Release the PieCaken with Zac Young (S3 E14)

# AI Transcript: TCGP S3 E10 

Announcer:
Jonathan Pogash is the cocktail guru, a mixologist and hospitality expert. Ah, see? You know big words. Dude, I'm the cocktail guru. Cheers. Jeffrey's his dad, a wine and spirits author, historian, and consultant.

Jeffrey:
Well, I do my homework.

Announcer:
With decades of experience, they're always looking for the next big thing. Join this father and son duo for a few laughs as they explore the hottest trends in hospitality with the service industry's leading trailblazers and tastemakers. Welcome to the Cocktail Guru Podcast.

Jonathan:
So Dad, you went ahead and told Mom that we were getting a snake.

Jeffrey:
Yeah, I did. For the kids. You had mentioned that after the hamster died, you were going to get a snake.

Jonathan:
I know, poor Peanut.

Jeffrey:
Poor Peanut. Peanut was adorable.

Jonathan:
Peanut was one of a kind. We had a funeral for Peanut the other day.

Jeffrey:
Well, she's definitely in a better place right now.

Jonathan:
Yes, she is. She's with all the other pets.

Jeffrey:
So I'm going to drink to toast to peanut, because today, instead of having something gooey and sweet and dessert-like, because that is going to be the topic of our conversation today, I brought in a substitute, a libation which will substitute for the moment as my dessert because this is a 50 year old tawny port served in a 50 year old glass. It's a Baccarat crystal glass, which I acquired an entire set 50 years ago. And this is a port that I would normally serve with dessert. because it is beautiful. It's beautiful. Look at the color. Beautiful.

Jonathan:
Well, you know, Dad, in a few weeks, we should just sit down together and have some port and also have some dessert created by our next guest, which we will mention.

Jeffrey:
Don't you think? Yes, of course we will. We're going to drink this wonderful port with a, shall I say it or not?

Jonathan:
With what? Oh, with the well, let's let's wait a second. Let's do our intro. You're jumping the gun here.

Jeffrey:
Let me let me jump in the gun with this first. You're gonna take a sip. Okay, so raisin. It's just raisin. It's beautiful.

Jonathan:
Yeah, yeah, I have. Yes, I should have poured myself a glass of port, but I did not. It's good. Yeah.

Jeffrey:
Wow. Do you know? Yeah, I've had this for a long time.

Jonathan:
50 years.

Jeffrey:
No, not the poor. I haven't had it for 50 years. I bought I It was given to me maybe 15 years ago or so. Oh. So it has time to age in the bottle since it was first produced. And it is just one of the most delectable bottlings that I've ever tasted.

Jonathan:
Did I give it to you?

Jeffrey:
No, you did not. It was from the company that I worked for way back when.

Jonathan:
OK, yes, well, well, let's get into our guest and we're super excited to have our guest today. He is someone that our audience will probably know, especially if they're into food and followers of the many food shows that we know and love on TV, or if they have a sweet tooth like we do, can't get enough of desserts. I get my sweet tooth from you, Dad.

Jeffrey:
I know that's that's for sure. I've always had one.

Jonathan:
He has appeared on, he has appeared on Chopped, Beat Bobby Filet Bakers versus Fakers, Top Chef, Just Desserts, Food Networks, Halloween Baking Championship, and of course, Nailed It. I am speaking of the great American pastry chef and television personality, Zach Young, who has also worked with us when we were organizing our chocolate and cocktails events in New York City. I think he was at one or two of them, not the ones that we did in Miami, but in New York. So he's originally from Portland, Maine.

Jeffrey:
This is a very special interview because of that, because we have a direct connection to Zach Young.

Jonathan:
Welcome, Zach.

Zac:
Hello. Wait, you did it in Miami and didn't invite me? I know.

Jeffrey:
We just did it once in Miami, that's all.

Jonathan:
Yeah, we did it once and we had Chef JJ as our host. It was like during Food and Wine many years ago.

Jeffrey:
And then unfortunately, right after that, the pandemic hit. So we didn't do them anymore for a number of years and we have not revived it.

Zac:
Well, I fully support reviving it, especially in warm locations.

