Once made out of necessity, "Wine Pie" has now become a viral trend – and a popular alternative to the classic apple pie.
There are good desserts, there are bad desserts – and then there are those where you're not quite sure what to make of. Similar to pineapple on pizza, "Wine Pie" is likely to be divisive. Its roots are surprisingly simple: During the Great Depression, many Americans had to work with the few ingredients available to them. In these difficult times, groceries were expensive and hard to come by. But water, flour, sugar and butter remained affordable, and with a little vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon, a successful cake could still be prepared. This necessity gave rise to a dessert that has stood the test of time: the "Water Pie".
Today we are experiencing a kind of resurgence of these frugal pies – but in a completely new form: "Wine Pie" and "Soda Pie". Similar to the Depression-era "Water Pie"the ingredients used do not seem to go together at first glance. The "Water Pie", for example, consists of water, sugar and flour – a simple recipe reminiscent of the improvised dishes of days gone by. But the new version now uses wine or even soft drinks.
These desserts confuse, surprise and fascinate in equal measure. While some celebrate them as ingenious culinary experiments, others are just turned off. And that's the appeal: they challenge our definition of desserts and make us try new flavors – even if we're sometimes not sure whether we love or hate them.
The wine version of the dessert is particularly popular in the run-up to Thanksgiving. While on the one hand it can be seen as simply another application of wine in cooking, oenophile might consider it a great affront. And while amateur bakers keep trying their hand at this dessert on social media channels, the results aren't always positive.
While the ingredients might harmonize well, a glance at its preparation can prove off-putting. For many TikTokers, the biggest "no-go" is probably mixing the ingredients directly in the pre-baked cake base – even if the phrase "trust the process" has become firmly established, there is probably not much to trust here.
However, the dessert also has the potential to become a real treat – as an ambitious amateur baker shows in one of her videos. Her methodical approach yields impressive results: her "Wine Pie" certainly looks amazing. Whether it actually tastes as good as it looks is something for her to know and you to find out.
