This pie is a mouthful, in both name and form. I think this happened due to a bit of overambitiousness resulting from the fact that I am generally not a pie person. But I had to post a pie today because, in case you weren’t aware, today is Pi Day.

That’s not a typo. That’s Pi Day, despite the fact that it’s often celebrated with pie. Pi as in 3.14159… Also pi as in 3/14. Also apparently as in pastry crusted sugary stuffing filled dessert item. Welcome to the world of dorkhood.

I learned about Pi Day on March 14th of my first year as a patent attorney. Patent attorneys are massive dorks. One of my fellow associates stopped by my office to wish me a happy Pi Day. Someone else picked up a couple of pies at lunch time. I thought the whole thing was a fluke and I’d never again hear about a holiday celebrating a famous ratio, but no. Every year after that at least some dorky attorney wished me a happy Pi Day. I thought I was done with it when I changed jobs and ended up working around all non attorneys. That’s when the happy Pi Day wishes started pouring in via email, and when one of my former workmates eventually joined me at my new job, she of course made sure to become the official pie supplier for that office.

This year I’m all alone, and by alone I mean just me working in my home office, unless you count my cats who have yet to bring me any food, even though they get pretty demanding when they’re hungry. So I’m celebrating Pi Day with you guys, and because I’m not that into pie, I went all out. I threw everything into this baby. I must have succeeded because I like it!

I owe thanks to a couple sources of inspiration/guidance here. First, I saw this on Foodgawker. That certainly put me in the Pi Day spirit. I’d also been wanting to try out this recipe for peanut butter coconut mousse. Perfect pie topper, and peanut butter goes great with bananas. Oh, and for the record, totally worth making just to eat with a spoon. I decided to wing it as far as the main layer goes, thinking agar would be a great setting agent. It was, and if you haven’t tried agar yet this is your perfect excuse. This stuff is derived from algae and works great as a vegan substitute for gelatin. I’ve used it in puddings, vegan cheeses, and now pie.

This pie was better on the second day, as the coconut whip and banana cream layers seemed to be at just the perfect level of firmness. If you’re super excited about Pi Day and need to make this and eat in on the same day, I suggest getting started early so as to allow for maximum chill time.

Print Caramelized Banana Peanut Butter Coconut Mousse Pie Prep Time 2 hours Cook Time 10 minutes Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes Servings 8 Author Alissa Ingredients Base/Top 1 vegan premade pie crust or use your favorite recipe

1 ripe banana Banana Cream Layer 2 ripe bananas

1 tbsp. vegan margarine

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk of choice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1 tbsp. agar powder Peanut Butter Mousse Layer 2 cans coconut milk refrigerated overnight

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. creamy natural peanut butter

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. powdered sugar Peanut Butter Drizzle Topping 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter

2 tbsp. powdered sugar

water Instructions Slice up 2/3 of that first banana for the base layer, and arrange on the base of your pie crust. Save the remaining 1/3 for the top. Set aside. Banana Cream Layer Start by mashing up your two bananas with a fork or potato masher. Heat margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat and add mashed up banana and sautee for about five minutes. Add milk, vanilla, and maple. Whisk everything together well and bring to just barely simmering. Add agar and whisk in well. Cook and continue whisking until agar is completely blended in. Remove from heat and pour into crust. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then stick it in the fridge. Mousse Layer Remove coconut milk cans from fridge and scoop out coconut cream into a mixing bowl, tossing liquid (coconut water) or saving it for another use. Beat on high speed with mixer until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add peanut butter and powdered sugar and continue beating until well blended. Once your banana layer is cool and relatively firm (should take about an hour) you can go ahead and spread the mousse on top. Peanut Butter Drizzle Whisk peanut butter drizzle ingredients together in a small bowl, adding a bit of water (1/4 cup did it for me) to get a glaze-like consistency. Drizzle on top of your mousse layer. Finish Slice up that last 1/3 of a banana that you have leftover from earlier and arrange slices on top of mousse. Store pie in the fridge until serving time, keeping in mind that the longer you refrigerate, the better it will be. Overnight works great. Recipe Notes Please read the entire recipe through before starting. Some ingredients appear in multiple places. Also, you'll want to get started by placing your coconut milk in the fridge ahead of time, preferably the night before.

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