Jeffrey:
So we will take that under consideration. Thank you.

Jonathan:
So Zach, we're putting you on the spot. Are you saying that you would participate in something like this if we were to revive it?

Zac:
Oh, absolutely. But specifically in a in a warm location.

Jeffrey:
Yeah, we will make sure that we do that because I want pie cake and

Jonathan:
Among your- We'll talk about- desserts. We'll talk about Zach's pie cake in a sec, but Zach, we always ask our guests whenever they come on this one question. What is your desert island drink?

Zac:
Oh. You know, it would have to be a Mezcal Negroni. Yeah. Just kind of check all the boxes. Smoky, sweet, bitter. Like, you know, it just, kind of really well-rounded, easily drinkable, dangerously drinkable, because it's one of those cocktails that you also don't realize is all booze. That's delicious. Yeah. Yes.

Jeffrey:
I'm all for that one. Definitely.

Jonathan:
Negronis are one of my favorite drinks, and I love Mezcal too, so I can taste it right now. I can definitely taste it in my head.

Zac:
It was one of those eye-opening experiences, right? Because I always loved a Negroni, and then there were the variations of the white Negroni, etc., but mainly sticking to the gin base. And then I was at a restaurant years ago, a Mexican restaurant, and they were like, oh, well, do you want a Mezcal Negroni? And I was like, how could you do that? What? And my world changed that night, so.

Jeffrey:
Well, isn't that what people say about the piecaken? This is true. This is true. My world has changed since I've been reading about it, and it will change even more when I start tasting it.

Zac:
How can you put all of the desserts in one dessert?

Jonathan:
Well, that's a really good question. And there are so many levels of flavor in a pie cake. And I want to kind of take it back a little bit, Zach. And I'd love to know sort of what was one of your earliest food memories? Maybe it was as a child or watching family that you thought, well, this is really interesting. And then in the future, looking back, you're like, well, this maybe inspired me.

Zac:
Well, it it's interesting, because especially the original pie cake in which we did as the turducken of dessert, right, it was supposed to be all of the Thanksgiving desserts in one, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, spice cake, apple pie filling. And it was really centered around the pumpkin pie. And growing up, you know, famously, I share that my mother's vegan, gluten free, all of all of those buzzwords way ahead of their trending time. which was not great growing up. Like being the kid with the carrot sticks to trade at lunch, like really not so good. As an adult, like I very much appreciate some of the perspective it's given me and my relationship with food. But that said, we ate so we didn't die. Like food was not a celebrated thing in our house, except for my grandmother, my father's mom, who was a phenomenal cook. And she would cook every holiday. And her pumpkin pie, it was just like my ultimate thing. And it didn't matter what time of year, like when I'd come home from college, she'd make the pumpkin pie. And as I got interested in cooking myself and, you know, when I was in culinary school, I emailed her and asked her for the recipe for her pumpkin pie. And she sent it to me and I made it and it was terrible. I was like, this is not, this is not right. So I called her and she said, well, maybe you need to come home and make it with me. She changed the recipe. She sent me the wrong recipe. So I would go home and spend time with her. Oh, that's sweet. That's very sweet. That pumpkin pie, her pumpkin pie, which subsequently is actually the pumpkin pie in the pie cake. And I mean, that's the only recipe that I use. But that was like, still the ultimate. I mean, like I will pumpkin pie across the board. Like I will eat an entire Costco pumpkin pie. No problem.

Jeffrey:
Oh, I'm so glad you said that. I am. I am so glad because I'm a Costco member and I have had the Costco pumpkin pie. My wife, who is from France originally, is not as big a pumpkin pie fan as I am. But my single favorite, I would say not just pie, but even my single favorite dessert is pumpkin pie. Thanks, Zach. I found a kindred spirit, finally. I don't see very many people. who consider pumpkin pie to be their favorite dessert?

Jonathan:
Well, pumpkin pie is one of those desserts that is kind of hard to master. I feel like it's harder than it looks because there's a fair amount that goes into it. It's not super complicated as far as ingredients go, but there's baking time, there's temperature, there's butter, there's the crust. There's getting the consistency right on top, all of that. What is it, Zach, about pumpkin pie? What are some secrets about pumpkin pie that you might be able to share?

