Pi is for Sharing
March 14, 2016
“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”
~ William Blake
Happy Pi Day!
Pi Day is named for the number that is found by dividing the distance around a circle (circumference) by the distance across (diameter). Pi is known as the “Circle Constant” because, no matter what size your circle is, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is always the number pi, whose digits go on infinitely, without repeating. The first 3 digits of pi are 3.14, which is why math geeks as, well as foodies, celebrate pi the number by eating pie the dessert, on March 14th.
The excuse to eat a slice (or three) of your favorite pie today, in celebration of pi the number, also offers the opportunity to mediate on the beauty and necessity of sharing.
I suppose one could devour an entire fruit pie, custard pie or cream pie by themselves, stabbing away at it with a fork. However, this would be not only inelegant but also unhealthy. A much better way to serve and eat a pie is to cut it into wedges, perfect for sharing. Turns out, the best way to begin to cut a pie into wedges is also the method for finding pie the number.
If you want to slice a pie into uniform wedges, you must first find the center point. To find the center of a circular pie, one must start by cutting all the way across it (this cut is the diameter of the pie). The action of your knife cutting across the pie creates the relationship represented by the number pi, which is equal to the circumference (distance around) divided by the diameter (distance across). Now two people could each enjoy half of the pie.
A pie shared equals pi.
To cut wedges of the pie for serving, simply find the center point of the pie by measuring to the halfway point of the diameter. Half of the diameter of your pie circle is equal to the radius, the lines you make each time you cut from the center of the pie out to the edge, in order to serve another slice.
Here is a fun and simple animated illustration of circles, diameter, radius and how to find the surface area of a circular piece of candy using the number pi :
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Did you get to eat a piece of pie for pi day? If not, make some Green Tea Cream Pie for St. Patty’s day.
Green Tea Cream Pie
This delicately flavored, jade-colored, no-bake cream pie is made by using matcha green tea powder to flavor a simple cornstarch pudding, poured inside of a lemon wafer crust and chilled. If you want to avoid GMO corn, buy organic cornstarch.
For the crust:
2 cups lemon wafer cookie crumbs (about 32 lemon wafer cookies)
(I used Whole Foods 365 brand lemon wafer cookies)
6 tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
For the filling:
1/4 cup organic cornstarch
3/8 cup organic sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
1 2-inch piece of vanilla bean
3 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
Optional, to decorate:
Whipped cream
Sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon matcha powder
combined with:
1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
White chocolate curls
To make the crust:
Using a rolling pin, crush cookies between two pieces of plastic wrap, or inside a zipper style plastic bag. Combine the melted butter with the crumbs and salt (if using) in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of an 8″ or 9″ springform pan. Refrigerate until set (about 1 hour).
To make filling:
In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan*, whisk together the corn starch, sugar, salt and matcha powder.
Split open the vanilla bean segment and scrape out the seeds from the inside of the pod into pan with dry ingredients, along with the pod. Add milk and stir until thoroughly combined with no lumps.
Remove vanilla bean pod and discard. Turn on heat to between medium & medium-low. Cook, stirring continuously and scraping bottom and sides of pan until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon (mine took about 12 minutes). Do not boil.
Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted and incorporated. Let cool about 3 minutes more, stirring often. Pour over prepared cookie crust. Cover surface of pie with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming) and chill in fridge for 3 hours or more.
Decorate with your choice of whipped cream, sliced strawberries, sweetened matcha, white chocolate curls or a combination.
8 servings
*Hint: A clean, quart-sized mason jar with a lid works great for premixing the ingredients, an important step to ensure a smooth, lump-free filling. First, add dry ingredients to jar and whisk to mix. Then add vanilla seeds with pod and the milk to jar, screw lid on tight and shake everything vigorously until smooth and mixed, without lumps. Now add mixture to cold pan, remove and discard pod, and skip to heating step.
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