Bake Jenna's Recipes with an Excerpt from WAITRESS' Sugar, Butter, Flour!

Fans of Waitress the musical can now bake the delicious pies that the show's leading character Jenna Hunterson makes for Joe's Diner with the publication of Sugar, Butter, Flour: The Waitress Pie Cookbook, Recipes from the Files of Jenna Hunterson (Pam Krauss Books, a division of Penguin Random House).

The book is filled with recipes that capture the playful and rambunctious spirit of the pies in the Broadway show with sweet ones like "The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie" and "The I Wanna Play Doctor with my Gynecologist Chocolate Mousse Pie" and savory ones like "The Betrayed by my Eggs Pie" and "The My Husband's A Jerk Chicken Pot Pie" The text is by Daniel Gercke and the recipes are by Sheri Castle.

Click here to purchase Sugar, Butter, Flour today and check out an excerpt and recipe straight from the book below!

My mama taught me everything I know about pies. It was in her kitchen that I learned that making a pie is an act of love, and how baking can open a door to a better life. Mama came up with hundreds of different pies and they all had real funny names, like Lonely Chicago Pie and Sweet Victory Pie. She told me, "Jenna, you can tell a whole story with a taste."

Well she was right. And now I share my story with you through the recipes in this book.

It's a story of how I lost my way, but ultimately dared to take a long forgotten dream off the shelf and trust that baking could open a door to a better life.

I learned that you don't bake a pie with your hands, you bake it with your heart. It requires the essential ingredients: a dash of hope, a cup of courage, a little spice, and some good friends to share it with in the end.

Oh, and don't forget sugar, butter and flour.

Jenna's Devils Food Chocolate Oasis Pie

Makes one 9½-inch pie

This one is a thing of beauty. The flavors open themselves one by one, like chap­ters in a book. First you get flooded with chocolate, dark and bittersweet like an old flame. And then strawberry, the way strawberry was always supposed to taste but never knew how. And finally the whipped cream covers everything in a dreamy sweet cloud. A customer once called this is a perfect pie. I don't know about that, but it's certainly a pie you won't mind getting a little lost in.

Chocolate Cookie Crumb Pie Shell

1 3/4 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 36 cookies)

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Cream Filling

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 large egg yolks

3 cups whole milk

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 heaping tablespoon vegetable shortening

16 large fresh strawberries, hulled

Strawberry Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup crushed fresh strawberries

1. For the pie shell: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toss together the crumbs and butter in a medium bowl to moisten. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9½-inch deep-dish pie pan. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to firm up the butter. Bake in the center of the oven for about 10 minutes, or until just set and fragrant. Place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature

2. For the filling: Stir together the preserves and vinegar in a small bowl. Spread over the bottom of the chilled crust and return to the refrigerator.

3. Whisk together the granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks in a large, heavy saucepan. While whisking continuously, add the milk in a slow, steady stream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking, then reduce the heat and simmer, whisking, for 1 minute, or until the filling is very thick. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, butter, and vanilla, and stir until smooth.

4. Pass the pastry cream through a fine sieve into a glass or metal bowl, using a rubber spatula to press it through the mesh. Press a piece of buttered parchment paper directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool to room temperature and then pour the filling into the crust. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or until fully set.

5. For the berries: Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a medium glass bowl. Microwave on 50 percent power in 30-second intervals until the chips begin to lose their shape. Stir until melted and smooth.

6. Rinse the berries and blot dry. Holding the berries by the stem end, dip them one at a time into the chocolate, letting any excess drip back into the bowl. Place the coated berries on a plate lined with parchment or waxed paper. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate hardens.

7. For the topping: In a medium bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the cream and confectioners' sugar on high speed until it holds firm peaks. Fold in the crushed strawberries. Spread over the chilled pie. Arrange the chocolate-covered strawberries on top.

Better Butter

To achieve that just-right stage for room temperature or softened butter, leave it in a cool, shaded spot on the kitchen counter for 2 hours. Test the softness by pressing the butter with your finger; if the indention shows but the butter holds its shape, it's perfect. If you forget to set out the butter and need to resort to the microwave, use the lowest power level and heat the butter in 10-second intervals. Overly soft or melted butter will not work properly in recipes that call for room-temperature butter, even if you let it solidify again.

Reprinted from Sugar, Butter, Flour by arrangement with Pam Krauss Books/Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2017. Text by Daniel Gercke. Recipe by Sheri Castle. Photos © Evan Sung.

Sugar, Butter, Flour is inspired by pie-maker Jenna Hunterson, the main character of Adrienne Shelly's much-loved film Waitress, now a hit Broadway musical directed by Diane Paulus, featuring music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson. Jenna expresses her hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations through the whimsically named pies she dreams up each morning. Sugar, Butter, Flour celebrates this art of baking from the heart, with foolproof and flavorful pies for falling in love, for mending a broken heart, for celebrating new beginnings and for all the little milestones that come afterwards. Featuring an array of show-stopping 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. Sugar, Butter, Flour proves there's a perfect pie for every occasion - and that everything is better with pie.

Click here to purchase Sugar, Butter, Flour today!