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Appetites®
Nina Moini and Lukas Levin

Celebrate Pi Day by making the perfect pie crust

three pies on display
Honey and Rye's Pi Day, whole pies.
Courtesy of Mary Quinn McCallum

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Pi Day, March 14, celebrates the infinitely long number that begins with the digits 3.14 and is essential for various mathematical equations, like the ones used to send rockets into space. Fortunately, the irrational number is not needed to bake the perfect pie crust.

Anne Andrus, owner and operator of Honey and Rye in St. Louis Park, spoke with MPR News guest host Nina Moini about what goes into making the perfect crust to celebrate Pi Day. And while it might not take trigonometry, it does require similar attention to detail.

“There’s so few ingredients in it — you really have to be thoughtful about what those are,” Andrus said.

Andrus uses quality butter in her crusts. She said butter or lard, pastry flour, and a little sugar and salt are all you need. But that doesn’t make it easy.

“The biggest mistake people make tends to be over-mixing. Like you want to see a little butter chunks in there. You want to see a little definition,” she said. “The other part would be to let the crust sit — have a little rest time for it.”

a pie on display
Honey and Rye's Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie. Same courtesy credits as above.
Courtesy of Mary Quinn McCallum

For Minnesotans wanting to make their own pie in celebration of the mathematical holiday (or really any time), but aren’t sure which flavor to go with, Andrus said a classic apple pie might be the best choice.

“We just have such a great variety of apples here and that really is what brings a lot of the flavor to it. And if you over bake it a little or under bake it a little they’re very forgiving,” she said.

Her Pi(e) Day pop-up at Bakehouse in St. Louis Park sold out.