Easier than pi

In honor of March 14, known in silly circles as “pi day,” I bring you pie. Well, photos of pie. (Of course, 3.14 is a simplistic approximation of pi, so it makes sense that the pie is such a simple recipe that it’s practically cheating.)



Preheat the oven to 350º F. Start with a crumb crust. I used vanilla wafers, but graham crackers or ginger snaps or any number of plain cookies unencumbered by chips or nuts or fruit (etc.) will do. You’ll need at least 1 ½ cups of crumbs, but no more than 2 cups. To the crumbs add 3 tablespoons of sugar. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine (more if you need it, less if the crumbs have a lot of fat in them). Slowly add the melted butter to the crumbs and mix (use a fork or your hands). When the crumbs are fairly evenly coated with the melted butter, pat the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely.

At this point, you’re going to melt a large chocolate bar (or its equivalent; I used a bittersweet chocolate from Trader Joe’s, and I used too much of it, if it can be said that there is such a thing as too much chocolate). Use a glass mixing bowl as the top of a double boiler for melting the chocolate. When the chocolate is completely melted, allow it to cool for about 20 minutes. Add whipped cream (whip at least ½ pint real whipping cream yourself, or use one regular tub of whipped cream or whipped topping—this kind of cheating is allowed in this recipe) to the cooled chocolate by folding it in. Once the cream is thoroughly (but gently) mixed into the chocolate, distribute the chocolate into the crust. Chill until set.

You can adjust the density or richness of the pie by adding more whipped cream and/or using less chocolate.

This is a ridiculously easy recipe, and it’s good even when the ingredients aren’t anything special. So if you use real whipping cream and a good quality chocolate, it’s fantastic. And still easy.