Pie-phany, in three parts

Random maple sugar pie, not to be confused with Life of Pie's.

Pie-phany Part 1

I spent far too much time, as it turns out, searching for a sugar pie for friend Jessica, who celebrated her REDACTED birthday last night at a BBQ attended by her charming and very amusing friends. [Yes, I was there, too.]

Now, if you know Jessica you might be thinking "Are you trying to kill our diabetic friend with sugar pie" but I swear on all I hold dear [Shakespeare, lemonade, breezes in trees, snogging] she told me two weeks ago it is her "favourite dessert."

Really. She did.

This conversation occurred after Marie-Pier and I were discussing our favourite foods while priming Jessica's new house for painting. It moved on to desserts, leading to asking Jessica. [Ed's Note: It should be added this line of conversation was all part of my plot to find out her favourite dessert, once and for all, in anticipation of her birthday.] 

Our conversation went something like this:

Jessica: I like pie.
Me, exhibiting un-feigned shock: Pie?? really?
Jessica, with a touch of smugness: Yup
Me: Pie over cake? Really now — pie over cake??
Jessica: Yes. I like a good chocolate pound cake, but I really like pie.
Me: I do not believe you. No one would pick pie over cake. 
Jessica: I really like sugar pie. It is my favourite.
Me: Wait .. can you even eat sugar pie, being a diabetic?
Jessica: Yes. and I LOVE IT. 

This led to me plotting to try making a sugar pie for her birthday. However, I fell down some stairs at  L's cottage, ripping a few tendons here and there, making standing a bit of an ordeal and consuming my time with X-rays, physio and ultrasounds. Thankfully, after much calling and pleading, I finally coerced Life of Pie into making their French Canadian version just for Jess. I called Jess' partner to assure him I was bringing the dessert she wanted (he was about to go buy her a cake; pshaw, I thought, how little he knows her.)

Then I arrived, proudly, having navigated Life of Pie's treacherous steps, with pie... to find a crestfallen Jess. "NO cake?" she said, as I flourished the pies at her.


She swears we never had the above conversation, but there is no bloody way I'd have conjured up sugar pie as the favourite for my diabetic friend. Seriously. [And everyone knows cake is better.]

Am trying not to feel too badly over letting my friend down by providing 'disappointing pies' for her birthday dessert. Le sigh. 

Pie-phany Part 2

Treacle tart with cream

Sugar pie is not the same as treacle tart, though that was what I used to describe it to the British-born guest among us.

The difference:
- treacle tart is made with corn syrup aka light treacle, sometimes with the addition of molasses
- Sugar pie is made with a) brown sugar or b) maple syrup/sugar in its entirety or part for the Canadian version.

It may also be described as pecan pie without the pecans.


Pie-phany Part 3

random blueberry pie. num.

Kate created a perfectly apt rule with respect to pie-cutting last night; she defined a sliver of pie as being the same or less in width than the pie is in height. As example, if your apple pie is 3 inches in height, a sliver of that pie is 3 or fewer inches in width. In a sugar pie where the height is 1.5 inches, a sliver is narrower than 1.5 inches in width.

This in response to more demands for definitions from the British contingent. Necessity is the mother of invention. You heard it here first second. Kudos, Kate.



UPDATE: The Life of Pie French Canadian Sugar Pie was delicious, if teeth-achingly sweet. We ate it with gusto (some even having second slivers), topped it off with "tart" fresh blueberries and then spoke really-really-really quickly for the rest of the night. The consensus was it was nowhere close to a 'disappointing' pie, even if it was not a cake.