Ruby Edward's TARTINE - Bakery   Cafe

Really, what is the difference between a tart and a pie?

A tart usually has a dense, almost shortbread like crust. A tart baking pan is shallow, thus making the filling shallow.  A tart is more Continental, as in Continental Europe in origin.
 Our pie is American [USA] in style and taste.  The pie pan is deeper; the pie crust is both buttery and flakey with a nice snap to it.  The filling is deep and substantial and requires a thickening agent, in our pies this agent is flour.

What is the difference between your Dark Chocolate / Drinking Chocolate beverages?

Our Dark Chocolate beverage is made with French cocoa powder and is delicious hot or cold –iced made in the North American tradition.  We make our mix in our kitchens.

The Drinking Chocolate is based on the European tradition.  We use ground 76% dark Belgium chocolate and French cocoa powder.  Our Drinking Chocolate is dark and rich, but not as thick as the true European tradition.  This drink of Kings is served hot and is not designed to be enjoyed cold –iced.  We make our Drinking Chocolate base in our own kitchens and make each and every cup fresh to order..

What is the glaze you put on top of your pies?

We use a Belgium Glaze on all of our fruit pies.  We do not employee a top crust to hold in the moisture because we found that with both top and bottom crust our pies would be too high in a crust to fruit filling ratio.

In olden days, only the rich could afford an ‘upper crust’, our pie is very humble, but rich in flavor.

What is rhubarb?

 Rhubarb is a native Mongolian plant - gads, you thought it was native to your country, didn’t you?  Well, in Asia the roots and a bit of the leaf are used in oriental medicine, the bitter stalk is tossed.  In the west, we use only the stalk, the leaf is toxic and is tossed, the roots are left in place for next years’ crop. At the moment, we are the only bakery offering rhubarb in Korea.

What is a la Mode?

 It is French, and means; ‘the style.’  Americans [USA] use words from other languages and change their meaning.  In the American [USA] vernacular a la Mode means ‘with ice cream,’ this term is familiar with farmers in the mid-west to the populations of the largest cities.
 We use a vanilla ice cream that goes perfectly with our baked goods.  We have only one flavor of ice cream, vanilla.

What is Dutched Coffee?

 In a word? Delicious!  We grind our own coffee beans and then soak them in cool fresh filtered water for 12 hours, and then we slowly strain the coffee essence this system produces into a glass container and refrigerate it.  When Dutched coffee is ordered, we mix the essence with water –hot or cold.  Our Dutched Coffee has less acid and a strong but smooth coffee taste without the bitterness of espresso based or brewed coffees.
 Iced Dutched Coffee is perfect for hot summer days, and comforting hot, on cold winter days.  Luke developed our essence extracting technique for this delicious beverage.

Why when every other coffee shop or café charges more for ‘ICED’ drinks, you charge the same for iced and hot?

 We don’t see any reason to charge differently, the costs involved are about the same.  We strive to make a practical profit while offering the highest quality at a reasonable price.

Why do you serve Ceylon Tea from Sri Lanka?

 It doesn’t have so much to do with the country as it does the taste.  We pick teas that do not have a strong aftertaste.  We want teas that are delicious and refreshing both hot and iced.  And, teas that are a perfect complement to our wonderful baked goods.

Why don’t you use a top crust on your pies?

 We are always concerned with taste and texture. We use a Belgium Glaze on all of our fruit pies.  We do not employee a top crust to hold in the moisture because we found that with both top and bottom crust our pies would be too high in a crust to fruit filling ratio.  The Belgium Glaze in a neutral glaze that holds in the moisture shows off the color of the fruit and adds a texture to our pies.

Why do you only sell Cream Pies on the weekends?

 Everything is supply and demand.  We make all of our pies ‘fresh’ and there is a very large demand for our Cream Pies on the weekends and not so much on the weekdays.  This could change in the future.