This Creative Woman Excels at Baking Art Pies with Avant-Garde Crust Designs

Food Art

When it comes to beautiful desserts, cakes often get all the credit. It’s easy to see why—with spectacular trends like buttercream flowers and sculpted sugar brushstrokes, there’s a definite “wow” factor with these confections. But you can’t underestimate the power of creative pies. Lauren Ko, a home baker from Seattle, produces spectacular pie crusts that are as much a work of art as they are tasty.

Many of Ko’s pies utilize a lattice pastry approach, but with a twist. She will arrange the long, thin strips of dough in complex weaving and graceful crisscrossing patterns. The results often frame the pie fillings; in some of her recent creations, the lattices enclose a bunch of berries for a bullseye-style design, while another pie has a mandala-like shape in the center.

Baking is known for its adherence to directions, but Ko lets herself improvise when it comes to the crust and surface designs. “I'm driven by color and pattern, so I'm constantly brainstorming color combinations and geometric patterns that I think I can replicate with pie dough [and] fruit,” she explains. “What I create during a particular baking session is also often informed by produce that is in season and what's currently in my fridge. My final products are generally happy accidents.”

Ko started baking pies about a year ago and has only begun sharing them on Instagram. Follow along with @lokokitchen to see what’s out of the oven.

Home baker Lauren Ko showcases the possibilities of edible art with creative pies.

Art Pies Lauren Ko

Pie Crust Art

Pie Crust Art

From abstract designs to art history-inspired designs, Ko lets herself improvise with the pie crust art.

Pie Crust Art

Inspired by van Gogh's ‘Starry Night', Ko calls his pie ‘Starry Nut'.

Creative Pies

Pie Crust Art

Creative Pies

Creative Pies

Pie Crust Food Art

Pie Crust Food Art

Creative Pies

Lauren Ko: Instagram
h/t: [Buzzfeed]

All images via Lauren Ko.

Related Articles:

Baker Shares Before and After Photos of Her Intricately Patterned Pie Crust Designs

Artist Carves Everyday Foods into Exquisitely Patterned Masterpieces

25+ Creative Pie Crusts that Turn the Dessert into a Delicious Work of Art

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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