To mathematicians, today is Pi Day — 3.14 is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Get it … March 14 … 3.14.

But to bakers, it’s apple, cherry, cream or even a whiskey-infused Pie Day.

“Every day is pie day here,” said Carlo Cimino, owner of Mazziotti Bakery in Lower Burrell. “The key to a good pie is the crust. You’ve got to have a good, flaky crust. Our pie crust has butter.”

Daily fruit flavors available at Mazziotti Bakery include apple and cherry. Coconut and chocolate cream, peanut butter and lemon meringue can be special-ordered. The bakery offers seasonal choices such as blueberry and peach.

All are 9-inch pies.

Courtesy of Carlo Cimino Peanut butter pie at Mazziotti Bakery in Lower Burrell.  

Pies for nearly a decade

Homemade pies have been a staple at Massart’s restaurant in Tarentum since 1923. Owner Kirk Massart has made so many, he no longer has to measure the ingredients. He uses a family recipe.

Pies made Mondays through Fridays include apple, cherry and some cream pie selections. Lemon is available on Friday.s

Courtesy of Breanna Thompson A slice of cherry pie at Massart’s in Tarentum.  

Homemade pies are not perfect, said Breanna Thompson, a waitress at Massart’s and daughter of the owner.

“But the imperfections are what make a fresh homemade pie just that — a fresh homemade pie,” she said. “Our customers love our pies. Some of them tell us the pies taste like the ones their grandmothers used to make and place on the windowsill to cool.”

In good spirits

Spirits from local distilleries are used to make pies at Prohibition Pastries in East Liberty.

Owner Eliza Jane Bowman of Point Breeze is known for creating savory hand pies and sweet, “booze-centric bakes” such as gin and ginger peach, apple whiskey, winter ale pecan and rum coconut cream pies.

She incorporates Wigle Whiskey into the apple pie and makes a key lime pie with Maggie’s Farm Rum.

Bowman’s English and Irish-style baking is all from scratch. Her love of the craft started with baking sticky buns in her grandma Ada Lou Ross’ kitchen.

Bowman said the less you handle the dough, the better. Don’t overwork it.

“What I love most about pie is how flexible it is,” Bowman said. “Pies can be sweet, sour, savory. They can be topped with crumble or crust, meringue or even mashed potatoes.”

She started the Pie Club during the pandemic as a way of maintaining repeat customers. It’s a subscription-based program for the first Friday of the month, with options from one 9-inch sweet pie for $15 to one 9-inch sweet pie, two pot pies, four hand-pies and six turnovers for $100.

“This was a great way to bring people back in at least once a month,” she said. “It was also a great way for me to play with some new flavors, while also getting the tried-and-true-favorites into people’s hands. And who doesn’t want a Pie Day to look forward to every month?”

Courtesy of John Leancu A butterscotch meringue pie made by Perk’s Pies in Greensburg.  

Pies with family ties

Perk’s Pies, based in Greensburg, was inspired by Jack and Katie Perkins, the grandparents of owner John Leancu.

“Perk” was Jack Perkins’ nickname.

Leancu brings his cooking experience from the former Mr. P’s restaurant, which his family owned.

He started the business by making pies for friends and family members for the holidays. In the past year, the business has grown.

“The key to a good pie is to keep it cold,” Leancu said. “Keeping the butter cold and the dough chilled makes for a flaky crust. Also, use ice-cold water.

“Cold ingredients were my grandmother’s secret. She also used Crisco, but I prefer butter because I like the richness.”

He said it’s best to let a pie cool to room temperature before trying to cut it.

People don’t always have the time to make fresh-baked goods, said Leancu, who makes crème brûlée, cocoa mocha, chocolate bourbon pecan, butterscotch meringue and a salted caramel apple pie.

“People always love a good apple pie,” said Leancu, who also has a full-time job. “I think that will also be number one. The salted caramel apple pie is really becoming a customer favorite, too.”

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

(Courtesy of John Leancu, Perk’s Pies)

1 par-baked, 9-inch pie crust (recipe follows)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

3 large eggs (at room temperature)

1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick)

1 cup light corn syrup

2 ounces of your favorite bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the filling:

Put brown sugar and white sugar into a large mixing bowl.With a whisk or fork, beat in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Mix in melted butter, corn syrup, bourbon, vanilla extract and pinch of salt.

To fill the crust:

Spread half the chocolate chips over the bottom of the pie shell. Then spread the chopped pecans evenly over the bottom of the pie shell.

Pour the filling into the par-baked pie shell. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top of the pie. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until the filling is set. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Pie crust recipe

1 ¼ cups pastry flour or all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup of chilled butter (1 stick)

4 tablespoons ice water

For the crust:

Sift flour and salt together. Using a cheese grater, shred chilled butter into flour. Using your hands, toss flour and shredded butter together, lightly rub the flour and butter mixture between your palms for a few passes. Drizzle water into flour mixture and lightly mix together until flour looks like shredded paper. Press dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

To prepare crust:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a 12-inch round.

Press dough into 9-inch pie pan and trim dough to 1-inch overhang. Fold hanging dough under itself and press with a fork.

Chill dough for 20 minutes. After dough chills, cover pie shell with foil and fill with dried rice or beans (this allows the dough to blind-bake without shrinking). Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes. Remove crust from oven and remove foil and beans from crust.

Shell is par-baked and ready for pecan pie filling, pumpkin pie filling, etc. For a fully baked pie shell, place into oven after removing foil and beans.

Bake for an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Fully baked shell is good for banana cream pie, coconut cream pie, chocolate custard pie, etc.

Pie fun facts

About $700 million in pies (about 186 million units) are sold in grocery stores every year.

According to a 2008 survey by Crisco and American Pie Council, nearly one out of five (19%) Americans prefer apple pie, followed by pumpkin (13%), pecan (12%), banana cream (10%) and cherry (9%) .

Pie just isn’t for dessert. Thirty-five percent of Americans say they’ve had pies for breakfast.

When asked what dessert Americans would prefer a friend or family member bring to their house for a holiday dinner, pie was the winner with 29%. Cake (17%) and cookies (15%) rounded out the top-three spots.

Pumpkin pie was first introduced to the holiday table at the pilgrims’ second Thanksgiving in 1623.

Pie by the numbers

36 million — Number of Americans who identify apple pie as their favorite

47% — Americans for whom the word “comforting” comes to mind when they think of pie

6 million — Number of American men ages 35-54 who have eaten the last slice of pie and denied it

27% — Americans who believe chocolate pie is the most romantic to share with someone special

1 in 5 — Proportion of Americans who have eaten an entire pie by themselves

113 million — Number of Americans who have eaten pie for breakfast

75 million — Number of Americans who prefer to drink milk with their pie

32% — Americans who prefer no crust on top of their pie

90% — Americans who agree that a slice of pie represents one of the simple pleasures in life

9% — Americans who prefer to eat their pie crust-first

7% — Americans who have passed off a store-bought pie as homemade

18% — Men who say their wife makes the best homemade pie

2% — Women who say their husband makes the best homemade pie

Source: American Pie Council, piecouncil.org

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