It's Pi Day! Celebrate with Math AND Food!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I was sent this info, free of charge, for blog posting purposes, from Paul Krupin PR, and Nielsen Massey. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.

pi calculation
courtesy of pixabay


Yup, TODAY is Pi Day - the day people all over the world irrationally and irreverently celebrate this important mathematical constant. It’s the only number with its own holiday!

Most scholars consider Pi to be the most important and fascinating number in all of mathematics.  Technically, the mathematical constant pi is an irrational, or never ending number, created by dividing the circumference of a circle by its diameter. It is a number that begins with 3.14 but then goes on and on never repeating itself for infinity. 

Pi Day (3/14) turns out to also be Albert Einstein’s birthday! 

Some people make the day special by baking a pie. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an apple pie, a cherry pie or one made with chocolate cream.

Sneaky Math cover

Other people, like math and science game wizard Cy Tymony focus on teaching people fun ways to enjoy and learn more about science and mathematics. Cy is the author of the young adult educational book series “Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things”. These books are packed with cool math and science games and projects for kids and teens to play.

This year Cy created www.PiDayFun.com – an educational website dedicated to making Pi Day math memorable with free tips on how kids can have lots of fun using discarded items and without special tools. The site contains 5 Free 'Pi' and Math Projects (like the one above), including a free download for a whole set of Pi Cards, and directions on how to create a  a Sneaky Pi Detector, and how to make a Sneaky Pi Quizzer. There’s also a Sneaky Fraction Calculator, and a Sneaky Range Finder, and Sneaky Fraction Quizzer, to help you with other mathematical issues!


But if you want to have some pie while working on your Pi projects, here's a recipe (from our friends at Nielsen-Massey) too!


And before you go saying, cheesecake isn't PIE, check out the bottom crust recipe. Yup, it will qualify as pie if you want it to! LOL


Bobbie's Cheesecake 'Pie'


German Müurbteig Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Sugar
1 egg
8 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
Pinch of salt 

Filling
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten 
1 cup sugar 
1/4 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
24 oz. Kraft Philadelphia Brand cream cheese 

Topping
1 pint sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract 

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. For the crust: in a standing mixer with dough hook attachment, combine the dry ingredients. 
3. Add the egg and softened butter. Mix until the dough forms a ball. 
4. Pat the dough in an 8 inches springform pan, lining the bottom and sides all the way to the top. Try to achieve a uniform thickness.
5.  For the filling, beat the egg whites until fairly stiff but not dry. 
6. Add the sugar slowly and then add the vanilla. Slowly, in small amounts, add the cream cheese. Mix to smooth the major lumps, but do not overbeat. 
7. Pour into the crust-lined pan and bake for 25 minutes. 
8. Remove from oven, set aside. 
10. Raise the oven temperature to 500 degrees F
11. Make topiing-combine the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Spread very gently on the top of the cheesecake and bake for 5 min. 
12. Let cool at room temperature and then refrigerate. 
13. Remove the springform pan and keep tightly covered with plastic wrap. Serve well chilled.

Serves 12 

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