Cream pie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A cream pie is a type of pie typically made of usually firmer versions of dessert-style puddings. It is typically an American dessert.
The filling is usually a rich custard made with flour and/or cornflour, eggs and milk. This custard is clearly related to the French crème patissière which is used as a filling for various French cakes and tarts. Crème patissière is the usual filling for the traditional French birthday cake, Gâteau St Honoré, which consists of a ring of custard-filled cream puffs on a sweet biscuit (American: cookie) base, the centre filled with more custard.
Older versions of cream and custard pies often involve baking the filling in an unbaked pie shell.
Dessert-style cream pies can come in many varieties, and can be flavored with a multitude of ingredients, such as vanilla, lemon, lime, banana, coconut, peach, pumpkin, or chocolate.
[edit] Cream pies as a cultural object
Cream pies are often associated with clowns, who use them as a gimmick in routines. Its comedic use is identical with the custard pie in Britain. When used for show business purposes, cream pies are generally mock-up pies made from shaving cream, which resembles whipped cream on film. These have the advantage of washing off easily and not attracting flies, and are unlikely to melt under hot studio lights
Some political activists have recently adopted the cream pie as a weapon of protest, to be thrown into the face of one's unsuspecting opponent. Pieing is generally done in a very conspicuous, public manner, so that the opponent is seen (and perhaps filmed or photographed) looking ridiculous. This kind of protest is most common among college students, and although many regard the practice as silly and self-defeating, it has nevertheless caused much controversy. One team of such protesters, known as Al Pieda, operate primarily against right-wing public figures in the United States. Belgian prankster Noel Godin is famous for cream pieing Bill Gates in 1998.
There are also several fetish sites devoted to cream pie fetishes. These sites often include the following images: cream pie smashed into face, cream pie smashed into breasts or other body parts, and eating cream pie without hands.