Zac:
I think you hit it on the nose that there's a lot more to it. You're dealing with water content. You're basically setting a custard in some ways. You know, you can over bake it. It can get curdled and grainy. You want it to be this kind of silky smooth texture. So and then you're also dealing with the crust. Right. So you can have the under baked crust and an over baked filling. You know, there's a lot there. I like to in classic pumpkin pie. I actually like to pre bake the crust. to just to get it brown enough and then set the custard a little bit lower in the oven temperature. So it sets, you know, kind of low and slow. So it gets creamy, but then the crust is still baked. Also, my grandmother's recipe is my number one, but honestly, the recipe on the back of the can can't go wrong.

Jeffrey:
Yeah, right.

Jonathan:
And it always needs to be the 100% pumpkin as opposed to the pumpkin pie filling.

Zac:
I don't really understand why they do both. Yeah, me neither. You still have to add the eggs. I mean, they just add the sugar and the spices. You still have to add the other things. So yes, the pure pumpkin.

Jeffrey:
Yeah, and yes, always pure pumpkin. And the other another key, I think, to make it, who am I to say I'm not a chef. I'm not even close to being a chef. I'm just an avid consumer of pumpkin. A lowly enthusiast. But I would say the blending of the spices is key as well. Because that's where all the flavor is coming from.

Zac:
Well, and I think that it should retain the essence of pumpkin too. Sometimes when you look at a pumpkin pie or like when I go to someone's house for Thanksgiving and I look at it and it is this brown, like heavily brown color, I know that I'm not going to like it because it's going to be very clovey, very nutmeggy. So I think really, I actually pretty much stick to ginger and cinnamon. I find the clove and nutmeg to be overpowering.

Jeffrey:
Hmm. But yeah, I want the clove and the nutmeg as well.

Zac:
I want I think it's I mean, it's but it's all about balance, you know, like, yeah, it's like cocktails. I mean, we we kind of speak the same language in that sense.

Jeffrey:
We do. And this is what I would serve with my slice of pumpkin pie.

Zac:
I do. I love a port. I mean, and I like I appreciate a restaurant with a robust dessert menu and robust after drink after dinner drink selection. Yes.

Jeffrey:
The other drink that I would serve with this is a sherry. I would serve a Pedro Jimenez sherry with. Oh, yeah. As well. That's one of my favorites.

Zac:
I think you can get away with even some ice wines, too, on a lighter pumpkin. Still like going in with that like raisiny, heavily raisiny, but a little bit brighter just to cut through some of the richness of dessert. But yeah, I think that dessert wines in particular are very underrated or underutilized.

Jeffrey:
They are definitely underutilized, underappreciated. because I love German beer in Auslese, a Trocken beer in Auslese, Eiswein, or from Alsace, a wine called Selection de Noble, Selection of Noble Berries, also a delicious dessert wine.

Zac:
And there are quite a few. I was just there, actually.

Jeffrey:
You were?

Zac:
Yeah.

Jeffrey:
I represented the wine producers of Alsace for 18 years of my life.

Zac:
I was in, I had to, be in Frankfurt for work. And I was like, well, I'm here. Like, why not just go South? And, you know, I've spent a lot of time in France, never been to Alsace. And it was, I don't know why, but it was like never on my, like, radar, right? I was always like the city or the coast, either coast, but like never that North. And I was blown away. And all of those villages, too, that are straight out of Beauty and the Beast.

Jeffrey:
I know. 17th, 16th century, perfectly preserved cobblestone streets. Beautiful.

Zac:
We recreated the opening number of Beauty and the Beast 2, and everyone was like, what is this guy? Is that on video? Yeah, I might share it with you.

