Which Piece of Pi Do You Want?

Pie Crust

5 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 t. salt

2 cups solid vegetable shortening

Sift together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until you get a mix that has small, even bits. Add about 1 cup of ice water, one tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition until you can form your dough into a ball. You may need more or less water, depending on your flour and the humidity. Do not knead.

Form dough into two large discs and one smaller ball. Place the two large pieces in waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator.

Separate the dough ball into as many pieces as you are going to dye different colors. Add some food dye to each in a separate bowl and knead with your hands to blend well. I used red and blue and mixed the two to get purple. Roll the dough into numbers or shapes and chill on waxed paper.

Pi starts with the large 3 and keeps going to show 3.14159265. I placed a large pi symbol in the middle. I divided my pie into a section for each numeral and one for the decimal. I added purple circles to the outer edge for decoration.

This was the first time I have taken photos of food. Sorry I don’t have some of the actual mixing. 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Filling

3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into large pieces

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

3 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into thick slices

1 cup granulated sugar

½ t. ground cinnamon

½ t. grated nutmeg

2 T. flour

1 T. lemon juice

zest of one large lemon

½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 T. butter

Mix all filling ingredients, except butter, in a bowl. Roll out bottom crust with a rolling pin to approximately 1/8” thick and place in pie plate. Add filling. Dot with the 1 T. butter, cut into small pieces.  Roll out top crust to same thickness and place over filling. Cut off any crust that is hanging over the edge. Add any decorations to top of pie.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes and cool slightly before cutting. Great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.