Cute Fudge Pie DIY!

I always joke that I can’t cook, but the truth is, I can bake like nobody’s business. Unfortunately, most baked items aren’t super healthy for you, so I’ve tapered off a good bit. But there’s something about the holidays that kicks me into full blown baking mode. Last year, I dipped my toe in the pie-making pool, and it was so easy, I think you can do it, too!

I followed this fudge pie recipe from All Recipes. It doesn’t call for an excessive amount of ingredients, and there are only 4 steps! And it is GOOD.

So now, on to the fun part — decorating! Because, yes, we want it to taste good. BUT WE ALSO WANT IT TO BE CUTE, DUH! I tried two different techniques that are very simple but look super advanced. You can totally do this, you just have to have the right tools!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH SOMETHING TO SAY

This might be the easier of the two? To make this pie, you will follow the recipe above and bake it prior to decorating. To make the text, you will need an egg, a basting brush, flour, parchment paper, alphabet cookie cutters, and Pillsbury roll up refrigerated pie crusts like this:

  1. Put a piece of parchment paper on your surface (for easy clean up!) and sprinkle flour on it.

  2. Unroll one of the crusts and lay it flat on the parchment.

  3. Get a small bowl and scoop a little bit of flour into it.

  4. Dip your cookie cutters in flour and then into the dough.

  5. Transfer the dough letters to a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet (be sure to spread them out just a little bit in case they expand.

  6. When you are finished with your word or phrase, you can lightly coat the letters with an egg wash so they will brown nicely as they bake! You can do this by beating an egg white, adding a little water, and brushing it on the dough.

  7. Bake the letters at 325F — the same temperature you baked the pie at — for 7-10 minutes (timing will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters and how fast your oven cooks, so just keep an eye on them!)

  8. That’s it! When you’re done, place the letters on the pie.

SOME HELPFUL TIPS!

***If your dough starts getting difficult to work with, you can pop it in the refrigerator or freezer for a second!

***It may be a good idea to make some extra letters in case some break, fall off the counter, fall into your mouth, etc!

***Do not try to save time by baking the letters on top of the pie, or they will sink into the pie!

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I took this to a girl’s night, and everyone flipped out! You can put quotes from holiday movies, a hashtag, anything you want! If you need inspiration, Letterfolk always has funny quotes on their Instagram, so definitely check them out!

IF YOU’RE GOING THE MORE TRADITIONAL ROUTE

This is a great option that involves a little bit more work, which is totally cool since you’re already a pro at this, right? The main difference between this pie is that some of the elements you will bake WITH the pie.

To make the star crust, I used the smallest cookie cutter from this cookie cutter set.

  1. Follow steps 1-5 in the previous section.

  2. To attach the stars to the outside of the crust, fill the pie and then dip your fingers in water and lightly wet one side of the star.

  3. Press the wet side into the crust to “glue” it into place. I tried to bend the stars upward on the edges to make sure they didn’t sink into the pie filling!

  4. Lightly coat star crust with an egg wash to give it that gorgeous brown, textured finish!

***If your crust starts to get too dark, you can cover the outside with aluminum foil!***

To make “NOEL”

I followed the same steps as I did to make the letters in the first section except I carved the letters out of the dough with a knife so it would look more artisanal.

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And that’s it! Not too bad, right? If you try this, I’d love to see what you come up with! Happy baking!

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