Mission: Pie

“Just a pie! It’s downright expert. It could solve all the problems of the world, that pie.  A thing’a beauty … how each flavor opens itself one by one, like a chapter in a book. First, the flavor of an exotic spice hits ya, just a hint of it … and then you're flooded with chocolate, dark and bittersweet like an old love affair.  And finally strawberry, the way strawberry was always supposed to taste but never knew how ... ”

I've never been much of a cook, and up until recently my baking skills have been nonexistent.  But I've gotta say, I think I've discovered that there is something very satisfying about baking.  And nobody can argue with a house that smells like baked goods.


The quote above is from the movie Waitress.  It's an adorable movie, with pie.  Lots of pie.  I highly recommend it. I decided to bake a pie for a dinner party a couple of weeks ago, and was browsing the internet for recipes containing strawberries and chocolate (two of my favorite things in desserts).  While I have seen Waitress a few times, and always comment on how amazing the Strawberry Chocolate Oasis Pie sounds, it was not until my online recipe search that I was reminded of that particular pie.  Armed with a few pounds of strawberries, a big bag of chocolate, a recipe loosely derived from the namesake pie in the movie, and my new baking apron, I was on a mission.  Mission: Pie.

Although I didn't follow it exactly, this is the recipe that I took most of my cues from for this experiment.


The pie in the movie included a chocolate crust, but I decided to use graham cracker crumbs to make my own crust (to which I may or may not have added some melted chocolate just for good measure).  The pie basically consisted of a layer of thick and creamy chocolate filling, with a second layer of sugary strawberry deliciousness on the top.  I probably ate about a pound of strawberries in the process of this endeavor, and had slightly pink-stained and yummy-smelling fingers for quite a while afterwards.  I also made some whipped cream to top things off, which made things look prettier, but I didn't manage to get a photo of it.  So, the final result:

Everything turned out to taste really wonderful, although the pie was more of a cobbler for the first 24 hours, since the crust was pretty crumbly and the chocolate hadn't had enough time to really harden.  With due credit to my friends, nobody complained about having to eat a Strawberry Chocolate Oasis Cobbler instead of a Strawberry Chocolate Oasis Pie.  But man-oh-man, after sitting in the refrigerator for a day, it was just about perfect.  Talk about a breakfast of champions!


I'm going to try to start baking more, although I'm trying to limit myself to only baking when I know that other people will be able to help me eat whatever I make.  ... So, who wants some pie?