A musically-inspired cookbook

It’s not often that a hit Broadway show contains food as a main feature. However, the Tony-nominated musical The Waitress does, as pie plays a major role in the production. In the cult classic movie-turned-Broadway production, the eternally optimistic protagonist expresses her hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations through the whimsically named pies she bakes each morning. Now a new tie-in cookbook featuring these pies is set to be released May 23 (watch this blog for a possible promotion involving the book).

Taking its inspiration from the iconic mile-high pies of the diner case, Sugar, Butter, Flour offers an array of showstopping pies, each with a twist that puts it over the top; from rum-spiked cookie crusts to hidden layers of passion fruit preserves, these are familiar favorites with hidden depths.

The cookbook’s stated “author” is the main character of the show, which is to say she isn’t a real person. Publisher Pam Krauss acknowledged that this was a bit of a challenge. She looked to the script for the recipes in the book (which draws its name from a musical refrain), developing the recipes with the assistance of Southern baker and cookbook author Sheri Castle. Sometimes the name of the pie aided in its development, as in the “My Husband’s a Jerk Chicken Pot Pie”, but other pie names were less descriptive, like “Lonely Chicago Pie”. Krauss then had to use her imagination as to what would fit the description.

The book will be sold at the theatre where the musical is staged, as well as through the show’s website and social media channels.