A Pie Recipe for Pi Day

 

A Pie Recipe for Pi Day

 

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

 

 

You have seven days to plan your celebration of Pi Day–March 14, 2018 (3/14).  Are you thinking of baking a pie  or eating a piece of pie?  Having a piece of pie with a cup of hot tea is a fine and festive choice to enjoy while you are reading and/or writing a pi poem on 3/14.  In last week’s blog post, I shared with you one of my pi poems and gave you the framework for writing your own pi poem.  In this week’s WORDWALK post, I am sharing with you a recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie from my mother’s recipe collection.  This pie recipe was one that Mother made somewhat frequently because it was a favorite of my sister and my cousin Donald.

 

Whether fruit or cream pies, single-crust or double-crust–all of the pies my mother made were beautiful and delicious–worthy of having a pie photo in a famous cookbook.  As a younger child, I assumed that all mothers made picture-perfect pies; By the time I hit the double-digits of age, I realized that not all pie bakers were of blue-ribbon quality.  Thus, through the years, I gained a better appreciation for my mother’s baking skills.  Since she worked full-time as the postmaster of our small town of Blanford (Indiana), Mother thoroughly enjoyed the art of baking and never complained about time spent in her kitchen.  My mother’s Chocolate Cream Pie recipe is based on a recipe from what is now considered a “vintage cookbook”–The Art of Cooking and Serving, by Sarah Field Splint, copyright 1930 (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio, 252 pages).  When our family still had the kitchen with the white cabinets, Mother kept all of her cookbooks in a large drawer near the northeast corner of the room.  Besides liking to eat my mother’s baked goodies, I liked to peruse her cookbooks.  Now, you can have a look at one of her favorite pie recipes.

 

Mother’s Chocolate Cream Pie

 

one baked pie shell

 

two tablespoons Crisco {trademark}

six tablespoons flour

one and one-half cups milk {My mother’s handwritten note on the recipe indicated that either whole or two-percent milk could be used.}

two squares unsweetened (baking) chocolate

three-fourths cup granulated sugar

one-fourth teaspoon salt

two egg yolks

one teaspoon vanilla

 

* * *

 

two tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

two egg whites (room temperature)

 

1. Melt Crisco.

 

2. Add flour, milk, chocolate (cut in pieces), granulated sugar, and salt; stir constantly, and bring slowly to the boiling point. Mixture will become thick and smooth.

 

3. After removing pan from heat, stir in beaten egg yolks and vanilla.

 

4. Pour into baked pie shell.

 

IMPORTANT!  Another suggestion which my mother wrote on the recipe was:  “Let the pie filling come to room temperature  before preparing meringue.”

 

Meringue

 

1. Beat egg whites until stiff.

 

2. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar to stiffly beaten egg whites and continue beating until mixture is glossy and stiff.

 

3. As you spoon the egg-white mixture onto the chocolate pie filling, allow the egg-white mixture to form soft peaks. Be certain to spread meringue to edges of crust to form a seal in order to prevent shrinking of meringue.

 

4. Bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees Fahrenheit) for fifteen minutes or until a delicate brown.

 

NOTE:  You may choose to use your own meringue recipe with the chocolate cream filling.  Some meringue recipes call for more ingredients (such as cream of tartar and vanilla) than does this vintage recipe of 1930.  Also, I remember my mother’s experimenting with the temperature and time of baking, especially after a new oven entered our kitchen.  Perhaps, you may find that 350 degrees for twelve to fifteen minutes is better while other bakers may prefer 425 degrees for only eight minutes.  Happy baking!

 

On Pi Day, March 14, you may find that, if you are not in the baking mood, a pie shop or bakery may have a special sale.  Also, some restaurants may mark Pi Day with a special price for a piece of pie.  Is reading this blog making you hungry for the artful wedge of pastry?  A piece of pie and a pi poem sound like a winning combination to me!

 

SHARING TIME:  In the comment section for this WORDWALK post, please share your favorite kind of pie, your favorite pie recipe, and/or your favorite pie story.

 

Happy Pie Day!  Happy March!

Alice and Leader Dog Willow

 

March 7, 2018, Wednesday

 

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