Pi-Rat Pie consist of a solid chocolate rat, decked out in a Pi pirate hat and hook, bursting from a chocolate chip cookie pie (aka grease bar pie) with a sugar cookie lattice crust.

This was my first time doing something like this and there are some things i would do differently.

1. Mix-a-mold, did not work that great. I wanted to use the food safe silicon mold maker but could not get it in time so had to go with what ever I could find in the art store. I can't reuse the mold since it turned slimy and gross in the frig. Have patience and order it on line and go with the silicon.

2. Don't cool your chocolate in the frig, there was a lighter color chocolate film on the outside of the rat and was a real pain to remove. I think is because it cooled too quickly. It could also have been the Mix -A-Mold's fault.

3. The frosting that the hat and hook are made out of is called Fondant, I have a feeling this is why wedding cakes taste funny. They told me at the fancy cake store that it was like working with clay, i would say more like bubble gum. Since there seemed to be an abundance of different moldable edible stuff i would try something else next time.

So follow my steps and learn from my mistakes and you should come out with a fine little Pi-Rat
Good luck

Step 1: Clay Rat

First you need to make the original for your rat. I did this with molding clay, as you can see not enough of one color but that does not matter. The bottom of the rat does not show but I was already there so finished it out any way.

Step 2: Prepare the Form for the Molding

Glue the rat to a piece of cereal box grade cardboard. I used a pencil to balance the rat.
Make a cylinder around the rat, use cauking to make a good seal.

Step 3: Fill the Form Up.

Mix up the Mix a mold, work fast because it really does set up fast.
Then fill up the form, cover the rat all the way.

There were no health warning on the box but it also did not say it was food safe.
so i really don't know, half of it is water so it can't be that bad.
But as i said in the intro you should really go for the silicon food safe stuff.

Step 4: Remove the Clay.

Once the mold has hardened remove the cardboard and then the clay.
I cut my mold in to 3 pieces to do this.

As you can see in this picture i barely had enough stuff to cover the rat, the next steps would be much easier if you got a nice flat top on it.

Step 5: Fill the Mold With Chocolate.

Put the mold back together with rubber bands, turn it up side down.
Because I did not have a flat top I put it in a bowl of dry beans to support it.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and pour it in the form.
I put mine in the frig to cool i think it might work a little better if you let it cool on the counter.

Step 6: Time to Make the PIE

While the rat is cooling make the pie.

Cookie pies or as some people call them grease bar pies are amazing and amazingly easy to make.

It is a slightly different then the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the bag.

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Mix it all up and put it in a pie pan.

bake at 375

The extra flour and baking soda gives it a little more something for when its in a pie pan.
If you try to make cookies with this they turn out in little hard balls, yet it will stay soft in a pie pan.

Step 7: Lattice Crust

For the lattice on the cookie pie mix up a simple suger cookie recipe

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

mix it up, roll it out
lay it in a lattuse on baking parchment
and cook it for 6 to 8 mins.
at 400

When it is done put it on the pie while it is still warm and cut off the edges.

Step 8: Put It All Together.

Pull the rat out of the mold, clean it up as you see fit.
Cut a hole out of the pie. Save the parts so you can make it look like the rats breaking out of the pie.

Put the rat in and decorate it as you see fit.
I used fondant, you should use something else.

Fondant worked out well in the end but there are a few thing I don't like about it.
1 It does not taste very good
2 it was kind of like working with bubble gum, not clay.