Chocoholic: Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day Edition

Chocoholic is a column by Tina Kartika about all things sweet in Philly.

These few days are packed with celebrations. Saturday, March 14, 2015 was the only Pi Day in our lives (unless there’s a scientific breakthrough that could prolong our lives until the next Pi Day a century from now), and math lovers and haters alike honored the day with delicious pies. Just three days after Pi Day, everyone will celebrate the long-awaited St. Patrick’s Day by bar-hopping to drink beers. Unknown to many, there is also a snack unique to Philadelphia that locals enjoy around St. Patrick’s Day: Irish potatoes. To commemorate both Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day, this blog post will cover pies from Magpie and Irish potatoes from Lore’s Chocolates.

MAGPIE
Magpie is an artisan pie boutique located on 16th and South Street. Magpie offers sweet filled and hand pies, as well as savory pot pies.  To honor Pi Day, Magpie sold its famous butterscotch bourbon pie for $3.14 per slice while supplies lasted. Each customer was limited to three slices, but it was not a problem for me because a slice of pie was quite filling. The smooth butterscotch bourbon filling had just the right amount of sweetness, and the flaky crust was baked to perfection.

Magpie's Butterscotch Bourbon Pie
Magpie’s Butterscotch Bourbon Pie

While butterscotch bourbon is certainly a unique flavor, I also wanted to celebrate Pi Day with a more familiar and traditional taste: apple pie. Magpie’s caramel apple pie is filled with cooked apple slices sprinkled generously with cinnamon powder, similar to other apple pies out there. What makes Magpie’s special is the caramel sauce drizzled on top, which left me craving more.

Magpie's Caramel Apple Pie
Magpie’s Caramel Apple Pie

Thank you, Magpie, for a delicious Pi Day!

LORE’S CHOCOLATES
Lore’s is a local chocolate parlor located on 7th Street and Ranstead. Like other chocolate boutiques, Lore’s offers an assortment of truffles and bonbons, but its St. Patrick’s Day special–Irish potatoes–does not involve chocolate at all. Irish potatoes are also neither Irish nor potatoes. These traditional Philadelphia confections are actually coconut cream balls coated with cinnamon powder to resemble tiny potatoes.

Lore's Irish Potatoes PC: Lore's Chocolates
Lore’s Irish Potatoes
PC: Lore’s Chocolates

Lore’s starts selling fresh Irish potatoes in January and continues to offer them until St. Patrick’s Day. You can choose to purchase by the box or by weight. What distinguishes Lore’s Irish potatoes from those of its competitors is their freshness. Irish potatoes found in grocery stores may be a few months old, giving them a stale, hard surface. Fresh Irish potatoes, on the other hand, are soft on the inside and the outside.

Besides the traditional Irish potatoes, Lore’s also sells crystal cream mint shamrocks, milk chocolate shamrock, milk chocolate leprechauns, and other St. Patrick’s Day-themed candies.

Lore's St. Patrick's Day-themed candies
Lore’s St. Patrick’s Day-themed candies

I recommend everyone to join in the festivities of St. Patrick’s Day with a few candies from Lore’s!

-Tina Kartika

One thought on “Chocoholic: Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day Edition

  1. Lovely pictures! Lore’s is my favorite Philly store for chocolate year-round– coincidentally, I’m eating some of their nonpareils as I type!

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