Jonathan:
Please do. It would be just for our eyes only, don't worry about it. But we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. The Cocktail Guru has some very exciting news. We now sell booze! That's right, you can now browse our shop for Cocktail Guru swag and your favorite spirits in the same place. We personally have chosen all of the items in our store. Are you looking for a water bottle with stainless steel straw? We've got it. T-shirts, hoodies, snapback hats. Yup, we've got that. Oh, we've even managed to create a onesie for that little mocktail lover in your family. But wait, there's more. A cocktail shop wouldn't be complete without bar tools, cocktail box kits, and some of your favorite spirits. So head on over to shop.thecocktailguru.com and see what's new. You can use code Guru24 for 10% off your first order of non-alcoholic merchandise at the checkout. That's shop.thecocktailguru.com. 10% off swag with code Guru24. Cheers. You must be 21 years old. Purchase alcohol and restrictions may apply based on your location. And now we're back.

Jeffrey:
And I was going to say, concerning Alsace, that it is one of the great gastronomic regions of the world. I'm not thinking so much of their desserts, although they do have some very nice desserts. But in general, the cuisine is just fantastic. And there were, I'm not sure it's true now, but when I was representing them, there were more Michelin starred restaurants in Alsace than in any other region of France. I think that's probably still true today.

Zac:
I'd believe it. I mean, and it's, you know, the cuisine is such a melting pot, right, of the location, right? It's that perfect blend of French, German, and then you also have this kind of like Swiss and Italian coming in. It's the EU of food, basically.

Jeffrey:
It is.

Zac:
And it has its own identity. Wait, so I was eavesdropping. What happened with this snake? Because I have a childhood reptile story.

Jonathan:
Oh, well, we'd love to hear that but my daughter our daughter loves animals and she loves snakes We have this hamster peanut that passed away and she immediately not immediately but after grieving for a couple of days She said now I want a snake. I've always wanted a snake and we're putting the kibosh on it for the moment, you know, because I It's a snake. But what is your reptile story, Zach?

Zac:
Oh, so in sixth grade, I told my biology class that I had a turtle that I would bring in as a class pet. I did not have a turtle, by the way. I just told them that. And the teacher got excited. And then I got in the car with my mother and told her that I wanted to get a turtle and not to worry that she wouldn't have to take care of it. because it would be the class pet. So I basically tricked my sixth grade biology class and my mother into getting a turtle.

Jeffrey:
That's great. Wow. It just reminded me. Well, at least you didn't dissect it like with frogs in biology class.

Zac:
Yes. Well, we did frogs, yes.

Jonathan:
Yeah, same. Well, part of your early career, Zach, you went to culinary school and then out of culinary school, is that when you got a job at Bouchon Bakery?

Zac:
Right out of culinary school, yeah.

Jeffrey:
Great plan.

Jonathan:
And how was that first, you know, how was that moving to New York culinary school, first job after culinary school experience?

Zac:
I mean, I didn't, it was one of those things that like, I didn't even realize what I was doing while I was there, you know, like, It is such a, it was such a high level. It was the opening of the Time Warner, the New York Bouchon. So it was a huge, huge deal. And, you know, Per Se had opened two years before. There was a lot of cross utilization of the kitchens too, which was also super cool. But like I look back on it and I'm still plucking things and things that I learned there out like it was so intense and there was so much just up front that like I didn't even realize what was happening. So it's truly, it was truly like my first job, but also like has stayed with me the entire time.

Jeffrey:
And then you went to another great establishment called Butter.

Zac:
Yes. Yeah, that was four years, four years at Butter. And this was Butter was downtown at that time, and this was the mid-aughts. So it was 2006, 2007. So the height of Butter was kind of a two-part thing, right? It was the downstairs lounge club, et cetera, that was the Olsen twins, Lindsay Lohan, DiCaprio. It was just everyone. and the upstairs restaurant as well. So it got so much press for the, you know, the celebrity happening there too. But at the same time, Alex Guarnaschelli was running the kitchen and making a name for it and for herself with the food there too. So it was really kind of this like amazing experience of, you know, running this restaurant and getting a phone call from one of the owners and says, hey, can you, I need a birthday cake for tonight. Just write happy birthday Leo on it. And you're like, okay. And then you're like, I'm like, make the cake, make the cake. I'm like piping. I'm like, happy birthday, Leo. Oh, DiCaprio. Okay, cool. And then we're, you know, working with Alex you know, I didn't know what I was walking into either. Like the ad that I answered, the Craigslist ad that I answered said, like, pastry position, like seeking pastry position, like opportunity to be creative or something. And like, I didn't know what I was going in for. And it was, you know, basically running the pastry department, like, single handedly.

