Dear Howard,

Happy Pi Day! A day to celebrate the combination of math (not a fan of) and pie (super fan of) and an excuse to create a new shelf display!

Top row: Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life
by Kate McDermott, photographs by Andrew Scrivani; Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites by Martha Stewart; Whoopie Pies by by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell, photographs by Antonis Achilleos; and What Katie Ate: Recipes and Other Bits & Pieces by Katie Quinn Davies.

Middle row: Perfect Pies: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes from America’s Pie-Baking Champion by Michele Stuart

Bottom row: The New Pie: Modern Techniques for the Classic American Dessert by Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin; The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book: Uncommon Recipes from the Celebrated Brooklyn Pie Shop by Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen; The Perfect Peach: Recipes and Stories from the Masumoto Family Farm by Marcy Masumoto and David Mas Masumoto; and Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit by Lisa Ludwinski.

So of course, I made one! The pie dough is from the one and only The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book. The filling however, is an adaptation from their wild ginger and strawberry pie. I don’t use bitters, arrowroot, or wild ginger in mine.

Ginger and Strawberry Pie
Makes enough to fill a 9-inch pie

¼ cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 pounds strawberries, diced (about 5-6 cups)
1 small golden delicious apple
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons minced ginger
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon salt
Unsalted butter
Egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water and a pinch of salt)
Demerara sugar

1. Butter the pie pan and chill in the fridge.
2. Roll out the pie dough on a floured surface. Make sure the dough is bigger than the pan size with about an inch overhang. Transfer the pie dough onto the buttered and chilled pan. Put it back in the fridge.
3. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar over the diced strawberries and let it macerate at room temperature. I left it out for 1 hour.
4. Peel the apple and then grate it it. Drain the strawberries from their excess juices and combine with the shredded apples.
5. Preheat your oven to 425°F, make sure to position the two oven racks to the bottom and center positions.
6. In another bowl, mix the ¼ cup of sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, allspice, and salt together. Add this sugar mixture to the strawberry and apples and give it a good stir. Pour it into the pie dough shell. Refrigerate as you work on the lattice top.
7. Again, dust a flat surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll the second piece of pie dough out and cut them into narrow rectangular strips to make the lattice design.
8. Finish with the border by rolling in all the excess dough hanging off the edge. You’ll soon have a nice thick circumference that can be crimped into a wave. If it’s too much, you can trim some of the excess dough off before you roll the border. Again, if the dough starts to feel warm, pop it back in the fridge, especially if your oven hasn’t finished preheating yet!
9. Once your oven indicates that it’s ready, take the pie out of the fridge. Brush egg wash over the top of the pie dough. Careful not to draw out any of the strawberry filling if your lattice top has huge gaps.
10. Then sprinkle the Demerara sugar on top, it should stick to the egg wash.
11. Place the pie on a baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
12. Lower the oven temperature to 375°F and move the pie on the baking sheet to the center oven rack. Continue to bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The pie is ready when the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling.
13. Take the pie out and let it cool on a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours. Serve at room temperature. The pie will keep refrigerated for 3 days or at room temperature for 2 days.

Well, that’s a bloody nice pie if I do say so myself! Look at all the strawberry jam bursting out. Since I used store-bought ginger, I think I would increase the amount next time. The ginger could be slightly tasted on the first day, but after reheating it on the second and third day, the filling only tasted of strawberry.

Sincerely,
Syl