Aren’t pie holidays amazing? March 14, or 3/14 is Pi Day in celebration of the mathematical constant, 3.14159 etc. Any excuse to enjoy a classic or creative pie.
Lemon meringue is the former.
“We believe lemon meringue pies should be enjoyed year-round,” Adaeze and Lenny Rosenberg, owners of New York Bagel Deli and Bakery in Santa Monica, told The Journal. “The tart citrus delight always awakens the senses with a smile.”
Lemon Meringue Pie
Yields: 1–9-inch pie
Ingredients
1 9-inch pastry shell
Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups room temperature water
2 lemons zested
2 Tbsp sweet unsalted butter
4 egg yolks
Meringue:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 ounces Deco whip or 4 egg whites
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. To make the filling: Whisk 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan; stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter.
3. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat; pour filling into baked pastry shell.
4. To make the meringue: Beat egg whites in a glass, metal or ceramic bowl until foamy. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie filling, sealing the edges at the crust.
5. Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes till golden brown.
When “anti-caterer” Chef Rossi, owner of the Raging Skillet, was in high school, she became obsessed with Snickers candy bars, and invented her Snickers and potato chip Krispies. (Yes, this has to do with pie.)
“Those are made in a similar way to Rice Krispies treats,” Rossi, author of “The Raging Skillet” and “The Punk Rock Queen of the Jews,” told The Journal. “There are only three ingredients: crumbled potato chips – I went old school with Lay’s – chopped up snickers and melted marshmallows; the combo … is pure heaven.”
When she was recipe testing for her first memoir “The Raging Skillet,” she figured these darlings, which she invented at age 13, would be a great addition. Rossi has been serving them on dessert buffets ever since.
“I got to thinking: If melting marshmallows and tossing in chopped-up Snickers and mushed-up potato chips makes an [amazing] Krispie, why not a pie?” she said. “I picked up a pre-made graham cracker pie shell to start things off; later, I just made my own.”
She added, “Graham shells are so easy. If only life were like that.”
Snickers Marshmallow and Potato Chip Pie
Ingredients
Crust:
2 coffee cups of graham cracker crumbs
½ coffee cup of melted butter
Or buy one 9-inch graham cracker pie crust
Filling:
6 handfuls of mini-marshmallows
½ coffee cup of milk
1 coffee cup heavy cream
3 Snickers bars, chopped
Optional: Crumpled potato chips for garnish
1. Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.
2. Combine mini marshmallows with milk. Using a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until marshmallows are completely melted. Then cool down completely.
3. In a medium bowl, whip heavy cream until nice and stiff. Then, fold into the cooled marshmallow. Fold in chopped Snickers.
4. Pour into the pie shell and chill for 2 or 3 hours. Or overnight is fine too.
5. I like to garnish with crumbled potato chips to really get that sweet and salty thing going. But you don’t have to. It’s great as is too.
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or those looking for a healthy option, Dawn Lerman’s gluten-free, sugar-free blueberry lattice pie with almond flour crust will do the trick.
“Growing up with a 450-pound dad, who was always on one diet or another and never met a dessert he didn’t like, I learned early how to make his favorite treats a little lighter,” Lerman, author of “My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love and Family, With Recipes,” told The Journal.
Now a nutritionist, Lerman loves adding a modern, healthy twist with simple, nutrient-dense ingredients.
“In this pie, almond flour replaces traditional white flour, monk fruit replaces sugar and chia seeds replace the cornstarch that is usually used to thicken fruit pies,” she said. “The result is a pie that still feels like a classic, but loaded with fiber, so instead of one piece, you can have two.”
Blueberry Lattice Pie with Almond Flour Crust
Ingredients
Crust:
2 cups almond flour
3 Tbsp grass-fed butter, cold
1 egg
2 Tbsp monk fruit sweetener
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch sea salt
Filling Option 1:
¾ cup fresh blueberries
¾ cup fresh raspberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp monk fruit sweetener
2 Tbsp chia seeds
Option 2 (Shortcut):
6 ounces Chia Smash (brands like Chia Smash make my recipes easier and are clean and refined sugar-free)
¾ cup fresh blueberries
¾ cup fresh raspberries
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. To make the filling, combine the blueberries, raspberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, monk fruit sweetener and chia seeds in a bowl. Stir gently so the berries stay mostly whole and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes so the chia seeds begin to absorb the juices and thicken the filling. If using the shortcut, combine the Chia Smash with the fresh blueberries and raspberries and stir gently.
3. To make the crust, mix the almond flour and sea salt in another bowl. Cut in the cold grass-fed butter, until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the egg, monk fruit sweetner and vanilla; mix until a dough forms. Press about two-thirds of the dough into a pie dish to form the crust.
4. Spread the berry filling evenly over the crust.
5. Roll the remaining dough between two pieces of parchment paper and cut strips to create the lattice top. Lay the strips across the pie.
6. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden.
7. Let the pie cool before slicing, so the filling sets.
Enjoy! Happy Pi Day!
