Happy National Pie Day! Pi– or 3.14 – Day comes in March, and keep an eye out for our festivities when March rolls around. But, if the only math you want to think about is how to divide your slices, then January 23 is the day for you!
National Pie Day is an unofficial national holiday created by the American Pie Council to honor a true staple of the dessert canon. At Three Brothers Bakery, we do not wait around for this day to celebrate our pies. A lot of other people do not confine their love of pie to one day either, including such publications as The Daily Meal, which named us the #12 pie shop in America.
In honor of this special day, we wanted to take time to honor the tasty dessert by letting you know a little bit more about its history and continuing popularity!
Pie originated in ancient Egypt, where it served a very different function. Pies were made in reeds, not a pastry crust, in order to hold the filling inside
The idea eventually spread to Rome, where the first known recipe was published. The contents: goat cheese and honey encrusted in rye!
It then traveled further west to England. There, bakers had the idea to start incorporating fruit into pies, but they still consisted of more crust than filling. The royal court of Queen Elizabeth I made the first cherry pie in the 1500s.
When the recipes came over to America with the early colonists, bakers shifted towards more filling and less crust – and eating the whole thing together. We are certainly glad they had this idea because it’s hard to imagine a world without a delicious pie!
Now, when asked in a survey what dessert someone would want a friend or family member to bring to a holiday party, more people answered with pie than any other treat. Yes, that includes cake and cookies!
19% of Americans polled claimed apple was their favorite flavor, and then pumpkin (13%) and pecan (12%) were next. (Clearly not enough Texans were included in this survey!)
20% have eaten an entire pie by themselves.
More than 33% have eaten pie in bed or craved it in the middle of the night.
35% have had pie for breakfast.
47% of Americans say the word “comforting” comes to mind when they think about pie.
For more Pie Day trivia, check out the fun segment we did with KPRC’s Ruben Galvan last year to celebrate the day. (Hint: Bobby gets a pie to the face!) And you can click here to see even more insights and finding from the survey quoted in this post.
But, perhaps most impressively, 90% of Americans agree that a slice of pie represents one of the simplest pleasures in life. We cannot argue with that! It gives us great joy to see our friends and guests taking home a pie knowing all the joy they will experience by slicing and enjoying it.
Click HERE to make sure you have a pie to celebrate National Pie Day!