So, despite the fact that I won the pi/e day competition at Gelman two years ago, I’d never made a pie entirely from scratch until last week.  Sure, I’ve made lots of scratch-filling pies, but I’ve always relied on the trusty roll-out Pillsbury crusts from a box.  Lazy, I know, but why mess with a good thing?

Well, the time has come, and last week I made my first pie entirely from scratch.  What kind of pie?  A BEER pie. See, the dudes were here, and they have a long history of demanding fridge pie, and we were making a beer-heavy dinner, and it was the eve of pi/e day, so what could I do?

Well, if you’ve ever made pie under pressure in a crowded kitchen when you’re on a time deadline, you’ll know this was a questionable idea. The custard wouldn’t simmer, and then it wouldn’t set. I couldn’t get the camera to focus. I couldn’t get the damned pie to cool. Eventually we gave up on the idea of sharing beer fridge pi/e, put it in the freezer, and I went to bed.

The end result? A tasty pi/e that never quite set. The custard went icy in the freezer, and started to separate as it thawed in the fridge. My fatal error may have been using less than full-fat dairy, or it might have been not using a wide enough saucepan, or it may have just been hubris. All I know is that Mike and Bill each enjoyed big slices of beer fridge pi/e for breakfast with coffee, and Shane and I had about one slice each before giving up. The remaining half of the beer fridge pi/e went out to the curb on trash day.

While I’ll certainly be making pie from scratch again soon – I’m over my fear of crust – I don’t think it’ll be this one.

Recipe:
Beer Cream Pie from Beer at Joe’s