Spherical Pie

This pie is the ultimate ode to Pi.  A full sphere of crust filled with pudding gives you the perfect pi-inspired pie eating experience.  The ratio of volume to surface area of a sphere is the highest possible for a closed shape.  So a spherical pie creates the largest possible filling content relative to crust.  It is the ultimate dessert experience for pi and pie lovers alike.

See more pictures and details on my blog entry here.
Serve this up alongside some sweet or savory Fried Pi Pies for a fantastic Pi Day celebration!

Step 1: Calculations and Considerations

First you need a pie crust mold.  The crust will be a two-part crust, with each part being baked around semi-spherical object.  You might have something around the house that's got a fantastic semi-circular shape but it should be made from an oven-worthy material.  I am using a glass candle holder that has been cleaned thoroughly and has no wax residue.  Since it is not tempered, it's important to be very careful and not to allow the glass to cool too quickly.  So do not put it in the refrigerator, in your sub-zero detached garage, etc. to cool it faster.  Just wait.  If you choose glass, be careful!  Do this at your own risk. (People will have issues with my use of non-tempered glass so this is for their satisfaction.)

Calculate the volume of filling.  Measure around the widest part of the sphere.  This is the circumference.  If you don't have a flexible measuring tape, wrap a piece of string around it, mark it, and measure that.  Use this to calculate the volume of your sphere.  This sphere calculator will calculate the volume for you.  A cup of pudding is approximately 14.5 square inches.  My 11" diameter mold will result in 22.45 square inches, about 1 1/2 cups filling so I made two cups of filling.

I had an amazing semi-circular candle shade that was almost a perfect sphere with little holes for light and oxygen to go through.  However, I calculated the volume of this 22" diameter sphere and it was a staggering 180 cubic inches requiring about 12 cups filling.  This is why I went with a smaller mold.

Comments

[canida]

Wow, this is awesome!

[starshipminivan]

I bought a Wilton Sports Ball pan and molded my crust around it. It holds 8 cups. To make it less dense overall, I filled filled the crust with a marshmallow fluff and put lemon pie filling into the very center.

[starshipminivan]

This pie was featured on Boing Boing during Pi Day! Wahoo! It really was kind of amazing. It was presented to high school Geometry students to celebrate the day. They split it in half and sort of scooped out the goo and broke apart the crust as there weren't the best cutting implements around.

[chicopluma]

i was just randomly seen instructables and i wasn`t able to ignore this one, a sphere is always better than a circle

[WhyHello]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa????????? *tries to stick fork in it*

[porcupinemamma]

This looks very cool! You must have inherited a creativity gene.
I might be gapping, but what is a "crust mold"?

[starshipminivan]

It is anything round that the crust can be baked on. I originally wanted to bake the crust inside something round but the crust would puff on the inside and then I knew the outer surface wouldn't get golden brown or particularly firm. So I baked the crust over something and it worked really well.

[porcupinemamma]

like a pyrex bowl?

[starshipminivan]

Sure. I didn't use my round bowls because they were flat on the bottom but that's just me being overly picky.

[porcupinemamma]

I must have missed reading what you used (gulp...) can you remind me please?

[starshipminivan]

I used a clean glass candle holder with a semisphere-shaped bottom that sits in a retaining ring. I had to add a caution warning though because people will panic if I don't, and because it is not intended for oven use. Mostly it's only an issue if it cools too quickly and that can cause glass to crack.

[porcupinemamma]

Ahhhh thanks :0)

[ANDY!]

That's a crazy pie.
Might be good for easter!

[starshipminivan]

Absolutely! It's a very flexible concept. I'm working on a Death Star version.

[canida]

*jaw drops*

Yes, please!

[starshipminivan]

It's more of a squashed sphere at the moment and the indentation is a little big so it's out of proportion but it's roughtly Death Star shaped. I might get pictures of it later once I have it filled, as long as it doesn't suddenly come under attack.

[hlfwy.thr]

This is so neat. I can think of all sorts of applications for this.

You could make an edible Earth complete with the crust, mantle, and core if you layer the insides. Or you could make a watermelon if you layer the insides and put streaks of filling to make seeds when you cut it! Or..or...ok. I am getting carried away now.

Awesome job :)

[starshipminivan]

Those are great ideas! I understand, it's easy to get carried away. I get carried away all the time.

[DELETED_jorgegunn]

ahh shucks this is simular to my idea but still way diffrent so i think i will still try and enter it.

[kazmataz]

A. Mazing.

[lemonie]

I've thought about things like this, well done!

L

[foobear]

pretty cool, but who would be brave enough to cut the first slice!

[starshipminivan]

Me! I'd do anything for pie. I added a step of the cutting of the pie.

[Luliana]

It's really an amazing pie!
I just have a question, how do you eat it? That looks kind of tricky if you're going to share.

[starshipminivan]

When I cut the pie tonight, I took pictures and added another step. It was easier than I expected.

[caitlinsdad]

No need to accurately measure the size of the sphere, I believe there is the fudge factor. Besides, if you want accurate, you would need to do it in the metric system How does one serve up this calorie Death Star?.

[starshipminivan]

You can, of course, fill the half sphere with rice or beans and measure the volume that way for determining the amount of pudding. Since I made it for the Pi Pie Contest, I figured I'd go half hog with calculations (whole hog is when I put in the formulas and expect people to calculate it themselves).

I see this as a four person pie so, I plan to use a hot knife to divide it in half along the chocolate equator, then cut each half sphere in half. Otherwise I can see two hungry people just getting out spoons and eating out of their half sphere bowls.

[caitlinsdad]

p.s. create another set of spherical pies in the pac man theme to enter in the games contest.

[starshipminivan]

Good idea. Also, look at the picture of the crust laying on the form in step 3. When I was taking that shot I thought it looked like a pac man ghost. Hmm....

[caitlinsdad]

Big audience here for that one-up mushroom. Do it!