I actually wrote this post two years ago but failed to post it. In honor of Day-Month Pi day (22/7) and in the hopes that soon I will be able to make pies to bring into the office again, I am posting it now.
Yesterday was March 14, commonly written 3/14 and known in the nerd world as Pi day. Since there is no 31st of April those of us who prefer the Day-Month format have to join in the celebration with the Month-Day people or be forlorn with no pie. Unless we wanted to celebrate on the 22nd of July (22/7 is the equivalent of 3.14). Petition to have a second Pi day on 22 July in recognition of the rather large population of the world who uses that date format. And because more pie.
This pi day I decided to be a little extra irrational (overkill is underrated) so I made 8 different varieties of pie. Since I made the gluten-free pies in multiple smaller tins as opposed to 1 larger tin, I wound up with pi*pi pies (rounded to the nearest whole number because how do you make less than a whole pie?). I was baking pie for 2 offices (my current office and my former office because no one else in either location bakes and because I could) so I needed a lot pie.
I asked one office what kind of pies they wanted and got no response so I decided to search the internet for weird or unusual pies (because why be normal if you don’t have to). I found quite a number of them. A few I’ll have to make another time because they were more time intensive (and there’s only so much room in the oven and hours in the evening). Unless otherwise sepcified, all the pies are on store-bough shortbread crust because it’s such a tasty time-saver. My thanks to all the wonderful people who made these recipes and posted them on the internet.
The lineup:
Key* Lime Pie (*actually just regular limes): https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/key-lime-pie-2780313?fbclid=IwAR3PEWNA4ouggc-Qwc3ArVnoIqewLMivgBeETPiwnFO-WM0Xwb4wjnj7qhA
This is one of my favorite pies and is a definite crowd-pleaser. It achieves an excellent balance between tart and sweet and is super easy to make. Graham cracker crust
Lemon Curd Pie: https://bellyfull.net/2014/01/23/lemon-curd-pie/?fbclid=IwAR2JTNdKyd2dGky8NMgeMkNBmNlRffQti0gPFJpMXdxfCLsw-QP72e9zEJE
Most lemon curd I’ve tried ends up a bit too sweet for my taste. This one had a pretty good balance of tart and sweet but it would have been better with just a bit less sugar.
Pistachio Pie: https://www.momontimeout.com/easy-pistachio-pie-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR0dB4rFbRZvh6pKtqfezD9SvdW1rWAewf58l8jwa6F2bW1rdL5eJxBEVVc
This one is basically a dessert fruit salad thing in a pie tin. And I’m ok with that. So were my coworkers. Nilla crust
Chess Pie: https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/recipes/a4809/chess-pie-recipe-clv0314/?fbclid=IwAR3GFXaiJJf6SbY865WDSPxq7AQXIkJTEyyQfMMoDokiXDpQ5ouQbA_0zMA
I’d never actually heard of Chess pie before but apparently it’s A Thing in some areas. I found it overly sweet and lacking much flavor.
Vinegar Pie: https://www.loavesanddishes.net/vinegar-pie/?fbclid=IwAR16HEfMXTJqbIpANixye74IzYi73WIoHXfZPrV5RynFg9buWuJLQGA4m_k
Basically a Chess Pie but with a bit of vinegar to solve the problems of the Chess Pie. The bite of the vinegar cuts the sweetness and adds a bit of flavor (Use a vinegar you like the flavor of because that will be the only flavor in this. It’s pretty subtle though). I want to try making this again at some point with a rum-maple vinegar I made a while back. I bet it would be absolutely amazing.
Cinnamon Pie: https://www.aspicyperspective.com/cinnamon-pie/?fbclid=IwAR0_bfcbzNRYAuPXz7qUBJrKrBvkeOe1pW-XW4-OL5hj8giGpISA9uyydAQ
I love cinnamon but honestly this pie could use just a little less. Better yet, replace the cinnamon taken out with other spices like cloves and maybe cardamom and yum….
This would probably make a good substitute for pumpkin pie at holiday dinners (yes, there are people in the world who don’t like pumpkin for anything other than jack-o-lanterns).
Hoosier Sugar Pie: https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/recipes/a3382/hoosier-sugar-cream-pie-recipe-clv0510/?fbclid=IwAR2NxjHR8DPEhXcMHapksYfksXAWZtJ4ri1eAmosEoph2B9wS8dH9JBNSOI
Another very sweet pie although this one at least has some flavor to it. I have no idea how popular it is in Indiana (known as the Hoosier state for reasons unknown to me) but it wasn’t super popular among my coworkers.
Magic Crust Custard Pie: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/pie/magic-crust-custard-pie-3.html?fbclid=IwAR2RWAni2L9AQGILvsbvQbz03EbGUz5V8wDFcNz0jQ4LIQxumQQMiTmlX6k
There are a few people in my office who don’t eat gluten, and I didn’t want them to feel left out, but I also didn’t want to make pie crust from scratch (all the other pies are on storebought crusts). When I ran across this recipe I had difficulty believing it would actually work but figured it was worth a try before resigning myself to finding my rolling pin. This one is perhaps the easiest of all the pies to make: throw all the ingredients in a blender, blend for 30 seconds, pour them in the pie dish, and bake them. I used gluten free flour (store-bought blend) in place of regular flour because that was point. Lo and behold: MAGIC! Apparently the flour settles out during the baking process and forms its own little crust on the bottom. It’s also very tasty.
Office 2: (clockwise from the top): Pistachio Pie, Key* Lime Pie, Cinnamon Pie, Magic Crust Custard Pie, Vinegar Pie
Yet Another Sauce 