Chapter Ten: Pop Culture Piedom

There are two pop culture characters I'm feeling particularly entwined with since starting my blog. They're both from much beloved screen things. The first is Jenna Hunterson, the pie-making maven in the movie (and now, Broadway musical) Waitress. The second is the regenerative Ned, the pie-baker of The Pie Hole in Pushing Daisies.

What I think I admire from both of them is that they can make sweet delights from difficult circumstances. Jenna creates pies in her minds eye to cope with a loveless marriage, an unwanted pregnancy, and crises of conscious. Ned brings life from death, baking it into pie and enriching lives (sometimes by solving crime) with sweetness and quick wit.



These are only two of the pie persona present in pop culture. I'll admit, I haven"t seen most of the references to pie in TV and movies. I mean, it's not like my life is revolving around pie. Or movies. Or television. But here are a few pies off the silver screen, beyond the commonly occurring slapstick trope of a cream pie in the face, or even the epic pie fights (I'm looking at you, Blazing Saddles.)

Twin Peaks has an incredible, possible murderous, cherry pie and a "damn fine cup of coffee," both of which I can relate to quite well. In a Twin Peaks parody episode of Psych, my favorite crime solving duo, Gus and Shawn, enjoy a particularly delicious-looking, award-winning cinnamon pie.

The B-list movie My Blueberry Nights had an arguably starring role by a pie. Quite honestly, the pie in the movie is one of the only things I remember about it other than the supporting actors Jude Law and Norah Jones. It helps that blueberry pie is also one of my favorites.

When I was still nursing The Little Man, I read The Help and fell in love with the story so deeply that we watched the movie soon after. I loved Minnie's character and her spunky, I-don't-give-a-$hi+ attitude, which made me absolutely giddy over Octavia Spencer bringing her to life in the film. No matter what our quarrel might be, I promise never to recreate "the Terrible Awful" pie.

Sweeney Todd is the the tale of a man returned to his hometown for vengeance. He teams up with his neighbor to dispose of murder victims in meat pies. This tale has always struck me as a counterpart to Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, but with a deeper motivation beyond population control. Additionally, Mrs. Lovett, I think, has the easy job of just making the pies and not getting her hands "dirty," or at least less so.

This post wouldn't be complete without a mention of American Pie. Though I haven't seen either the original or the sequel in their entirety, I have watched the quintessential pie moment. I can assure you all, my pies are not treated in such a deplorable manner. But then again, I don't have teenagers.

Finally, Andie McDowell's character in Michael has a cute little ditty about her love of pie. It's adorable, but that scene, and really, the whole movie, has been tainted for me based on the actors. Andie, or Rose, in real life, is not such a nice person in my opinion.

For this week, I struggled with which of these fictional pies to create.  It came down to the wire and I knew some were out of the running for ethical reasons (Sweeney Todd and The Help) or planning reasons (apple, the American Pie pie, will be featured in July and blueberry will be a fun post in August.) So really, It came down to cinnamon pie, cherry pie, or one of Jenna's creations. I may not have done it justice, since screen pie is so much better, but here it is:


Cinnamon Pie

1 pie crust
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Partially bake pie crust at 400º to light golden and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, stir together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Bring the milk, cream, cinnamon and salt to just under a boil. Mix the hot milk into the eggs slowly, gradually bringing up the temperature of the eggs. Pour the filling into the crust and bake in a water bath (this is to prevent the custard from cracking during baking) at 350º for 45 minutes or just slightly jiggly in the center.

Cool and refrigerate. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

What I learned from this pie: I wasn't as satisfied with the cinnamon flavor as I hoped. In truth, the combination of cinnamon spice and custard texture was more reminiscent of pumpkin pie. I would opt next time to use cinnamon extract rather than vanilla, and probably 2 teaspoons of it. I considered putting a cinnamon brulee crust on it, but decided that would be too much extra work. It would have been worth it though.

Next week: the hunt for cookies.