Jonathan:
Oh, wow. So that so that's what you were hired to do was basic. Were you an executive pastry chef? I mean, basically, yes.

Zac:
Yeah. Like, I didn't. I didn't know I was coming out of Bouchon. And I didn't know anything.

Jonathan:
And the chops, you had the chops, you know, like you had all of this training and you're they thought that you were ready for it.

Zac:
Well, yeah. And I needed I mean, I needed someone to funnel it right and to kind of take it and focus both it and me, both professionally and personally. And that was the magic of Alex, because she's not only a brilliant, incredibly smart and talented chef, but she's also incredibly maternal and nurturing and protective. So just the best of all possible worlds.

Jeffrey:
And life comes full circle because the two of you end up on TV Food Network. Yes.

Zac:
Yes. And separate separate paths there. She had started doing a couple of things while I was still there. And then I went off. And then, you know, years later, we've always remained friends. But years later, it was a couple of years that we never did anything on Food Network together. And then we the first time we did a Chopped episode, Scott Conant was the other judge. It was me, Alex, and Scott Conant. And in the middle of the day, Scott says, I feel like I'm sitting in between two Alex's right now.

Jonathan:
That's funny.

Jeffrey:
Yeah. Yeah. And then, of course, you were, I think you're all, both of you were on Halloween Baking Championship.

Zac:
So Halloween came, we are going into our 10th season of Halloween, which is wild. Wow, that's incredible. I came on in season three. So I was a replacement judge. And of course, when they called and said, hey, are you interested in doing Halloween baking? I was like, sweets and costumes? Yeah, absolutely. What could be better? And my friend, Carla Hall, Carla and I have been friends for a very long time. So to get to work with her was always amazing. And John Henson, who I loved from TalkSoup growing up, like my father and I. That's right, I remember.

Jeffrey:
Jonathan and I used to watch that.

Zac:
Yeah, that was, I mean, we'd watch Jeopardy and we'd watch Talk Soup. But I loved, I always loved John Henson. So he also came in as a host on the third season, which it's, I call it summer camp. You know, we filmed for about two weeks and it's like the best two weeks of the year just because all four of us now get to be together. And it's just such a fun show.

Jeffrey:
Yeah. Well, I was fortunate enough, as an aside, fortunate enough to meet Jim Henson,

Zac:
See that, that I am very, very jealous of.

Jeffrey:
Yeah. Yeah. I can, I can understand why. Yeah.

Jonathan:
And so moving, moving on, I think we ran into you when you had first joined the David Burke group, if I'm not mistaken. Um, well, what, uh, you know, what was your experience at David Burke? And then how did you kind of come out of working at David Burke and getting into the, uh, pie cake and industry?

Zac:
So, It was funny. I had always kind of said, like, if I could have a dream job, it would probably to be David Burke's corporate pastry chef, just because I've known him for a long time. Stylistically, you know, this kind of like whimsical over the top, but like there's a lot of technique behind it. Like it just it just made sense to me. And I had We'd opened the Flex Muscles restaurants. We'd done the donut program with them. We still had a couple of the restaurants on Prince Edward Island. And I was kind of feeling satisfied with everything that was happening there. And I kind of wanted to take a little bit of time off and figure out my next step. I wanted to work on a book and explore media a little bit more. And I was kind of done with the restaurant game. So I was like, let me take the summer off and figure it out. And two days after I left Flex Muscles to take my summer off, my phone rings and it's Dave. And he's like, I hear you're not working. That's my David Burke impression.

Jonathan:
That's great.

Zac:
No, no, I'm not working. I am working on other things. And he was like, I think we should talk. And I was like, no, okay, well, why don't, you know, I'm going to take the summer off and then like, why don't we circle back come fall? And he was like, I'll see you Tuesday.

Jeffrey:
And you said, okay, I'll be there.

