A Pie for Pi Day...

Pi Day, the annual celebration of the mathematical constant π, falls on March 14th because 3, 1, and 4 are this magical number's first three significant figures. This quirky holiday was first cooked up in San Francisco in 1988 by Larry Shaw, a brainiac working at the Exploratorium Science Museum. And get this - it just happens to be the same day as Albert Einstein's birthday! What a deliciously nerdy coincidence!

But Pi Day isn't just about numbers and birthdays. Oh no, my friends. It's become a full-blown pastry party! Pastry chefs, bakers, and pizza makers have an excuse to whip up all sorts of sweet and savory pies to honor this mathematical marvel and Einstein's genius. So grab a fork and dig into some

deliciousness on Pi Day - a celebration as infinite as the number itself!

Naturally, I was itching to whip up a pie in honor of Pi Day. I searched for fresh rhubarb, as the Irishman and I are fond of the ruby fruit. Alas, no luck on the rhubarb front. But fear not; I stumbled upon some heavenly early nectarines and plump, juicy blackberries. So, a nectarine and blackberry pie it was! And let me tell you, this pie was so good, I didn't even bother offering a slice to the Irishman. He's not big on sweets anyway unless you count his weakness for Cadbury Dairy Milk Bars. Can you blame him? Or the occasional flourless chocolate torte, which I'll be whipping up for his birthday. I had grand plans to surprise him with a rhubarb pie inspired by his childhood memories of his mother's rhubarb desserts. A pie's a pie, and I did indeed bake. Here's to hoping you'll be inspired to bake one too!

Basic Pie Dough (enough for 1 double crust pie or 2 single crust pies)

2 1/4 c flour

2 tbl sugar

1 tsp salt

8 oz cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

4 tbl + ice water

*This pie dough recipe is below; it’s easy, flaky, and a great recipe to always have in your back pocket.

Add flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl of a food processor ( you can do this by hand, but I have found that the food processor makes this perfect). Pulse several times to mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter. Start pulsing until it looks like coarse sand. Add the water and start pulsing again as the dough comes together. Feel the dough and if it comes together easily between your fingers you are done, if not add a touch more water. Take the dough out and form it into two disks. Wrap in parchment and chill for at least an hour.

After letting the dough chill for at least an hour, pull one disc of dough out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 450. Gather an eight- or nine-inch pie plate, a rolling pin, silpat, and some flour.

Roll out the first disc of dough so that when you place the pie pan on top of it to measure, you will have a good inch all the way around, like the picture. Place the dough into the pie pan and trim the excess dough around the edge a bit; this does not have to be too pretty, as you will put the other dough on top after filling it with fruit. Chill the pie pan with dough while you make the filling.

Pi Day Pie

10 nectarines - leave the skin on , pit and slice

1 pint blackberries

juice and zest from one lemon

1/2 tsp almond extract

2/3 c flour

3/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 egg

Place fruit into a large bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit, add the almond extract, lemon zest, mix and set aside. In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, spices, and salt, whisk to eliminate any lumps. Add dry mixture to fruit and mix well, allow to sit for a few minutes.

Set aside the fruit as you roll out the other disc of pie dough, just like you rolled out the first disc. Add the fruit to the pie pan and put the other piece of dough on top of the pie. Crimp the edges of the pie and put several slits on the top using a knife. Beat the egg and brush all over the pie and sprinkle with sugar.

Place the pie on a sheet pan and place in the oven and bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake an additional hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

Bia maith leat.  Bon Appetit. Spis godt