Bottega Louie and Dean and Deluca, as well as at local farmers markets, including Century City Farmers Market on Thursdays and Gigi’s Farmers Market at Americana at Brand in Glendale on Saturdays. Valerie is working on chocolate bars next, including a salt and pepper version; the company hopes to have them out in time for the holidays.

Hey, look at that awning! Is it new? I believe it is!

[Full disclosure: Co-owners Valerie Gordon and Stan Weightman Jr. are my neighbors.]