PIE BAKING TIPS FROM THE INTERNET'S PIE QUEEN

WITH HER HOLIDAY PIE CRIMPING VIDEOS AND EASY PIE DOUGH RECIPE, L.A. BAKER ROXANA JULLAPAT HAS TIPS FOR YOUR NEXT SWEET OR SAVORY PIE.

- BY JENN HARRIS

(JENN HARRIS Los Angeles Times)

OXANA JULLAPAT’S fingers fly across a dish of pale pie dough, pinching, tucking and crimping to create a perimeter of crust that looks like a work of art. The 15-second Instagram reel is mesmerizing. Jullapat is behind the Friends & Family bakery and cafe in Hollywood and Silver Lake. Her pastry cases are some of the most impressive in the city, brimming with croissants, muffins, cookies, hand pies, galettes, biscuits, quiches, scones, cakes and bread. And after posting a collection of “crimp of the day” videos to Instagram during the holidays, she’s become the internet's pie queen. Her reels of scalloped edges, artichoke-patterned crimps and lattice tops have racked up millions of views. “Crimping was a way for me to like gain entry into this mystery world of pies, where I've always been a bystander,” Jullapat says. The chef grew up in Costa Rica, immune to the pie mania that grips most Americans during the holiday season. “Because I have no rules or emotional attachment like the rest of America, it’s OK to break the rules.”