For Irvine resident Brooke Cazier, owner of the Flaky Apple Pie Co., a unique, web-based pie shop that specializes in homemade, ready-to-bake pies, the art of pie making has always been in her genetics. 

In fact, Irvine’s existential pie lady experienced the art and tradition of pie making firsthand, as Cazier’s family owned the Huntington Beach Pie Co. for several years. 

Given the family lineage of pie making expertise, one would only assume Cazier’s Flaky Apple Pie Co. could simply be an inherited slice of her family’s metaphorical pie.   

To the contrary, however, for Cazier, pie was just dessert. 

(Flaky Apple Pie Co.)

After pursuing a career in interior design, Cazier explained that while she never expected pie-making to be a way to make a living, she would offer help to her mom at the Huntington Beach Pie Co. 

But, when her family’s pie company closed in 2002, Cazier says she first began making pies for the community in Irvine, as a way to fundraise for family trips, and even to help pay down her daughter’s orthodontist bills, but never saw it as a way to make a living. 

“Making pie is a lost art,” Cazier admits. “I had never made pie in my life – I would bake at home, but never like a job. I was an interior designer — it was different being on the other side. Once our shop closed, I still was yearning for being at home with my kids, but having a creative outlet.”

Cazier explained that her business, the Flaky Apple Pie Co., began to attract attention over the summer, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced non-essential travel restrictions, and the closure of many services in Irvine.

Having had the company name for a few years, Cazier said the legal process surrounding the business was long and drawn out – finally completing in early 2020, only to be timed with the beginning of the pandemic.

As it turns out, Cazier’s frozen, ready-to-bake pies might have come at the perfect time.

“Fast forward to April. I decided to try, and had a huge success – more so than I was expecting, I think, because people wanted to be home,” Cazier said. “I had one lady come and buy six large chicken pot pies – she’s like, ‘I’m stockpiling!’”

With these closures, Cazier said her role as Irvine’s pie lady began to take shape.

(Flaky Apple Pie Co.)

Now, with a newly designed website and partnerships with local businesses – including the popular Atomic Creamery – Flaky Apple Pie Co. is on the map.

“We just started a collaboration, over Christmas, with Atomic Creamery, where you can get a pie and two pints of ice cream. We deliver in Orange County and L.A. – and now we’re shipping nationwide for Valentine’s Day.”

While the idea of opening a storefront seems daunting to Cazier, considering her family’s history with pie-shop ownership, she still finds herself working in her Costa Mesa-based commissary kitchen space more than five days a week.

“Because my family had a pie shop – been there, done that – and know what it takes, I know that it’s a huge commitment, and I don’t know if I’m ready and willing to sacrifice that much,” Cazier explained in an interview with Irvine Weekly. “I’m here like five to six time a week, and when I’m not in the kitchen I’m doing so much behind the scenes. You always have an idea of how much work it’s going to take to start a business, then once you’re in it’s like, ‘What was I thinking?”

On most days, the Irvine pie lady can be found working inside the Hood Kitchen, a commissary kitchen space in Costa Mesa, where she spends hours constructing edible experiences for her pie-loving patrons.

(Flaky Apple Pie Co.)

Another interesting aspect to take note of is the absence of baking in Cazier’s pie-making process, something she says is all by design.

“I don’t really see myself baking a ton of pies … it takes away from what I was looking to create, which was also to give people an experience,” she said. “We know that so many memories are also passed through smell and I feel, as they’re baking their pie, hopefully they’re exposed to some of that.”

The streets of Irvine are talking, as even some members of the Irvine City Council have expressed their love for the Irvine pie lady’s ready-to-bake pies. Anthony Kuo, who always showcases delicious snacks around Irvine on social media, has claimed his love affair with the Flaky Apple Pie Co.’s chicken pot pie with brown gravy.

“She makes these delicious pies and freezes them and gives you the instructions on how to make them at home,” Kuo said. “I literally keep a dessert pie in my freezer, and she makes delicious chicken pot pie with brown gravy – so I keep one of each of those in my freezer at all times.”

Kuo added that having access to homemade pie has become a perk, considering the impacts the pandemic has had on various services around Irvine, and statewide.

“It’s very much, in my mind, a COVID-19 themed food service, because she doesn’t have a restaurant.”

Storefront or not, Cazier is back for a second serving of family pie shop ownership. As a small business, Cazier explained that she is not expecting to be “rolling in the dough financially” – her commitment to the community is currently Cazier’s biggest priority.

“This is it, I’m not doing anything else,” Cazier said. “I see a ton of long term potential – it’s hard when I have to wear so many hats, but I’m just starting out. I don’t have the funds to necessarily constantly hire help out or outsource things.”

Nonetheless, considering the dedication to her craft, drive to serve the community, and love for pie, these efforts may very well be enough to solidify Cazier as Irvine’s official pie lady.

“I love pie and I love eating pie,” she said. “Where do you go to get pies – there’s not a lot of places anymore – and good pie at that.”

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