kept in pencil, mostly
The recreation log
Every attempt to bake the Oven Marvel chicken pie back since the shutters came down: what I changed, what went wrong, and how close it came to the pie I remember.
Quick answer
The recreation log is my notebook of attempts to bake the Oven Marvel chicken pie at home since the shop closed in 2022. Eight attempts so far, from a domed supermarket-pastry pie scoring 3 out of 10 to the current flat all-butter rough puff with peppery bechamel at 8. The scores are my opinion of closeness to memory, not measurements.
How do I score closeness to memory?
Each attempt gets a number out of ten for how close it came to the Oven Marvel chicken pie as I remember it and as reviewers described it: flat, all-butter puff pastry, crisp on top and soft where it meets a peppery bechamel, chicken thigh, peas, onion, carrot and potato, no egg. It is a gut feeling, written down the same evening. It is not a measurement, a taste panel or a survey, and you should read it as one person's opinion about a pie they have not tasted since early 2022.
Ten would mean I could not tell the difference. I do not expect to get there, partly because the recipe was never published and partly because memory flatters. The recipes on this site are the current state of each experiment.
Attempt 1
April 2022
The panic pie
What changed
Everything, in the sense that there was no plan. A month after the closure I bought a sheet of supermarket puff pastry, used leftover roast chicken, a tin-style creamy sauce, black pepper, and a deep foil tin because that is what I owned.
What went wrong
Domed and tall instead of flat. The pastry smelled of nothing in particular, because it was not all butter. Black pepper gave sharp specks instead of warmth. It was a perfectly nice chicken pie, which was the problem.
Verdict: A chicken pie. Not that chicken pie. Lesson one: shape and fat matter more than I thought.
3/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement Attempt 2
June 2022
Chicken soup with a hat
What changed
My first rough puff, made on a June afternoon with no aircon. A home-made bechamel, using the proportions from a pasta-bake recipe. Filling went in while still warm because I was impatient.
What went wrong
The butter melted into the dough as I folded, and the pastry baked like a scone. The sauce was far too thin and the warm filling softened the base before it reached the oven. The pies leaked across the tray.
Verdict: Tasted closer than attempt one and looked much worse. Lesson two: temperature, temperature, temperature.
2/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement 
Roughly what attempt two looked like. An illustration. Attempt 3
August 2022
Seven in the morning
What changed
Flour in the freezer overnight, butter cubes frozen for 15 minutes, aircon on in the kitchen, folds done before 9am with a 30-minute rest after each. Thicker bechamel, filling chilled overnight.
What went wrong
Nothing dramatic, finally. But the filling was bland. I had used a polite half teaspoon of white pepper for six pies.
Verdict: The first pastry that shattered. Lesson three: the weather is an ingredient, so work around it.
5/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement Attempt 4
November 2022
The weeknight shortcut
What changed
Bought puff again, but all-butter this time, read off the ingredients list in the shop. Diced chicken thigh cooked in the pan instead of leftover roast chicken. Freezer chill for the filling.
What went wrong
Flatter and butterier than attempt one, but the bought pastry was too even and too thin to give that chewy, soaked inner layer. Still under-peppered.
Verdict: Good enough to become a regular dinner. The weeknight recipe on this site is this attempt, refined.
5/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement Attempt 5
February 2023
Doubling the white pepper
What changed
Home-made rough puff again, with four folds; it turned smooth on the fourth and I nearly threw it out, thinking I had overworked it. White pepper doubled and split, half in the sauce and half at the end.
What went wrong
The bases were pale and a little soft, and butter pooled on the tray around two of the six pies.
Verdict: The kitchen smelled right for the first time. The first batch I was not embarrassed to give away.
6/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement Attempt 6
May 2023
Potato and the corn question
What changed
Added diced waxy potato, par-boiled, and sweet corn, because two reviewers remembered it. A pinch of sugar, since others described the filling as a little sweet.
What went wrong
Potato was a clear improvement: it softened into the sauce exactly as reviewers describe. Corn made it taste like a different pie to me. And butter still pooled, because I was baking pies straight after shaping them.
Verdict: Potato stays, corn becomes optional. The pooling butter is now my main enemy.
6/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement Attempt 7
January 2024
Chill, then a hot tray
What changed
Read about a hotel pastry chef chilling shaped butter puff pies before baking. Thirty minutes in the fridge after crimping, a heavy tray preheated in the oven, 210 C for 15 minutes then 190 C.
What went wrong
Very little. One pie burst at the seam because I overfilled it. Portions fixed at about 130 g after that.
Verdict: The edge crackled and then went soft and buttery. I made an involuntary noise in my own kitchen.
8/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement Attempt 8
March 2025
Poach, do not fry
What changed
Poached the chicken thigh gently instead of pan-frying it, and used the poaching liquid as half the liquid in the bechamel.
What went wrong
Nothing went wrong, which makes it harder to know what is still missing. The filling is richer and the chicken is closer to the "fibres just separating" texture reviewers describe. Something in the depth of the sauce is still not there.
Verdict: This is the flagship recipe as it stands. Still an 8. The last two points may be memory, not cooking.
8/10 closeness to memory, my gut, not a measurement
What am I trying next?
- A proper chicken stock made from wings, reduced, in place of the poaching liquid.
- A lower-protein flour for the pastry, for a more tender, less springy dough.
- Grinding white peppercorns fresh on the day instead of using powder from a jar.
- Ten per cent more butter in the roux, to see whether that is the missing richness.
If you remember the pie and think I am missing something obvious, I would genuinely like to know: the share a memory page explains how to email me. The facts I am working from are on what the chicken pie tasted like.
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