Zac:
I said, we shall. We shall. And I mean, it was great. And we opened, you know, we had, oh God, a handful of existing restaurants in the city. We opened like three more, I think. It was truly a wild, wild time. And then the group kind of grew beyond Dave. And that's when Pie Kaken started in one of the Midtown hotels that we were running. And it was supposed to be just a special for Thanksgiving. It was never supposed to be a a cake. I mean, it was going to be a slice. And the reaction when I posted like on Instagram, my like, hey, working on this special, and all of my friends asked if they could buy one for their Thanksgiving. And it's like, no, like, we're not selling cakes, like you can come get a slice. But something went off in my head. And I was, I thought, maybe we should try to sell, sell these. So I turned to our events team, and I was like, hey, if I wanted to sell these cakes, could we somehow process it through our, like, events? software, you know, and like put it in and have people pick up at the host stand. And so the first year when it blew up, that's what we were doing. And it was like totally crazy. It was all hands on deck. The thing totally blew up. You know, it was on Kelly and Michael at the time. And that's when, like the phone, like we shut down the phone system like it just like it was chaos. And the next year I was like, You know, I get all of these nationwide requests. Why don't we figure out how to ship one? And this was in the really early stage, you know, like William Sonoma has had always done it. Right. But like, this was the beginning of GoldBelly, the beginning of a company called Foodie Direct, which then got folded into GoldBelly, acquired by GoldBelly. So we really started with Foodie Direct. Um, with the, the single pie cake and the Thanksgiving version, which we have year round now because people, I mean, who, who doesn't want to think of Thanksgiving year round. Right. Um, but it really just organically grew and it grew from the Midtown hotel to our catering base kitchen in the basement of Bloomingdale's. Um, year over year and kept folding in other holidays. We started doing Christmas, we started doing Passover, we started doing St. Patrick's Day. If there is a holiday, we've done it. And then we outgrew that. And now we have a manufacturing facility in Jersey City where you know, it's gone from chest freezers in the basement of Bloomingdale's to UPS tractor trailers sitting at the loading dock to get them out for the holidays. So it's wild. It's totally wild, a total accident. And one of these things that, you know, I have half of a BFA in musical theater and a vocational degree in making donuts. So learning this business and building this business, just trial and error and, you know, picking the brains of some people who are far smarter than I am. But it was all instinct, too. It was just it was what I wanted to do. And I wanted to do it the way I wanted to do it. And like. It worked and I got very lucky.

Jeffrey:
And so here's a technical question, does it take longer to make a pie cake and then other

Zac:
pie slash cakes? Yes, because we basically we make all of the pies, like the layers of cake, there's just more steps, and then assemble the cake. So the the whole production process and recipes haven't changed. What's changed is there's like, a little bit of automation in there. So like, instead of scooping 14 ounces of pecan pie goo into each tin, there's a spot depositor that you can squeeze, right? And the new toy are these nitrogen tunnels. So we can bake all of the pies, all of the layers, put them through the nitrogen tunnels, which basically freezes them instantly, and then assemble the cake. So what used to be a two-day process of bake, chill, assemble, is now done in a single day, which is totally crazy, totally cool. The product is still the same, but it's kind of cool to see how technology can assist.

Jonathan:
So it's like a souped up blast freezer.

Zac:
Yeah, it's like a conveyor blast freezer, basically. Yeah. It's crazy. That's super cool.

Jeffrey:
Here's my favorite meal, John. My favorite meal is going to be a Thanksgiving sandwich. You know what that traditional Thanksgiving sandwich? Yeah, as a main course and pie cake and for dessert.

Zac:
Wow, we will contribute we will contribute a pie cake and for your dream.

Jonathan:
So we'll get dad when we're together next, which I think will be in the next few weeks. We'll have that we'll have the we'll make the sandwich and then we'll have the pie cake and direct together and then we will film it we will film and get our reactions. Absolutely. So real quick, before we leave you, Zach, because we're running out of time, what do you have coming up next? Do you have anything fun and exciting happening?

Zac:
Well, we're opening Sprinkle Town ice cream and donuts in Foxwoods in Connecticut. Oh, really?

Jonathan:
Oh, wow. Dad will be there. He loves casinos.

Jeffrey:
I do go there occasionally. So I will be there. Oh, yeah. Let me know. I will.

Zac:
that is open or opening.

