3.1415 Apples....

It's too bad it isn't 2015 yet, then people could really go wild...

Monday is 3-14-(11) so in a few short years were staring at 3-14-15...

It's Pi Day! For goodness sake, at least recognize it's a day to eat pie with a good excuse!

Pi(e) Day

Well, my math teacher passingly mentioned that he would give extra credit to a student who brings in a pie on March 14, so I decided I'd let off some steam by doing just that. Pushing the envelope however, this pie is in the shape of Pi. Man I love Greek things... they have great vegetarian food too! (Well, besides all of the lamb...)

So here it is, the special edition Pi-Day Pie (as photographed by my new Lumix ZS7 with a scene mode for food! Hoorah, I love the 21st century).

The filling is mildly sweet with the earthiness of the molasses and tartness from the apples (still retaining some nice texture after cooking for about 40 minutes). The crust is light, sweet, not too buttery, and chewy enough to hold the excessive filling in. Not the flaky, fatty crust from the store! I'm a bit particular about my crusts...

Apple Pie (for a special day)

6 medium apples

water

Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cardamom

1 tbsp Blackstrap Molasses

2 tbsp Agave Nectar and 1/8 cup sugar

1/8-1/4 cup raisins

So much Pi filling...

Crust (From Whole Foods Recipes)

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 7 tablespoons very cold butter

Peel and slice apples, combining with spices, several tablespoons of water, sugar, molasses, raisins, and agave nectar over low heat. Cover and occasionally stir, cooking until a consistency of your liking is reached (careful not to overcook the apples into a sauce or remove all of their juice).

For the pastry:Mix flour with salt in a medium bowl or food processor. Add cold butter and cut in using a pastry blender, or pulse in food processor. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms into a ball. Gather up and pat into a disc. If possible, cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling out.

It's hard to give good directions for making this Pi Day concoction. Basically, I cut the pie crust after rolling it out on Parchment Paper, into the shape of Pi. Then, loading (perhaps a bit too much) filling on, leaving some crust on the edges, I cut more and patched it together across the pie's top. It's more of a series of pocket pies than a classic pie, but It is still an attractive desert deserving of many a math classroom (and plates for the less mathematically inclined among us - exhibit A right here).

There it is. Even if you prefer a round pie, you can justify it with math...

12^2(pi)...

Baked for about 20 minutes at 350, it seemed to come out of the oven a satisfactory tan.