Wine Pie Is The Viral (And Vile) Trend You Should Only Try Once
Boozy food recipes aren't unusual, and pies are not an exception. You might expect to use wine more frequently in savory pie recipes, such as enriching shepherd's pie filling with a slug of red, but in one particularly odd TikTok trend, folks are trying their hand at a sweet pie in which red wine is the key ingredient. No, not as a supplement to another ingredient, and not as a pairing. It's essentially a pie casing with half a bottle of wine poured into it.
According to TikTok, a wine pie is created thusly: take a pre-made pie crust, pour red wine directly into the crust until it's almost full, then add 1 cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, and a splash of vanilla extract. Allegedly, you're supposed to put the pie straight into an oven — no mixing — and bake for seven minutes. Some folks have also poured cinnamon over the top of their pies before baking or have added dried fruits.
Does wine make a legitimate pie?
Wine pie sounds like it shouldn't work, and that's because it doesn't. The beverage doesn't thicken on its own, especially not in such a short period, and its high acidity means that starches will soften and lose their ability to retain shape — the opposite effect you want when baking a pie. Using this method, as some users have noticed, you end up with a lukewarm, watery sludge that doesn't constitute an actual pie.
@half_batch_baking Bringing back the wine pie. Full revipe in bio #winepie #bakingfail #pie #baking #holiday #foodscience #bakingscience
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your perspective on the tongue-in-cheek dessert), there is a way to pull this weird recipe off. TikTok user @half_batch_baking recommends chilling the pie for 24 hours to attain what she describes as something akin to a silk pie texture. She also rejects the idea of not stirring the mixture. Instead, she whisks red wine, baking soda, sugar, and cornstarch over the hob until it thickens, recommending chopped chocolate as a great way to both enhance the flavor and create a thicker consistency.
Wine pie might sound weird, but like with any food that sounds strange in concept, it could have potential. Either you like it and have a new dessert to play with, or you dislike it and can tell everyone you know.