Jonathan:
By the time this comes, by the time this episode airs, it'll be open.

Zac:
We better be open. And, you know, we continue to run Pie Kaken throughout the year. I think we're coming back in with a new summertime cake, a new version of the Fourth of July Pie Kaken, but That kind of red, white and blueberry scenario lives really well in the summertime. We found that people like that, like it a lot for barbecues, cookouts, you know, birthdays.

Jeffrey:
Yes, it seems as though you do certain holiday pie kakens, right? You do Valentine's Day.

Zac:
We do. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Passover.

Jeffrey:
Oh, Passover pie kaken. The Passkaken. Ooh, Passkaken. Does that have some matzah?

Zac:
Matzah crusted, macaroon pie, flourless chocolate cake, and raspberry mousse. It's kind of a super hit.

Jeffrey:
I'd like mine with gefilte fish. Gross. And horseradish.

Zac:
Well, let's be honest. The gefilte fish is really just a vehicle for horseradish.

Jeffrey:
Correct. Correct.

Jonathan:
That sounds about right. Well, Zach Young, this has been a pleasure. It's so great to see you, and hopefully we'll do one of those chocolate and cocktails events very soon in some sort of tropical warm location.

Zac:
Yes, like we say, next year in Miami.

Jonathan:
Yes, next year in Miami. Next February, mark it down. It's a deal. It's a deal. All right. Well, thanks a lot, Zach.

Jeffrey:
Thank you. Thank you, Zach. Great seeing you. Thank you very much. Wow, John, I can't believe we have this in front of us. This is the piecaken. We have the sacred piecaken.

Jonathan:
Let's take it out of the box. This is what it looks like coming out of the box.

Jeffrey:
It comes in a box, frozen, just like this.

Jonathan:
All right. Wow. And we're here together. We are here. You've been hanging out here in Massachusetts with me.

Jeffrey:
Yes, here in your beautiful kitchen. So let's dig into this. Now, piecaken is a combination of spice cake, but apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie. Am I forgetting anything? No, that's all of it. I'm not sure. I think that's it. Oh, man. And it's just a combo of all of those things laced or melded together that melded with buttercream. So don't forget the buttercream because that's a very important part of this delicious. There you go. mouthwatering scrumptious well this might be multiple bites because we have to get the different layers of course there's multiple oh multiple bites per person yes yes well i see the the pecan right here on the edge is the pecan you're most excited about the pecan i know you're actually i'm a pumpkin pie freak so the pumpkin pie is you are a freak next to the pecan there's apple all right let's just taste it i'm trying i'm going to go on the spice cake end of it with apple and buttercream

Jonathan:
wow no i know i know this is pretty decadent well it is indeed well each layer is entirely unique as if you're eating each one of those pies let me try the apple and spice and if you get them all together it's incredible

Jeffrey:
luscious sensation. It's a flavor explosion.

Jonathan:
Okay, I have it all together.

Jeffrey:
Never had anything like this before. Incredible. Holy cow. Wow. I need some of that pumpkin though.

Jonathan:
Zach Young, you're a genius. They do this all year round. Obviously very popular during the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah.

Jeffrey:
And there are different holiday pie cakes as well. This is the classic pie cake. the one that was created for Thanksgiving. But there's past Cacon for Passover. That's right. St. Pat Cacon.

Jonathan:
And we'll have a we'll have a link to, you know, where you can get actually you get it on Golden Belly, which is nationwide food delivery. And we'll have a link or a QR code or something. So there we have it.

Jeffrey:
So thank you, Zach Young. Thank you. Thank you very, very much for this.

Jonathan:
All right. It's pretty decadent. Dad would finish it if he could. I would. But I'm going to have another bite.

Jeffrey:
Okay.

Jonathan:
I shouldn't.

Jeffrey:
I'm stopping. Bye. Thanks everybody. Bye.

Jonathan:
That does it for today's show.

Jeffrey:
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Jonathan:
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Announcer:
The Cocktail Guru Podcast is produced by First Real Entertainment and can be seen on EatSdrinksTV.com, Spotify, and Zencastr, or heard on Apple, Google, Amazon, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Travel arrangements provided in part by Zelle Travel.