Broken Glass Pi (Gelatin Pi Pie) + Vegan Options!

"Broken Glass Torte" (Jell-O Pie, or gelatin since I'm not only using Jell-o) is a family favorite- made from a recipe used by my grandma for social and church events around Christmas and Holidays. My dad has stories of having to "wait" for leftovers (and not getting any)- now this dessert is a holiday staple. Today we're giving it a Pi-Day facelift using a simple cookie cutter and a couple techniques to make sure the symbol stands out! And adding simple instructions & links for a vegan option.

For this recipe you will need the following:

Jell-o / Gelatin / Vegan Sub:

• Jell-O Pi Shapes: Any Flavored Gelatin Packs of Choice (1 - 4 Flavor Packs, use colors to match the season, or opt for traditional RED / BLUE / GOLD. / GREEN... At least One Flavor.)
• Water (& microwave / stovetop to heat)
• or try a Vegan Jell-o Substitute / or Agar Agar & Fruit Juice recipe.

Filling:

• Pineapple Juice (and can opener if needed)
• Cool Whip (Not Vegan since 2018- Try Coconut Cream or SoDelicious Whip)
• Gelatin (or Agar Agar for vegans!
  
• Sugar
• Water

Graham Cracker Crust: Pre-made / Store Bought or Pie pan and:

• 1 ½ cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
• ⅓ cup white sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted (or a vegan Butter Substitute)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (Optional)

Utensils & Supplies:

• Spoon
• Measuring Cups
• Bowls / pie pan / Flat Cookie Sheet (with raised edges)
• Pan & Stovetop

Pi Shaped Cookie Cutter (See step 1 for additional materials needed given the options) or:

• 1 Aluminum Soda Can
• Knife
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Paper
• 2 ice cream sticks or pliers

Time: 15-20 minutes to make the Jell-O. Three or four hours for the Jell-O to set. About 30 minutes or more to make the cookie cutter (depends on method used to obtain pi cookie cutter) and 30 minutes to cut the pi shapes from jello and make the pie(s).

The first step is to obtain a Pi Shaped Cutter to slice the jell-o. We will also need to know the height of the cookie cutter to make sure we keep the thickness / depth of the jell-o under this height to make it easier to cut the jell-o pi shapes.

For this step there are at least four options:

• Make a cookie cutter using can aluminum (or actual cookie cutter steel), pliers and tape (See this Link on Instructables)
• 3D print a cookie cutter using a free file from thingiverse (See this Link on Instructables // or this Link to a Pi Thingiverse model file)
• Buy A cookie cutter on Ebay / Amazon / Google Shopping / Etc. (See this Link)
• Freeform-Cut Pi shapes with a knife!

For my cutter I was lucky enough to have access to a small 'Threed' 3D Printer; So I found the free file on Thingiverse and 3d printed the file as-is using a food-safe filament. Ope- lost the power cord so I'm making it from a can...

I first suggest using a print out of the Pi shape, I drew one from scratch on the back of a scrap envelope paper- and cut up an aluminum can using a knife to remove the lid and scissors to cut down the side then around the bottom to remove the end.

I then cut the depth (widthwise) of the aluminum center can slice to what I figured was as deep as needed to cut the shapes from the Jell-o. I made a couple extra pieces.

I then bent aluminum from a can of soda using pliers- and finished with some tape to complete the shape. This is a little dangerous because of the sharp edges (I used this method to make nose clips for masks during the early pandemic- I simply cut a template shape after some testing- and bent and then folded over the tips with a ruler flat edge), but you could then control the depth of the cutter and make it much longer to make a thicker or deeper pi shape with this method- which would help to make a pi symbol stand out in a pie cut in the next steps.

Ah- there's a Instructables tutorial for making a cookie cutter! ... oh, and look at the masterpieces Instructables users made.

Get out a clean pan or cake sheet with raised edges and all the materials for the Jell-O or vegan Jel and follow the instructions, but add less water or juice than suggested.

Jell-O Slabs:

NOTE WELL: You will not be following the directions on the pack of Jello, which suggests more water than is needed.

Use 1 and 1/2 cups water!

• Dissolve each flavor of colored Jell-O into 1 cup of hot water each. Stir two minutes, then add 1/2 C cool water or ice cubes (remove before refrigerating.)
• Do not use more water than this or they will be too diluted and harder to slice once solid.
• Pour the mixture into separate rectangular containers. Use pans, cookie sheets or containers and pour Jell-O 1-inch thick or less, otherwise it will take longer to set and harder to cut.

The Jell-O should take 2 hours (or so depending on the strength of the fridge) to set if you cool it in shallow containers.

Refrigerate until solid.

Make the pie crust and filling in Step 3 & 4, then use the cookie cutter to cut out pi shapes and lay them in the cooled gram cracker crust!

Open a store bought graham cracker pie crust, or mix:

• 3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs 
• 2/3 cup white sugar 
• 12 tablespoons butter, melted (or a vegan Butter Substitute)  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Optional)

When thoroughly mixed, pack into pie pan(s) and refrigerate before adding Jell-O and filling in the next steps.

Prepare Filling ingredients:

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 3tsp sugar
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (or Agar Agar for vegans!)
• 1/4 cup water

• Frozen Whipped Topping (Note: Cool Whip is not vegan since 2018- Try Coconut Cream or SoDelicious Whip)

Heat Pineapple juice, water, and 1 envelope gelatin and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Cool then mix into frozen whipped topping (such as Cool-Whip.) Let cool then prepare the jell-o cuts for step 5.

Place a layer of cool-whip mix as a base on the gram cracker crust. Make lines to note where to cut to make sure some pi's are showing when you cut the pie.

Make sure the gelatin is very solid!

Using your Pi cookie cutter, cut the gelatin and lay them into the crust.

It helps to cut out a square and then use the cookie cutter and pull into the empty spot to easily remove the pi shape. I also washed the cutter and my hands often- they turned very red.

Place the Pi gelatin pieces into the pie on their side (to show when cutting slices!) and scatter them so there is a nice array of colors.

Use tiny squares to fill in the empty spaces.

When you're done with a base later, add the cooled cool-whip mix to cover the pi's and base jello later. Then you can cut a couple more pi's and place them on their backs to show pi symbols on the top and scatter them along with square cubes to fill in all the spaces.

Cool completely in the fridge until the while filling solidifies. Slice and enjoy! Happy Pi day. :)