Quick and Easy Pie Chart Pi Day Fruit Pizza Pie

If you want to make a quick and easy geeky dessert for family, friends, or co-workers, this is it! As long as you know how to turn on your oven, use a spoon, and can write your name, you have the skills you need to make this Quick and Easy Pie Chart Fruit Pizza.

Click on Step 1 to get straight to the recipe. Read on if you want to know more about the math involved in this tasty dessert.

This fruit pie can be made for Pi Day (3/14), or any time of the year. It's great to use with students who are learning about graphs and/or fractions. You see, this unsuspecting fruit pizza is also a Pie Chart--also known as a Circle Graph. Imagine asking 8 people to vote for their favorite type of pie. Four people select one flavor, 3 select a second flavor, and 1 select a third flavor. This fruit pizza shows exactly what a Pie Chart displaying that data would look like. Students should be able to name the fraction of the pizza for each flavor.

Arranging the sections in the way shown in the picture puts them in the order of the first 3 digits of Pi -- 3, 1, 4. The decimal point is included to make the connection to Pi more obvious. You can leave that off if you just want a Pie Chart dessert.

Also, two main features of circles, and key ingredients of the formulas for circumference and area, are shown on this pizza. The long strip of pie crust that cuts the pizza in half is called the diameter. The smaller strip that divides one half into two sections is called the radius.

Step 1: Go Shopping

Buy the following items from the grocery store.

-- 3 different flavors of pie filling (found in the bakery aisle)
-- 1 box of pre-made dough for pie crust (in the refrigerated section)
     Double check that each box contains two crusts.

You will also need a couple of cookie sheets or pizza pans. Any flat, metal, baking pan will do as long as it is about 12 inches wide.

Step 2: Prepare the Crust

Read the directions for the pie crust you purchased. There should be instructions for baking a crust that will be filled after baking. If you chose the brand pictured (Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts), this is how you'll prepare the crust:

1) Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
2) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
3) After the dough has been sitting out for at least 15 minutes, take out one crust and unroll it on a pizza pan or cookie sheet.
4) Create an edge to hold in the pie filling. Go around the edge turning it over to make a double thickness.
5) Using a fork, poke holes in the crust. This allows air to escape so you don't have a bubble in the middle of your crust. You don't want the holes any bigger than the fork tines. You almost can't have too many holes.
6) Once the oven is fully heated, put your crust in and set a timer for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Create the Numbers

Unroll the second sheet of pie crust on a cookie sheet.

1) Using a knife with a sharp tip, cut a strip across the middle of the circle (diameter). The strip should be about 1/2 inch wide.
2) Cut another strip from the center of the crust out to the edge (radius) to make a wedge about 1/8 of the entire circle.
3) You should now have three sections. Cut the following out of each section.
Smallest section -- 1
Medium section -- 3 (and a decimal point if you want a Pi Pie Chart)
Large section -- 4
4) Place all of the cut pieces on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

Step 4: Put It All Together

After the crust and cut-outs have cooled, do the following to assemble your Pie Chart Fruit Pizza.

1) Use a teaspoon to place fruit filling on the bottom crust. Cover 1/2 of the crust with one fruit. Then cover about 1/4 of the remaining half with a second flavor. Use the third flavor to cover the rest of the crust.
2) Place the cut-outs. Place the long and short strips over where the toppings come together. Place the strips carefully because they may break. If they do break, don't worry. Settle them into the filling and no one will notice.
3) Place the numbers and decimal point in the three sections. Place the 4 on the largest section, the 3 and the decimal point on the medium-sized section, and the 1 on the smallest section.

Viola! You have a Pie Chart Fruit Pizza.